Max von Oppenheim

Max von Oppenheim
circa 1917
Born	Max von Oppenheim (1860-07-15)15 July 1860 Cologne, Kingdom of Prussia
Died	17 November 1946(1946-11-17) (aged 86) Landshut, Allied-occupied Germany
Alma mater	University of Strasbourg, University of Göttingen
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Baron Max von Oppenheim (15 July 1860 – 17 November 1946) was a German lawyer, diplomat, ancient historian, and archaeologist. He was a member of the Oppenheim banking dynasty. Abandoning his career in diplomacy, he discovered the site of Tell Halaf in 1899 and conducted excavations there in 1911–13 and again in 1927–29.^[1] Bringing many of his finds to Berlin, he exhibited them in a private museum (The Tell Halaf Museum) in 1931.^[1] This was destroyed by Allied bombing in World War II; however, most of the findings were recently restored and have been exhibited again at Berlin and Bonn.

Oppenheim was a controversial figure before and during World War I because he was considered a spy by the French and British. In fact, he engaged in anti-Allied propaganda, which was aimed at stirring up the Muslim populations of the Allied-controlled territories against their colonial masters.