Asiatic Quarterly Review (Full Title: The Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review, and Oriental and Colonial Record): Volume XIII, No. 26 [‎490r] (104/238)

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QUARTERLY REPORT ON SEMITIC STUDIES
AND ORIENTALISM.
By Professor Dr. Edward Montet.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS—ASSYRIOLOGY.
We shall note, at the outset, the “ Actes du premier Congres international
d’histoire des religions, Paris, 1900 ,” the first part of which (the report
of general meetings) has only appeared * This very interesting vo ume
contains the proces-verbaux of the sittings, discussions, and papers read at
the general meetings. The most important of these papers are the follow
ing S “ Buddhism and Yoga,” by Senart; “Biblical Criticism and^ the
History of Religions,” by A. Sabatier; “ Islamism and Parsusm, by
Goldziher • “ The Historical Relation between Religion and Morality, by
Goblet d’Alviella; “The Present State of Instruction in the History o
Religions,” by Jean Rbville; “An Historical Sketch of the Congress of
Religions at Chicago in 1893 ,” by C. Carroll B o nn <^-
Since our last Report, there has appeared the continuation of the
“ History of Religions in Ancient Times,”+ by the lamented Tiele, whose
recent demise has plunged into grief all who knew the eminent professor.
The volume treats of Mazdeism and the Avesta.
Under the title of “ Die-geistige Kultur der semitischen Volker, +
T Koberle has published an interesting and judicious lecture on the nature
of the civilization and spiritual development of Semitic peoples more
particularly the Arabs. The author lays stress, and rightly, on Semitic
individualism. In their language, their conception of nature, their style of
expressing and solving the problems of a moral and spiritual order the
Semites have the tendency to assign everything to self. The Semites have
the gift of observing details, but they lack that of synthesis and generaliza
tion The author, after sketching a bright picture of the civilization of
the Arabs in the Middle Ages, concludes by saying that, notwithstanding
this glory of former times, humanity owes more in a spiritual sense to the
humble Israelite than to the great Arab race, whose civilization disappeared
as rapidly as it appeared with so much ostentation.^ .
On the subject of Assyriology we may first mention the publication o a
new fascicule of the Assyrian-English-German Dictionary, by Muss-Arno t ;§
it is a long time since we had occasion to refer to lt -
The “ Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek,” published by Schrader, has been
enriched by two new and important parts, which complete the sixth volume
_<< Assyrisch-babylonische Mythen und Epen,” of Jensen.||
; “ed^vTnden Godsdienst in de Oudheid tot op Alexander den Groot,”
vol. ii., partii., Amsterdam, van Kampen, 1901 .
I Leipzig, Deichert, 1901 .
§ nth Lieferung, Berlin, Reuther und Reichard, 1901 .
|| Berlin, Reuther und Reichard, 1901 .