In Memoriam | Muazzez İlmiye Çığ (1914– 2024)

Mavi Boncuk | Muazzez İlmiye Çığ (20 June 1914 – 17 November 2024) was a Turkish archaeologist, sumerologist, assyriologist, writer and supercentenarian who specialised in the study of Sumerian civilization.

MUAZZEZ İLMİYE ÇIĞ: Çığ, whose parents were Crimean Turks who immigrated to Turkey, was born in Bursa in 1914, a few weeks before the start of World War I. She began her education in the Hittitology department at Ankara University in 1936 and graduated in 1940. She specialized in the Sumerian, Assyrian and Hittite civilizations.

A world-famous archaeologist, linguist, historian and teacher, Çığ broke new ground with her research on the Sumerian civilization. She made significant contributions, especially in the deciphering and publication of the Sumerian tablets.

Çığ created an archive of cuneiform documents consisting of 74 thousand tablets and had 3 thousand tablets copied and published in catalog form. In the intervening years, thanks to her efforts in deciphering and publishing the tablets, the Museum became a center for learning Middle Eastern languages, attended by ancient history researchers from all over the world.