Different subjects together can make for a fascinating exhibition. Encounters with the Orient is about linguists in the seventeenth century as well as two archaeologists and their excavations in more recent times. The common denominator is the convergence of two worlds, as a visit to the Allard Pierson quickly makes clear.
Three different themes are discussed in 'Encounters with the Orient' and they all have their own set-up and interpretation. Yet the exhibition does not feel like a mixed bag. We enter the first part, 'The Wise Men from the East' who map the Wise Men from the East exposed between scientists in the Republic and diplomats, traders and adventurers from the Orient in the seventeenth century.
The atmospheric blue and yellow halls that illuminate these men and their culture are furnished with oriental lamps and many enlarged maps, paintings and drawings from this period. This extra decoration is necessary because the display cases mainly contain books. And as beautiful as they are, only books with Arabic texts are a bit boring as an exhibition.
Arabic books
In the Dutch Golden Age, the century in which trade and wealth as well as developments in science are booming were, the Republic increasingly came into contact with non-Western cultures. Contacts from North Africa and the Middle East gave the Netherlands more objective insights into Arab culture, language and religion:before that, they mainly knew the stereotypical stories about the civilized but sex-hungry Turk from the medieval Crusades.
The nine men from the knowledge network, as highlighted in the exhibition, became friends with Dutch scientists. They helped them with the language and collected or copied Arabic books for them. According to the makers of the exhibition, this created a mutual respect for each other's culture and religion, which we could take as an example today. The common enemy Spain also brought about rapprochement between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic and in 1612 both sides signed a treaty of friendship and free trade.
Respect
So the interest in the Orient initially started with trade but went further than that. Life in the seventeenth century was laced with religion, and to best understand the Hebrew Old Testament, linguists studied the scriptures in ancient translations. Arabic was such a language, which is why Western scientists tried to master it.
In the process, interest in Arab culture and Islam also arose, although that religion was seen by Christians as an error. Through contacts with the East, Western scholars also discovered that many lost works from classical antiquity still existed in Arabic translations. This provided new insights and knowledge in all kinds of scientific fields such as astronomy, mathematics, history, medicine and much more.
New research method
Through the rooms about Arab knowledge, which positively changed the view of Arab culture and religion, you walk into the room about the English archaeologist and Egyptologist Flinders Petrie (1853-1942). In 1884 he carried out his first real excavation in Egypt. He would continue to dig in Egypt until 1926 – with interruptions in the First World War. Gray and white dominate in this room, which fits nicely with the many enlarged photos from the period of black-and-white photography.
Petrie was one of the first to tackle archaeological excavations in a scientific way, unlike his treasure-digging colleagues, and introduced photography during the excavation. He systematically documented all his finds by photographing or drawing them and describing them in detail. His greatest legacy to science is 'sequence dating', the development of comparative research in pottery. He was also one of the first to determine the age of finds on the basis of the different layers in which the Egyptian tombs were located.
Order now
Archaeological excavations in the nineteenth century were different from today. Both individuals and institutions contributed to the funding of excavations. In return they received a share in the finds.
Petrie also got his money that way. He sold many of his finds to museums and wealthy collectors, who could even pre-order certain artifacts. With the growth of nationalism and anti-colonial sentiment in the early twentieth century, the exodus of archaeological finds in Egypt came under pressure.
The headstrong Petrie then decided to leave the country and continue his work in Palestine – today's Israel – which was under the mandate of the United Kingdom. He moved to Jerusalem, where he died in 1942.
Strong woman
The third research that has been given a place in this exhibition is about the archaeologist Emilie Haspels (1894-1980), who would also become director of the Allard Pierson Museum. Like Petrie, this woman was a pioneer in science. Her research on ancient Greek pottery was groundbreaking and she was one of the founders of archaeological landscape research. The books that Haspels wrote about this are still regarded as standard works.
In the room about her work and life, we see photos of a powerful woman who leads excavations deep in the Turkish highlands at a time when it was far from normal. Stern face, pants on and go. Her desk is also set up in the room, which, together with a professor's gown, gives it a personal feeling. And that is the intention, because in addition to many research results, such as the plaster casts she made from archaeological excavations and information about her work, there are many personal letters, photos and objects on display.
For the researchers into Haspels's life, the diary in which she kept everything accurately was very important. As a result, she has not only left a scientific legacy, but also gives us a picture of her as a person. About her perseverance during the primitive conditions of the excavations, about her involvement in women's issues, how she sent useful means of exchange to family from Istanbul during World War II (she had to stay there) and what she thought about the directorship of the Allard Pierson Museum. That was part of her appointment in 1946 as professor of classical archeology and art history at the University of Amsterdam. She felt 'more appropriate as a professor than as a museum curator', she would write to her sister.