Today Mar Shiprim invites you to Spain, as we spotlight the Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the Universidad de Alcalá.
Thanks to Josué J. Justel, who kindly agreed to answer a few questions, we offer you an insight into the history of this prestigious University and present a few research projects in Assyriology and Egyptology which are currently ongoing there. Enjoy the reading!
Please tell us about yourself!
Josué J. Justel at the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago
I am an Associate Professor of Ancient History at the Universidad de Alcalá, in a city very close to Madrid, in Spain. I studied in various cities in Spain (Zaragoza and Madrid) as well as abroad, especially in Germany (Berlin, Leipzig) and France (Paris, Nanterre). During my career, I have worked on various topics; however, they have generally been focused on cuneiform documentation generated in the Late Bronze Age by various societies, especially in the north of Mesopotamia and Syria. For quite a while now, the main focus of my attention has been the Nuzi textual corpus and the enormous mass of legal texts that it contains, some of them as yet unpublished. In addition, another of the topics on which I have worked intensively is that of women in the Ancient Near East, especially from a legal perspective.
Can you give us a short history of Assyriology at the Universidad de Alcalá?
In reality, Assyriology as such did not exist at the Universidad de Alcalá until I arrived there in 2015. However, that has a logical explanation. The Universidad de Alcalá was founded in 1499 by Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, confessor to Isabella the Catholic and a leading figure in the politics of the time. It was an institution of academic excellence, and it was a leading centre for disseminating the humanistic tradition during the 16th and 17th centuries (in fact, in 1998, it was added to the World Heritage list, an honour that has been granted to just four other universities in the world). During the Renaissance, students at Alcalá learnt rhetoric, canon law, medicine, etc., but overall education included a fundamental role for learning ancient languages, which were, of course, Latin and Greek. From the 18th century onwards, with the decline of Alcalá de Henares and the growth of Madrid, which lies about 30 km away, the Universidad de Alcalá declined in importance until 1836, when the institution was integrated into the courses of other centres in the capital, which gave rise to the Universidad Central de Madrid, the future Universidad Complutense, the best known of the region (Complutum was the name that the Romans gave Alcalá de Henares, which shows that the Universidad Central de Madrid felt itself to be the direct descendant of the former Universidad de Alcalá). Only with the increase in student numbers from the 1970s onwards did new universities begin to be established in the region. One of them was that of Alcalá, which was refounded in 1977 after a hiatus of almost two centuries.
The historical building of the Universidad de Alcalá (16th century)
The historical importance of the Universidad de Alcalá is related above all to the desire to convert it into a centre for humanistic studies. It cannot be forgotten that a large number of Spanish historical figures from the 16th and 17th centuries studied in its classrooms, including Antonio de Nebrija, Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, Ignacio de Loyola, Ambrosio de Morales, Francisco Suárez, Juan de Mariana, Mateo Alemán, Lope de Vega, Francisco de Quevedo, and Pedro Calderón de la Barca; as an example, Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, was born in Alcalá de Henares. For our field, that importance is more related to a very concrete enterprise: producing the so-called Complutensian Polyglot Bible (1520), a scientific edition of the Old and New Testaments based on the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, and with a translation into Latin. To produce that magnum opus, the Universidad recruited the best specialists of the time in Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic (many of them of Jewish ancestry). The study of these languages continued until the Universidad ceased to exist in the 19th century.
And what is the situation today? How are Ancient Near Eastern Studies perceived, inside and outside the University?
The Universidad de Alcalá continues to be a reference institution in the field of the Humanities in Spain, especially in linguistics and literature, both historical and modern. Moreover, in History, for example, areas like Prehistory and Modern History are of prime importance on the international scene. And, of course, in Ancient History, a highlight is classical studies, which, at this institution, are partly focused on the East. For example, we have leading researchers working on the impact of Alexander the Great’s conquest on the Persian Empire, and on the situation in the East in Late Antiquity.
The disciplines of Assyriology and Egyptology form part of that area of Ancient History. We work together with our colleagues from the Classical World, although we teach about Mesopotamia and Egypt as well as other related disciplines (the Levantine World, the Aramæan World, the History of Women, Digital Humanities, etc.).
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Logo of the Universidad de Alcalá (left), modified for representing the ANE studies at the institution (right)
Given that students do not usually have the opportunity to study the history of the Ancient Near East in the course of their lives, we have put together a very attractive subject for them. They feel fascinated by ancient writings, by Eastern societies, and, of course, by the world of the pyramids. Outside the university, events that we organise (talks, lectures, seminars, etc.) are well attended, since they offer the public something new. That said, the pandemic that we are living through has made this year rather different…
Which research projects focusing on the Ancient Near East are currently ongoing at your Department? How many people are involved, and which main goals are you pursuing?
I focus on Mesopotamia, and I specialise in the north, especially in textual documentation from Nuzi (15th–14th centuries BCE) and from neighbouring archives, i.e., especially cities that fall within the Hurrian area. A project on which I am working at this moment is publishing some unedited texts from Nuzi that are found in various Western museums, and revising another set of texts published almost a century ago. Other persons who come under me also work on Nuzi. For example, Albert Planelles is finalising his doctoral thesis on the epistolary genre of these archives, in the context of the administrative machinery of the Kingdom of Arraphe (of which Nuzi was a part). Macarena Calzado helps with IT work relating to maintaining the databases of legal texts (which only include Nuzi at the moment). Dr. Sara Arroyo is studying, from an iconographic perspective, the relevance of images, to learn about the religion that was followed in Nuzi and of which texts tell us little. And Dr. Daniel Justel studies, in particular, the Babylonian world during the first millennium; amongst other areas, questions on childhood in the society of the south of Mesopotamia in the 7th to 5th centuries BCE, the role of Jewish refugees, etc. All of these people were recruited using greatly varied funds: from the Ministry of Science, the Community of Madrid, the Community of Castilla-La Mancha, etc.
Josué J. Justel delivering a lecture during the Current Research in Egyptology congress
Most of our Eastern Studies group is made up of Egyptologists, ten people in total who cover a variety of topics. Dr. Antonio J. Morales (Assistant Professor) directs the Middle Kingdom Theban Project, which involves annual excavations in Egypt. That is something of the highest importance for an institution like the Universidad Alcalá, given that the institution derives status and renown from it. Dr. Carlos Gracia Zamacona (Assistant Professor) specialises in Ancient Egyptian grammar and directs a project on texts found on sarcophagi, Mortexvar. With them are several post-doctoral researchers and students, covering a lot of topics.
In your opinion, what is the current situation of Ancient Near Eastern studies in Spain? What should be improved, and how do you feel about future prospects?
Spain has not had a tradition of Assyriology as in other neighbouring countries; hence, we cannot currently match Germany or the United Kingdom, for example. There are just programmes that cover only the Ancient East. However, there are first-rate Assyriologists working abroad (for example, Enrique Jiménez and Gonzalo Rubio), and in Spain, there are extremely strong research groups in our discipline. For example, in the Madrid area alone, I can count no fewer than 15 people of the first rank, including: Jaume Llop (Universidad Complutense de Madrid); Joaquín Córdoba, Marcos Such (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid); Manuel Molina, Bárbara Böck, my Doktorvater Juan Pablo Vita (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), etc. In addition, some Master’s courses focused on the cultures of Antiquity (in Madrid and Barcelona alike) have shown themselves to be of high quality. In Alcalá de Henares, we have, for a number of years, taught language courses (Sumerian, Akkadian, Egyptian, etc.) alongside official study programmes, and that has been very well received. Which city with fewer than 200 000 inhabitants can say that it has ten students in Sumerian I! And starting in the academic year 2020–2021, we have an official Egyptology studies programme with a very high number of registered students.
Participants of the Current Research in Egyptology congress
What do you think could be improved in the way in which Assyriology presents itself to the general Spanish public, outside the specificities of our discipline?
Clearly, access to our discipline must be through attractive topics. Few students fall in love with Assyriology through studying the Sumerian ergative. However, if they are shown that studying the language leads us to understand the ancient religion, the society, the situation of women and children… that changes a lot.
Dissemination activities: children inscribing signs in clay
In addition, I feel that it is important to disseminate our knowledge to the general public, and to offer events that act as cultural catalysts for the society that subsidises our work. An excellent example is that of congresses and exhibitions. In 2019, the Universidad de Alcalá hosted the congress on Current Research in Egyptology, which was a real success, with a session given over to the relationships between Mesopotamia and Egypt. For 2022, we are getting ready to present an exhibition on childhood in the ancient world, which will coincide with the Universidad de Alcalá, holding the annual conference of the Society for the Study of Childhood in the Past. Who knows if, in the future, the IAA may accept our request to host the RAI…
What do you think is the key to a successful academic project in Near Eastern Studies?
I would say, in the following order: preparation as well as knowledge of the topic; perseverance; and luck. And don’t organise excavation campaigns and research stays during a pandemic!