Relations in the Humanities Between Germany and Egypt

Sonderdrucke aus der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg

HANS ROBERT ROEMER

Relations in the humanities between Germany and Egypt

On the occasion of the Seventy Fifth Anniversary of the German Institute of Archaeology in Cairo (1907 – 1982)

Originalbeitrag erschienen in: Ägypten, Dauer und Wandel : Symposium anlässlich d. 75jährigen Bestehens d. Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Kairo. Mainz am Rhein: von Zabern, 1985, S.1 - 6 Relations in the Humanities between Germany and Egypt

On the Occasion of the Seventy Fifth Anniversary of the German Institute of Archaeology in Cairo

(1907-1982)

by HANS ROBERT ROEMER

The nucleus of the Institute whose jubilee we are celebrating today was established in Cairo in 1907 as »The Imperial German Institute for Egyptian Archaeology«. This was the result of a proposal presented by the Berlin Egyptologist Adolf Erman on behalf of the commission for the Egyptian Dictionary, formed by the German Academies of Sciences. This establishment had its antecedents in the 19th century, whose achievements were not only incomparable developments in the natural sciences, but also an unprecedented rise in the Humanities, a field in which German Egyptologists had contributed a substantial share. It is hence no exaggeration to consider the Institute the crowning and the climax of the excavation and research work accomplished earlier in this country. As a background, the German-Egyptian relations in the field of Humanities had already had a flourishing tradition. They had been inaugurated by Karl Richard Lepsius (1810-84) with a unique scientific work, completed in 1859, namely the publication of his huge twelve-volume book »Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Nubien« (»Monuments from Egypt and Nubia«), devoted to the results of a four-year expedition that he had undertaken. German Egyptology, one of whose fathers he was, has gone a long way since: its younger generations carried out innumerable excavations, the handling and publication of which won them international renown. They developed or adopted new research methods and integrated their field of study within the framework of modern Humanities. Yet, even today, they are not able to do their work without the plates of old »Lepsius«. Karl Richard Lepsius is the same scholar to whom was entrusted at Berlin University, in 1846, the first chair of Egyptology. He drew the plans for the Egyptian Museum of Berlin, whose first director he was. He is also the one who led the reorganization of the German Archaeologi- cal Institute in Berlin and, in 1874, succeeded in transforming it into a governmental establishment. This close relationship to classical Archaeology, which had its own institutes abroad—one in Rome, highly appreciated for remarkable archaeological achievements, and another, pretty young then, in Athens—, may have stood behind the request presented in 1881 to Kaiser Wilhelm I, for funding an institute in Egypt, devoted to (1) the recording and publication of inscriptions, (2) the support of German scholars working in Egypt, and (3) the distribution of scholarships. The result, however, was negative just as were several later applications, regarding the same matter.

1 The Egyptologists did not give up, nor did they lack new ideas as to how to reach their aim. Struggling for a foothold in Cairo, Adolf Erman (1854-1937) was able to bring his large Egyp- tian Dictionary into the battle, and, with a memorandum from the Prussian Academy of Sciences, reached a breakthrough before the turn of the century, namely the creation of a position of an attache to the German Consulate General in Cairo, entrusted with scientific tasks in Egyptology. It was a fortunate coincidence that a very appropriate candidate for the post was at hand: Ludwig Borchardt (1863-1937), a former student of Erman in Egyptology and at the same time a trained architect, who had already conducted excavations in Egypt. In October 1899, Borchardt started working in Egypt. A specialized library, donated as a basis for his work, was sheltered in his house in Cairo, where also his assistant could work, and where he found room enough for the vast excavation equipment he acquired. In Thebes-West, he was able to set up a working and lodging place, the so-called German House, for which the Khe- dive had granted the land, and the Kaiser the building costs. These were the elements which later on, in 1907, were incorporated into the newly founded Institute, for which spacious accommoda- tions were soon to be provided.

Within the narrow framework of this paper, we cannot mention all the various members of the Institute, many of whom were or turned out to become scholars of the highest rank. Thus, the following outline will be limited to a few, who will be mentioned in the context of some of the Institute's outstanding achievements. But first, we shall deal with the external vicissitudes of the Institute. As in the case of the scientific attache, the Institute, to whose direction Ludwig Borchardt was nominated, was under the administrative control of the German Foreign Ministry. Its Egypt- ological activities were to be determined in accordance with the German Academies of Sciences. Its field of work remained unchanged, except that its own research was now placed in the fore- ground. Besides their personal research work and their participation in the Institute's major projects the members took care of the growing number of expeditions arriving from Germany. This successfully initiated work was interrupted by the First World War and not taken up again until 1923, after the British authorities approved the release of the Institute's library and other belongings as well as its reopening, following the intervention of the Zurich Arabist Jean- Jacques Hefl (1866-1949) and other Swiss professors. To be sure, the Institute recuperated its ability to function and set up again the German House torn down in 1915, but it lacked the funds for undertaking projects as big as those launched in earlier years. So it was obliged to give prior- ity to smaller and less expensive undertakings. The year 1929 was marked by considerable changes: it brought about the transition to the Berlin German Archaeological Institute, the retirement of Ludwig Borchardt and the nomination of his successor, Hermann Junker, until then professor at Vienna University. Whereas Borchardt's main field of work was the history of architecture, where he had excellent accomplishments, Junker was outstanding for the unusual breadth of his Egypt°logical interests. Nevertheless his main efforts were dedicated to Egyptian archaeology. Fortunately a considerable improvement in the financial situation opened new possibilities in this respect. Conse- quently, there was a shift in the Institute's activities, all the more that Borchardt, after his retirement, had founded a private institute in line with his special interests. By the way, this establishment later developed into the Swiss Institute for the History of Egyptian Architecture and Anti- quities, to which the German Institute is linked by so many common interests and successful joint undertakings.

2 Yet the integration within the German Archaeological Institute had also its effect on later activities, according to the regulation that these activities should be devoted to »all cultures, whose traces are found in Egyptian monuments«. Thus their scientific competences were vastly expanded in comparison with previous practices, as we shall see later. The yearly archaeological travel grant, introduced at this time, was an important aid for Egyptologists of the younger generation. Although the number of permanent posts was not increased, the Institute was granted funds sufficient for two more scholarships besides the director and his assistant or research fellow. The urgent room problems were solved in 1931 by the renting of a new building. Through the Second World War, the activities of the Institute were interrupted for the second time. Hermann Junker and some of his associates were able to continue abroad their work on the publication of the material they had gathered in Egypt. This they did first in Berlin, then, from 1943 to the end of the war, in Vienna. The interruption of work in Egypt not only lasted much longer than the one caused by the First World War, namely sixteen years, but also led to the loss of the whole inventory, along with the library and photo-collections. As the presumed successor of Junker, Hanns Stock, who was then the director of the Egyp- tian Collection and professor at Munich University, was commissioned in 1955 to revive the »Cairo Department« as it was called in the meantime. In the person of Stock, a first-rate Egyptol- ogist came to Cairo, his special preference being archaeology. With great enthusiasm, untiring energy, and extraordinary skill, he put himself to the task of creating a practically new foundation, whose inauguration was celebrated on November 17 6, 1957, by both Egyptian and German colleagues, as well as guests from other countries. At that moment the most important conditions for scientific work were already restored. In a spacious house in Zamalek, which, having been enlarged, still lodges the present Institute, one could find nice rooms for work and housing, as well as an excellent library of 12.000 volumes, which the Institute acquired from Ludwig Keimer (1893-1957), who had spent a life-time collecting it. Soon the German House was also given back. In the course of time, the number of scholarly positions was increased to six, in addition to technical and administrative staff. In less than ten years, Stock made the Institute such a convincing establishment, and one so recognized in the guest country, that it could survive unharmed the 1965 crisis caused by the breaking of diplomatic relations between Egypt and the Federal Republic of Germany. But only one year later, the Institute suffered a heavy loss when Hanns Stock, to whom it owed so much, died in an accident. Werner Kaiser, then director of the Berlin Egyptian Museum, was elected as his successor and is still at present the head of the Department.

III

Right from the beginning, the Cairo Department took seriously the new duty incumbent upon it in 1929 through its integration within the German Archaeological Institute, namely extending its activities over all Egyptian cultures attested by existing monuments. Naturally, the various branches of Egyptology constituted the focal point of the Institute's work, and they continue to do so. But it is already more than fifty years that other subjects have been set going. To do that was not at all easy at first, considering the only available permanent posts of one director and one research fellow. Still, through the supplementary collection in Arabic Studies, long since introduced to the Library, and through the Department's initiated or supported projects in the fields of prehistory, history of classical antiquity, Christian archaeology, and Egyptian folklore, the thirties witnessed already remarkable beginnings in interdisciplinary collaboration. Of course, in contrast to Egyptology, such projects were possible only every now and then, far from institutionalizing all the above mentioned branches. The tendency to place Egyptology

3 within the meaningful context of the Humanities began to bear fruit only at the end of the fifties, namely when the number of posts was increased. Although permanent positions for so many fields of study were not yet available, their list was prolonged by other disciplines added to the above-mentioned, such as Islamic studies and Islamic archaeology, classical archaeology, African ethnology, history of architecture, and Geology. Instead of entrusting with one or more of these fields a member of the staff, the Department followed another method, namely to use its existing positions of research fellows according to the necessities of the Institute's changing scientific interests and the availability of suitable specialists. As a typical example for this procedure, one may mention the case of Islamic studies: the groundwork in the Institute was made by an Islamist, who took care of building up an appropriate library and initiating two series of publications. He was followed by an archaeologist, who was charged with the excavation of an Omayyad castle in the Syrian desert. Later, other experts were entrusted with the extensive restoration of late medieval buildings in Cairo. Research in the individual disciplines is necessarily conducted according to the specific rules of each field. Yet, interdisciplinary collaboration in suitable subject matters, and the exchange of results may lead to interesting syntheses, thus providing a certain counterbalance to the inevitable specialization within these various fields and their increasing divergence.

We cannot mention here in detail nor even enumerate all the projects which the Institute has realized or supported so far, partly under its own direction and partly in collaboration with other scientific corporations, whether in the realm of excavation, restoration, or rescue. We should rather content ourselves with characterizing the Institute's work through some representative accomplishments. At the very beginning of its foundation, the Institute undertook the excavation of Tell el- Amarna, the residence town of Ekhnaton. This was the first time in Egyptian field work that the grounds of an extended town were excavated. Investigations regarding the architectural history of 270 houses yielded information about the social background of Ancient Egypt's urban civiliza- tion in addition to rich finds relevant to art history, namely through the discovery of the work- shop of the famous sculptor, Thutmosis. An impressive example of collaboration with other corporations is the big excavation in the neolithic settlement of Merimde (Bard Saldma) in the western delta. Already before his nomination as director, Junker had initiated this investigation and between 1930 and 1939 he pursued it under the auspices of the Cairo Department, for the Vienna Academy of Sciences and the Stock- holm Egyptian Museum. The excavations brought out lots of flint instruments and ceramics, as well as an unusual type of burial, of which the only other example exists in al-rUmari near Hel- wan, characterized by tombs found not in cemeteries but in the middle of the settlement. An international rescue operation in Lower Nubia is linked with the name of Hanns Stock. Between 1961 and 1963 the giant Roman temple of Kalabsha, which was threatened by the waters of the new Aswan dam, was removed under his scientific supervision to a place immediately south of the dam, where it was reconstructed. Moreover the archaeological investigation of the temple's foundations yielded additional information about remnants of Ptolemaic monuments preceding the temple. An entrance-gate found there was presented by the Egyptian government to the Fed- eral Republic of Germany in thanks for the rescue of the temple. The gate is at present in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin. One of the greatest projects of the Institute in recent times is an excavation in Elephantine, for which eleven campaigns have been carried out so far since 1969, all in co-operation with the Swiss Institute for Egyptian Architecture and Antiquities. The aim of these campaigns is to fol-

4 low up the history of an ancient Egyptian town in the course of several millennia. They have already succeeded in uncovering the ancient and antique history. Moreover, single periods of the development of the town's main temple will be reconstructed. Work concerning the Ancient Kingdom and the 18th Dynasty is about to be completed. Since 1973, the Institute has been co-operating with the Egyptian Department for Antiqui- ties in the investigation, renewal, and restoration of late medieval buildings in Cairo, choosing to start with the madrasa of AmTr Mitqal. Afterwards work was continued with the tomb of Sheikh Sindn. Both monuments belong to the 14th century. In order to continue working on the Darb Qirmiz road, where some objects had already been treated before, extensive plans for the project as a whole were presented. Work was completed in 1979 with the restoration of three more monuments, amongst which the madrasa of the

Princess Tatar al-kligaz -iya in the Cairo al-öamalTya district. This is the madrasa which will be handed over to-morrow to the Department of Antiquities. Incidentally, all these restorations have been supported by donations from the German Government. Besides purely archaeological projects, the Cairo Department supervises works of a philo- logical and historical nature. In the field of Islamic studies, one may mention the critical editions of »Sources for the History of Muslim Egypt«. In that of early Christian Egypt, one can cite the edi- tion of gnostic manuscripts from the find of Nail' IjamädT, made in co-operation with the Cairo Coptic Museum. The Department's achievements can be witnessed in its scientific publications, which started in 1930, i. e. after the Department's integration within the German Archaeological Institute. Ear- lier, the Department felt no need for publications of its own, owing to its close ties with scientific academies having wide editing opportunities. In 1930, the Department was given its own review in the Cairo »Mitteilungen«, of which about 40 volumes have appeared so far. In 1958, »Abhand- lungen« i. e. Transactions were created in three series: one in Egyptology, another in Coptic studies, and a third one in Islamic studies. Since 1960, the above-mentioned, »Sources for the History of Muslim Egypt« started to come out. The series, »Archäologische Veröffentlichungen« followed in 1970, and was joined from 1975 onward by monographs or separate papers. All in all, more than a hundred volumes have been published.

Outlining the activities of the Cairo Department and its development from an Egyptological nucleus to a more or less all-round center of Egyptian humanities, the question about the reac- tion of the guest-country to such an establishment seems to be appropriate. In view of the great number of contacts and common activities which could be dealt with here, we should be satisfied with some examples. The seventy-five years of the Institute's history coincide with that period of Egyptian history in which this country attempted to and succeeded in catching up with modern sciences. Two dates show this fact clearly: The creation of Cairo University almost simultaneously with the German Institute, and the foundation of the University's Archaeological Institute about fifty years ago. In this development, the Cairo Department took an active part. Thus, Ludwig Borchardt had already worked as assistant to the Egyptian Department of Antiquities at the Cairo Museum, long before he became the Institute's first director. Beginning with 1931, Hermann Junker lec- tured at Cairo University, where he became in 1934 a full professor for Egyptology and director of the Archaeological Institute. In this functions, as well as in his Senate membership since 1935, he vigorously emphasized the need for the creation of an Egypt°logical Institution both for teaching and research in Egypt. He encouraged close German-Egyptian co-operation in this field

5 by sending highly qualified Egyptian students to German universities, where they had the oppor- tunity to obtain their doctorate and their »Habilitation«. Twenty-five years ago, I spoke at the reopening of the Cairo Department and expressed the hope that this Establishment would develop into a connecting link between German and Egyp- tian Humanities. Has this expectation been realized? Each year, two or three Egyptian scholars are invited by the Institute to spend several weeks or months of study in Germany. Since 1960, more than ten young Egyptologists have been sent for study to German universities, where they obtained their doctorates. Great is the number of those Egyptian colleagues who participated in the scientific projects of the Department, and of those who collaborated in its publications. This is true of all the fields included in these publications. We are very happy that Egyptian and German colleagues have followed this course, and we hope they will keep it up.