Jacques de Morgan: an explorer
The inventor of the Michaux stone
André Michaux
A botanist by training, André Michaux (1746–1802) led a scientific expedition in 1782 which led to his discovery of oriental plant species. It was on this occasion that he unearthed a stele dating from the end of the 2nd millennium BC, the first monument inscribed in cuneiform to make its way to Europe.
Detail of the decoration on the upper part of the Michaux stone, Medals Collection, Bibliothèque nationale de France
Training and first missions
André Michaux grew up on the family farm, not far from Versailles, where he learned about plants and the art of herbalism. Trained by Lemonnier, the King's physician, and by the naturalist Jussieu at the Grand Trianon, he obtained his qualification in botany in 1779. He accompanied the naturalist Lamarck on a series of expeditions to the French provinces.
The mission to the East
In 1782, he led a scientific expedition tasked with collecting rare plant species from the East for Marie-Antoinette's gardens; the expedition included Jean-Jacques Rousseau's cousin, known as Rousseau de Perse, who had just been appointed French consul in Basra. The expedition took him from Aleppo to the Persian gardens via Baghdad. He collected and documented 400 species of plants previously unknown in Europe, and several of them now bear his name.
The discovery of the ‘stone’
On his return journey, André Michaux spent three months in Baghdad. According to his journal, the stone was discovered to the south of the city, on the banks of the Tigris, in a place then known as Semiramis (now the village of Taq Kasra). It was almost certainly near this village, to the south of the ruins of ancient Ctesiphon, that André Michaux discovered the kudurru.
On his return, he published several extracts from his expedition diary under the title Journal de mon voyage en Perse (Journal of My Travels in Persia), in which he describes, amongst other things, the stele. The success of this first expedition led to his appointment as Royal Botanist by Louis XVI.
His expeditions on behalf of the king then took him to North America, through which he travelled extensively for around ten years, enabling new species of trees to be imported into France. He died in Madagascar in 1802 of a tropical fever whilst studying the island's flora.
Learn more
Website dedicated to cuneiform artefacts from the Middle East: pages dedicated to the Michaux stone
