As a scholar of the languages of early Christianity, including Ethiopic and Syriac, Johannes Flemming felt a debt to the learned scholar of the seventeenth century, Job Leutholf (also Hiob Ludolf). Still cited as one of the essential pieces of Leutholf’s biography, this article from Beiträge zur Assyriologie is required reading for those interested in the life of this remarkable scholar. After sketching an outline of Leutholf’s life, Flemming then moves on to focus on his Ethiopic studies. During his travels Leutholf acquired a detailed knowledge of the Ethiopic language and promoted trade with the country itself to European nations. He produced both Ethiopic and Amharic dictionaries. Flemming concludes his articles with the correspondence between Leutholf and the abbot Gregorius who initially taught him the Ethiopic language. As a piece of history as well as an insight into aspects of Ethiopic, this study remains a useful tool today.

Johannes Paul Gotthilf Flemming (1859-1914) was the director of the Royal Library of the University of Bonn. He wrote on various topics including the Semitic languages of early Christianity.