Chapter 4 - From the study of languages to the study of cultures

Because Biblical Hebrew is almost exclusively documented in the Old Testament, the meaning of the many hapax legomena (words that occur only once) could only be recovered with the help of related languages. For that reason, theologians studied not only Aramaic and Arabic, but also other Semitic languages such as Ethiopian, Armenian, Syrian and, in order to understand Arabic better, Turkish. They were hoping to recover the true meaning of the Bible and to convert the speakers of those foreign languages to Christianity with the help of translated texts.

As a result of the study of their languages, knowledge of these cultures and their history increased, as well as the idea that these cultures could only be understood ‘from the inside’. Scholars became more interested in knowing what Islam was about. At the end of the 17th century, Adriaan Reland, professor at Utrecht, made a first attempt to explain what it was in Islam that attracted so many followers.

Studiosus in cubicolo (a student in his room). Etching, artist unknown, ca. 1650

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

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The language of Jesus

Everardus van der Hooght (1642-1716), Aramaic grammar, manuscript, Nieuwendam 1687

Aramaic (then called Chaldean) was the original language of parts of the Old Testament and the Talmud, and possibly also the language spoken by Jesus. Like Hebrew and Arabic, it belongs to the Semitic family of languages.

Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana, Amsterdam. [Hs. Ros. 294]

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Islamic text in Hebrew

Dionysius Vossius, ‘Fragments of his study of Arabic’, ca. 1630

In addition to French, Latin and Greek, Gerard Vossius’ son, who died at the age of 21, studied Hebrew, Armenian and Arabic; the latter as a student of Erpenius. This Hebrew translation from the ‘language of Ishmail’, about ritual cleansing or wudhu, was found among his papers.

University Libraries, Amsterdam. [OTM: B C 6]

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Teach yourself Ethiopian

Notes by Johannes Theunisz

Without a teacher or textbook, this was the way to learn a foreign language: by means of an Ethiopian translation of the psalms and the New Testament – texts that every Christian knew virtually by heart. Theunisz identified the various forms of the words that he encountered in order to deduce the grammar from them.

University Libraries, Amsterdam. [III C 27a]

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In order to understand the ‘Arab’

Thomas Erpenius, Locmani sapientis fabulae et selecta quaedam arabum adagio, Leiden 1615

The animal fables of Luqman had been popular in the Arab world for centuries. Erpenius printed an Arabic-Latin version at his own press, so that students could simultaneously learn Arabic and something of the Arab mentality.

University Libraries, Amsterdam.

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Proverbs: mirror of the spirit of a people

Thomas Erpenius, Kitâb al-amthâl seu proverbium Arabicorum centuriae duae, Leiden 1614

'Don't chat with a lion with four paws', or: be careful with whom you associate. Concise proverbs were a favourite means of learning a foreign language, and simultaneously provided insight into another culture.

University Libraries, Amsterdam.

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Persian proverbs

Levinus Warner, Proverbium et sententiarum Persicarum centuria, Leiden 1644

A hundred Persian proverbs and aphorisms, translated into Latin by Levinus Warner. According to Warner, who could read all three languages, Arabic was subtle, Turkish majestic and Persian elegant.

University Libraries, Leiden.

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Shared search for knowledge

Draft version of a letter from Erpenius to Ahmad ibn Qasim al-Hajari, Paris 1611

In Spanish, Erpenius asks the much older al-Hajari respectfully to explain some words in the Koran. The signature is striking: in order to avoid expressing a crucial distinction between Islam and Christianity, he refers to Jesus as the son of Maria, not the son of God.

University Libraries, Leiden. [Or. 1228-39]

[partial translation:] As Aristotle, the chief philosopher and Alexander’s tutor, said: ‘verily human being longs for knowledge, and this longing is an innate quality since he is born with no knowledge of anything at all. In the beginning his mind is comparable to an unmarked slate, but when it has been filled with wisdom and knowledge it is like a handsomely wrought tablet.

A knowledge of languages has been a great help in acquiring what I really value – especially those languages which are most necessary for that: Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Arabic. With a great deal of effort I have taught myself something about them, though very little in the case of Arabic because of its great difficulty and the lack of books and teachers in this country. From every Arab who came here I have picked up some saying and words in their language in order to increase my knowledge and to content my soul.

You too, o my lord, you have been kind to me and taught me more than I deserve. [...] For this reason I am resorting to your kindness and seeking your help now.

Explain for me, by God Almighty, in Spanish the meanings of these words which I have read in the Surat al-Baqara of the Glorious Qur’an: [blank, for this was a trial for the letter sent]. [...]

Written at Paris in the month of September in the year 1611 of our Lord Jesus Christ, son of Mary. Glory to Him, from your friend and servant Thomas van Erpen.

Translation: Robert Jones, Learning Arabic in Renaissance Europe (1505-1624). Unpublished dissertation, London University, School of Oriental and African Studies, 1988, p. 116-119.

A wonderful language

Ahmad ibn Qasim al-Hajari, letter to ‘Monsuor Arpenius Flamenco’

Al-Hajari was very enthusiastic about Erpenius’ letter. The salutation in his answer resembles the greeting in the Christian epistolary tradition: ‘and greet those who conform to the guidance of God, who is all-powerful on earth and in heaven’.

John Rylands Library, University of Manchester [Persian ms 913, 88]

You must realise that in the Sunni books there are many hadiths in which the Prophet – may God bless him and keep him – says that scholars are the heirs of the prophecy; and if there were no knowledge or no scholars, God would not be known. He said: whoever serves God without knowledge is like someone who measures the sea but does not know that it rises and falls. And he said: whoever teaches others the knowledge what he has been taught will be rewarded. Whoever behaves in conformity with this will be rewarded on the Day of Judgment. […] What you say, that you are so enthusiastic about the Arabic language – yes, it is a language that is wonderfully efficient. […] A poet said: If the birds knew grammar, they would descend in delight and their bills would no longer chirp incomprehensibly.

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Style manual for Turkish, Persian, Arabic

Sa’deddin Hoca (1536–1599), Manual on the art of letter-writing, undated copy, probably from the 17th century

Texts by various writers in Turkish, Persian and Arabic about letter-writing. One of the chapters comprises standard phrases and greetings. An ideal textbook, bought by Warner and bequeathed to the University of Leiden after his death.

University Libraries, Leiden.

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Foreign peoples

Abd al-Aziz taught his host more than Arabic. It would appear from Theunisz’s vocabulary that the Moroccan told him much about his life and his country, for example, about the nomadic Bedouins.

University Libraries, Amsterdam [OTM: III C 8]

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The true Ka’ba

Adriaan Reland, De religione Mohammedica […], Utrecht 1705

Reland (1676-1718) was professor of Oriental languages at the University of Utrecht. He studied Arabic for the sake of Biblical exegesis and also in order to understand the history and culture of the Arab people without prejudice. This engraving is considered to be the first accurate representation of the shrine in Mecca.

University Libraries, Amsterdam.