James Buchanan Nies

Background

James Buchanan Nies was born on November 22, 1856 in Newark, New Jersey, United States. He was the son of Simon and Antoinette Fredrika (Landano) Nies. While he was still a boy, his family removed to New York City.

Education

Nies began his education in the public schools in New York City. After attending Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, for a term, he studied successively at Columbia College, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1882, and at the General Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1885. He had done graduate work at Columbia and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1888.

Career

Ordered deacon in 1885 and priested in 1886, Nies was meanwhile in charge of a mission of Holy Trinity, Harlem. From 1886 to 1887 he was rector of St. John's, Tuckahoe, New York, with charge of St. John's, Upper New Rochelle, and then for five years (1887 - 92) vicar of Christ Chapel, Brooklyn.

From 1892 to 1898 he was rector of the Church of the Epiphany, Brooklyn. He then retired, on account of rheumatism, from the active ministry, except for two years (1905 - 07) when he served as rector of Christ Church, Sharon, Connecticut. Possessed of private means, he devoted himself to travel and archaeology. His chief interest lay in southern Italy, Greece, Egypt, and especially Palestine; but he also visited other regions, such as Lake Titicaca, Peru.

Deeply interested in the archaeology of the Holy Land, Nies sought successfully to organize systematic excavation there by his compatriots through endowment of the American School for Oriental Study and Research at Jerusalem, of which he was field-director in 1901.

Nies wrote comparatively little, his published volumes being Ur Dynasty Tablets and Historical, Religious and Economic Texts and Antiquities. He also contributed a few articles to technical journals, among which may be mentioned "Kufic Glass Weights and Bottle Stamps", and "A Pre-Sargonic Inscription on Limestone from Warka". Although his published works were few, he rendered service of much importance by collecting material, by making research possible for others, and, above all, by his labors for the American School at Jerusalem. He possessed a remarkable, almost intuitive, talent for reading cuneiform, and his personality won the hearty cooperation of all associated with him. Theologically he belonged to the evangelical (Low Church) wing of his communion, but with liberal (Broad Church) tendencies.

Achievements

• Nies erected a school a building named in honor of his wife. He also bequeathed to it gifts valued at some $25, 000, while to Yale University he left his rich collection of Babylonian clay tablets, together with $50, 000 for their augmentation.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Ur Dynasty Tablets: Texts Chiefly From Tello and Drehem, Written During the Reigns of Dungi, Bur-Sin, Gimil-Sin, and Ibi-Sin; Introduction, Catalogue, ... Phrases, Indexed Sign-List of the Ur Dynasty

    (Excerpt from Ur Dynasty Tablets: Texts Chiefly From Tello...)

  • Letters And Contracts From Erech Written In The Neo-babylonian Period... (Japanese Edition)

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

  • Babylonian inscriptions in the collection of James B. Nies, Yale University Volume 2

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

Membership

He was a member of many learned societies, among them the American Association for the Advancement of Science, of which he was a fellow, and the American Oriental Society.

Connections

On September 3, 1891, he married Jeanie Dows, daughter of Alexander E. Orr of Brooklyn.

Father:

Simon Nies

Mother:

Antoinette Fredrika (Landano) Nies

Spouse:

Jeanie Dows