Winckler, Hugo

Winckler, Hugo ho͞oˈgō vĭngkˈlər [key], 1863–1913, German Orientalist. A professor at the Univ. of Berlin, Winckler was noted for his archaeological work. He helped to excavate the Phoenician city of Sidon. During excavations at Boğazköy in 1906–7 he discovered cuneiform tablets in Hittite (or Kanesian), a principal source for knowledge of the Hittites. The tablets represent the official archives of Hattusas, the capital of the Hittite empire, and detail foreign relations with the Egyptians, Babylonians, Cypriots, and Greeks c.1300 b.c. The tablets were deciphered in 1924 by the Czech scholar Friedrich Hrozny.

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