Masters Degrees (Ancient Studies)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Ancient Studies) by Author "Beek, Pieta van,1958-"

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    Anna Maria van Schurman (1607-1678) en haar kennis van oud-oosterse talen
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2003-12) Beek, Pieta van,1958-; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Ancient Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: We know very little about women who studied and excelled in the field of Semitic languages in the seventeenth century - it is an unknown territory, terra incognita. In this thesis I will map Anna Maria van Schurman's (1607-1678) studies in Semitic languages. Of the fourteen languages she knew, seven were Semitic or Near-Eastern languages: Hebrew (Rabbinic Hebrew included), Aramaic, Syriac, Samaritan, Arabic, Persian or Ethiopian. The thesis commences with a brief discussion of her life (including some new material), followed by an overview of the knowledge about Semitic languages that prevailed in the seventeenth century, which at the time underwent a surge of growth. Thereafter the discussion will focus on Van Schurman's mentor, Voetius, and his knowledge and views of Semitic languages. It will be based on the Sermoen (lecture) delivered at the opening of the University of Utrecht in 1636. His library, which Van Schurman used, also appears to be an invaluable source, full of reference books for the study of 'orientaelsche' languages. In order to determine the standard of Van Schurman's work, it was useful to read first what her contemporaries wrote about her, as well as what she wrote in her various works, including her autobiographies, about Semitic languages. Adfontes did I research what has been preserved in these seven languages: letters in Hebrew, a poem, many references - in particular in Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac and Arabic - in her works such as the Dissertatio, the Opuscula Hebraea Graeca Latina et Gallica, unpublished letters and the texts she wrote in alba amicorum and on polyglottal artworks in Hebrew, Rabbinic Hebrew, Syriac, Aramaic, Arabic, Samaritan and Ethiopian. Her letters in Hebrew (and some letters to her) have only now been translated for the first time. From these it seems that she had, in contrast to her work in Latin, Greek, Dutch and French, such a religious regard for Hebrew that she wrote these letters as a collage of Biblical texts. It was, however, also an intellectual game. Van Schurman designed a grammar for Ethiopian, an outstanding achievement in the erudite Netherlands. Although it is thought to be lost, it is nevertheless possible to ascertain, by means of reports and poems by her contemporaries, what constituted this grammar. Lastly, Van Schurman's oeuvre is compared to that of the men and women of the educated community in Europe (Res Publica Litterarum ) who were also involved in the study of 'orientaelsche' languages. She was a source of inspiration for several women, such as Marie du Moulin, who also studied Hebrew and corresponded with Van Schurman in Hebrew. Anna Maria Van Schurman can rightfully be called the only female christian hebraist who could hold her own in the company of her male counterparts, despite the fact that, as a woman, she did not have the same opportunities as they had. She even exceeds them in her knowledge of Ethiopian. With regard to other women, she undoubtedly stood head and shoulders above them, and deserves to be known as the "Babel of her time".