MANEJO DE CASOS

(a) European Countries.

On the Continent of Europe the picture is very different. Ancient Near Eastern studies are everywhere encouraged. Even the smaller countries have cultivated them, and their scholars have acquired international reputations. Thus Czecho-Slovakia has fostered Hittite studies, Denmark and Sweden Old Persian and Iranian studies, and Belgium Egyptology and Coptic, and that by no means to the exclusion of the other branches of the subject. Czecho-Slovakia also has a very fine school of Egyptology and Denmark has done much good work in Assyriology. Germany, France and Russia are outstanding in the field and must be treated separately.

(b) Germany

Germany is regarded by the Near East and Europe as the leader in Oriental Studies, especially the ancient ones. For over fifty years she has enjoyed this reputation and German scholarship has become a by-word in Oriental countries and throughout the world. Young scholars from every country in Europe, including Great Britain, France, America, as well as Egypt, Iraq, Persia and Turkey visited her universities right up to the outbreak of the war, and researched in her libraries, museums and institutes. Germany is only too well aware of the propaganda value of her scholars and universities. Foreign students, whatever their nationality were received with the greatest courtesy and were offered every facility and encouragement. Students from Oriental countries were doubly welcome. They were made to believe that Germany was the only country where Ancient Oriental Languages could be satisfactorily studied and that Germany was therefore the true friend and admirer of their peoples. The undeniable lack of support for Oriental studies in Great Britain became the subject of many an artful homily. This propaganda has had the desired effect for many years. Students sent by the Egyptian, Iraqi, Persian and Turkish governments returned home full of zeal for Germany and German scholarship and recommended their friends and pupils to follow their example. Thus there is a deeply ingrained belief amongst the Orientals that, whatever Great Britain accomplished in the past, she has now yielded first place to Germany and that the British Government is contemptuous of Oriental studies. However crushed and beaten Germany may be, this impression will persist and the only way to eradicate it is for Britain to improve the position of her Oriental scholarship.

That Germany has many fine achievements to her credit in the realm of Ancient Eastern scholarship is undeniable, nor can it be gainsaid that she has shown far more interest in the Near East than any other country in the world. Every university in Germany possesses teaching posts in the various ancient languages and civilisations, each professor with an adequate staff of lecturers and assistants.270

As may be imagined, with all these scholars the volume of research work coming forth from Germany is enormous and works written in German far outnumber those in any other language. The Germans are able to undertake impressive tasks of considerable magnitude, such as large corpora of hieroglyphic and cuneiform texts. Similarly more learned journals concerned with ancient Oriental scholarship appear there than in any other country.

Although a defeated Germany will cease to be a major power in Europe it must not be imagined that she will suffer her universities to fall into decay. Experience after the last war has shown that she will make every effort to preserve this aspect of her cultural life. She will strive to maintain her lead in scholarship, and so retain all the advantages that accrue from it.

(c) France

In France we have a somewhat similar picture. French universities and institutes are well staffed with orientalists and attracts a number of students from the Near East, especially Syrians, Egyptians and Iraqis. Next to Germany she is the most popular centre for the Ancient studies among orientals. Her position in Egypt where French officials have the care of the ancient monuments gives her much standing in Egyptology. Her scholars are amongst the finest in the world and she has done much pioneer work in all branches. Her archaeologists are known throughout the Near East.

(d) Russia

It is difficult to discover what facilities exist in Soviet Russia for the study of the Ancient Near East. One thing is certain and that is that it is actively encouraged. As evidence for her interest may be mentioned the steady flow of pamphlets and books on Egyptology and Coptic from Leningrad and Moscow which were beginning to reach this country shortly before the outbreak

270 _{The reference work “Minerva, Handbuch der gelehrten Welt” was consulted to attempt to discover the}

number of teachers of these subjects in the German universities, but without success. In most cases only the professors were mentioned, and often these were given such vague titles as “Professor der orientalischen Philologie.”

of war. These works were of a surprisingly high standard considering her long isolation from scholarship of other countries.

(e) America

America is far ahead of this country in facilities for Ancient Near Eastern Studies. She possesses the magnificent and imposing Oriental Institute at Chicago, the envy of all orientalists. Her scholars have produced much creditable work in increasing volume, and they have several ambitious projects in hand, amongst which may be mentioned a thesaurus of the Assyrian and Babylonian languages on the scale of the Prussian Academy’s Worterbuch de agyptischen Sprache. She has spent considerable sums of money on excavations in the Near East.

There are many signs that she will intensify her activities in the ancient studies as part of her program for a more intensive cultivation of Near Eastern Studies generally. She appears to be especially interested in the antiquities of Iraq and Persia.