Friedrich Sarre


Friedrich Paul Theodor Sarre was a German Orientalist, archaeologist and art historian. During his lifetime, he amassed an impressive collection of Islamic art.
Being inspired by Carl Humann, in 1895/96, he conducted archaeological research in Phyrgia, Lycaonia, and Pisidia. From within these regions of Asia Minor, he investigated architectural monuments and collected epigraphic material. In 1905, with Ernst Herzfeld, he performed excavatory work at Samarra, the 9th-century capital of the Abbasid dynasty. The two men published their findings in "Archäologische Reise im Euphrat-und Tigris Gebeit".
He collected objects of art from throughout the Middle East, especially from Persia and Constantinople. These items were put on exhibition in Berlin, and later Paris at the Exposition des arts musulmans. He donated most of his collection to the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin, where from 1921 to 1931 he was the director of its "Islamic department".

Selected works

Works by Sarre that have been published in English: