Die Assyriologie nicht weiter unberücksichtigt bleiben dürfte: On the (Non-)Existence of Assyriology at the German University in Prague (1908–1945)

According to the master narrative of Assyriology in Czechia, it all began upon the return of Bedřich Hrozný from Vienna to Prague and his appointment as Professor of Cuneiform Studies and History of the Ancient Orient at Charles University in 1919.¹ Assyriology then thrived for decades at the university department founded by Hrozný as well as at the independent Oriental Institute established three years later.² The dominance of Hrozný and his school (notably Lubor Matouš, Josef Klíma, and Vladimír Souček) in the historiography of Assyriology in Czechia clearly hinges on the spectacular achievements of the decipherment of the Hittite language,