Where Does History Begin?: J. G. Herder and the Problem of Near Eastern Chronology in the Age of Enlightenment

This essay treats the very long set of debates concerning biblical and oriental chronology in early modern Europe down to the time of J. G. Herder and William Jones in the later eighteenth century. It shows that sacred chronology remained a burning issue for Herder; controversy about dating "or...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Eighteenth-century studies 2014-12, Vol.47 (2), p.157-175
Main Author: Marchand, Suzanne
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Christian history
Christianity
Classical literature
Cultural history
Humanity
Judaism
Old Testament
Orientalism
Paganism & animism
Religion
Scholars
Theology
Wisdom
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Summary:This essay treats the very long set of debates concerning biblical and oriental chronology in early modern Europe down to the time of J. G. Herder and William Jones in the later eighteenth century. It shows that sacred chronology remained a burning issue for Herder; controversy about dating "oriental" texts did not wane, even as a series of newly-readable, original texts made their way westward. What did happen in Herder's lifetime, however, was that a more specialized classical philology began to set the standards for what counted as wissenschaftlich, making it more difficult for scholarly "orientalists" to make the case that the cultures that they studied really had been at the forefront of cultural developments.
ISSN:0013-2586
1086-315X
1086-315X
DOI:10.1353/ecs.2014.0009