Non-Jewish Institutions and the Research of Palestine during the British Mandate Period: Part Two / המוסדות הזרים לארכאולוגיה ולחקירת ארץ-ישראל בתקופת המנדט: חלק ב

In this article, the author continues his description of the activities of non-Jewish institutions involved in archaeological excavations and research in Palestine during the British Mandate period (for Part One see Cathedra, no. 92 [June 1999]). First treated are the German institutions: the Deutschen Palästina-Vereins and its important journal, Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins; the Deutsche Evangelische Institut für Altertumswissenschaft des heiligen Landes zu Jerusalem and the scholarly achievements of its two early directors, Gustaf Dalman and Albrecht Alt; and additional German institutions and personalities active in this field. French institutions and personalities are then discussed. These include the École Biblique et Archéologique Française and archaeologists connected with it such as Joseph Lagrange, Eduard Dhorme, Louis-Hughes Vincent, François-Marie Abel and others. Additional French scholars and institutions include the French Consul in Jerusalem René Neuville, the Jewish archaeologist Judith Marqet-Krause who received financial aid from Baron Edmond de Rothschild, and Catholic institutions such as the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum and the Jerusalem branch of the Pontifical Biblical Institute. A special section is devoted to the extensive activity of the American School of Archaeology and Oriental Research under the dominant leadership of William Foxwell Albright. The overall efforts of the School and the other personalities connected with it are surveyed, as well as those of additional American institutions, expeditions and archaeologists. The fourth section deals with the Palestine Oriental Society, established in 1920 at the beginning of the Mandate period. The author dwells on its fields of activity and the people involved — members of the foreign institutions as well as Arab and Jewish scholars. The article concludes with some observations concerning foreign involvement in the research of Palestine during the Mandate period: a) That period was the golden age of the involvement of foreign institutions in the research of Palestine; b) Each national group placed a different emphasis on the study of Palestine; c) The major emphasis was on Biblical archaeology, though first steps were taken in the study of the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods as well, and great advances were made in the archaeology of the prehistoric periods; d) One of the most interesting developments was the establishment of the Palestine Oriental Society