Alexis Mallon (1875–1934), more commonly known as Père Mallon, was a French Jesuit priest and archaeologist. He founded the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Jerusalem [1] and made important early contributions to the study of the prehistory of the Levant with his excavations at Teleilat el Ghassul (1929–1934). [2]
Born in France, Mallon received his Jesuit training in Beirut, Lebanon, and spent four years studying theology in England between 1905 and 1909. [1] In Beirut he also studied languages and taught Egyptian and Coptic at Saint Joseph University. [1] He published one of the first grammars of Coptic in 1904. [2]
In 1910, he was transferred to the newly-founded Pontifical Biblical Institute and in 1913 was sent to Jerusalem to set up a branch of the institute there. [1] After being forced to move to Cairo by the outbreak of the First World War, [2] Mallon returned to Palestine in 1919 and was finally able to establish the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Jerusalem in 1927. [1]
Mallon's interest in archaeology was fostered by Godefroy Zumoffen, a fellow Jesuit in Beirut. Together they compiled the first systematic gazetteer of sites in the Levant, published in 1925. [2] Unlike many of his contemporaries in the region, and despite his calling, Mallon's interests were in prehistory rather than biblical archaeology. [3] He discovered prehistoric stone tools at Shuqba cave in 1924 and conducted trial excavations there in 1928. [2] [4] Subsequent excavations at Shuqba by British archaeologist Dorothy Garrod unearthed the first traces of the Mesolithic outside of Europe and defined the Natufian culture. [5]
Mallon's most notable contribution to archaeology was his excavations at Teleilat el Ghassul on the northern shore of the Dead Sea. [2] Contemporary press reports proclaimed the site to be the remains of the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah, but Mallon himself considered this unlikely. [6] He directed excavations there until his death in 1934, establishing the site as one of the key Chalcolithic sequences in the region and the type site of the Ghassulian culture. [7] [8] [9] Robert Koeppel of the Pontifical Biblical Institute continued the excavations after Mallon's death. [2] [6]
Mallon had a significant influence on René Neuville, introducing him to prehistoric archaeology when he first arrived in Jerusalem as a diplomat in 1926. [2] The two went on to collaborate on excavations at Oumm Qatafa, [2] and Neuville assisted Mallon at Teleilat el Ghassul. [6]
Alexis Mallon (1875–1934), more commonly known as Père Mallon, was a French Jesuit priest and archaeologist. He founded the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Jerusalem [1] and made important early contributions to the study of the prehistory of the Levant with his excavations at Teleilat el Ghassul (1929–1934). [2]
Born in France, Mallon received his Jesuit training in Beirut, Lebanon, and spent four years studying theology in England between 1905 and 1909. [1] In Beirut he also studied languages and taught Egyptian and Coptic at Saint Joseph University. [1] He published one of the first grammars of Coptic in 1904. [2]
In 1910, he was transferred to the newly-founded Pontifical Biblical Institute and in 1913 was sent to Jerusalem to set up a branch of the institute there. [1] After being forced to move to Cairo by the outbreak of the First World War, [2] Mallon returned to Palestine in 1919 and was finally able to establish the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Jerusalem in 1927. [1]
Mallon's interest in archaeology was fostered by Godefroy Zumoffen, a fellow Jesuit in Beirut. Together they compiled the first systematic gazetteer of sites in the Levant, published in 1925. [2] Unlike many of his contemporaries in the region, and despite his calling, Mallon's interests were in prehistory rather than biblical archaeology. [3] He discovered prehistoric stone tools at Shuqba cave in 1924 and conducted trial excavations there in 1928. [2] [4] Subsequent excavations at Shuqba by British archaeologist Dorothy Garrod unearthed the first traces of the Mesolithic outside of Europe and defined the Natufian culture. [5]
Mallon's most notable contribution to archaeology was his excavations at Teleilat el Ghassul on the northern shore of the Dead Sea. [2] Contemporary press reports proclaimed the site to be the remains of the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah, but Mallon himself considered this unlikely. [6] He directed excavations there until his death in 1934, establishing the site as one of the key Chalcolithic sequences in the region and the type site of the Ghassulian culture. [7] [8] [9] Robert Koeppel of the Pontifical Biblical Institute continued the excavations after Mallon's death. [2] [6]
Mallon had a significant influence on René Neuville, introducing him to prehistoric archaeology when he first arrived in Jerusalem as a diplomat in 1926. [2] The two went on to collaborate on excavations at Oumm Qatafa, [2] and Neuville assisted Mallon at Teleilat el Ghassul. [6]