“Familiar Stranger” is the title of a series that reviews the careers and lives of foreign writers and researchers interested in Iranian culture and literature.
The first issue of this series is dedicated to Theodor Nerdocke, born on March 2, 1836 in a small town near Hamburg, Germany. His education began under the guidance of his father, who studied classic Greek and Latin literature. He then studied under his father’s old friend Heinrich Ewald. He was an expert and expert in Oriental language. During this period, Nöldeke became interested in Eastern studies and pursued theology, philosophy and Semitic education to the doctoral level. At age 20, he received his first doctorate in a dissertation on the history of the Quran.
In his paper entitled History of the Qur’an, he divided the study into two sections. This is a study of the literary history of the Qur’an and European Orientalists using Islamic sources. This subject remained the most important focus of his research throughout his life.
Study of the Quran as a revelation and historical text
In 1858, Theodor Neldoke won the Palia Academy Award. This is the award for writing an essay on the Quran. Two years later, he published a German translation of his doctoral dissertation under the title of the history of the Quran. The book was later republished in cooperation with revisions and his students.
Following his doctoral studies, Nöldeke first traveled to Vienna, the capital of Austria, and then to Leiden, the Netherlands, where he spent about a month examining Arabic manuscripts. In April 1858 he moved to Berlin, where he studied Arabic and Turkish manuscripts, and in the library there he compiled a catalog of Turkish manuscripts.
In 1861, at the age of 25, Neldke was appointed Professor of Semitic Language and Professor of Islamic History at the University of Göttingen. Eleven years later, he joined Strasbourg University. His main focus was on the history of Islamic civilization and Semitic language, but he had extensive knowledge and proficiency in various fields related to Oriental studies. His expertise in Semitic language (Arabic, Syrian, Hebrew, Aramaic) made his work extremely important and widely praised for his knowledge of Persian language.
Nöldek’s The History of the History is his most notable work. This book is considered the first complete translation of the Holy Quran. Despite being published over a century ago, Western researchers still reference it.
Nöldeke has categorized the Quran suras by two main groups: Meccan and Medinan. He further subdivided them into smaller sections, and eventually organized them into three Meccan periods and one Medin period. His approach examined Sula’s time series and its linguistic style, and analyzed the Qur’an revelations related to historical events and time slots.
In this way, the surahs were arranged in the order of revelation rather than in the traditional order. For example, Surah Al-Anbiya, chapter 21 of the Quran, was placed as the 65th Sula in the Nöldeke classification. He viewed this structure as a comprehensive and systematic way of studying sacred texts, allowing for theological, literary and historical analysis.
Another important work by Nöldeke is a relatively short biography of Muhammad, providing a brief account of the life and times of the Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) based on historical stories. However, both of these books have been subject to criticism.
Beyond his studies of the Quran, Nöldeke also wrote works in linguistics, particularly in ancient grammar, including Aramaic, Syriac and classical Arabic.
The beginning of Nöldeke’s Iranology, his work
Nöldeke’s work on Arabic and Islamic studies ultimately led him to research in Iran. By examining the Persian sources and descriptions of Sassanid in Tariq al-Tabari, he began studying Pahlavi texts such as Shahnameh and Karnamag Al-Dasha. During this time he learned the intermediate Persian language, which had previously gained proficiency in modern Persian.
His research in Iranian studies is extensive and covers not only historical topics but also language features, morphology, geography, mythology, epic tales, and even character traits. The results of these studies led to two major works. It is the history of Persians and Arabs in the Sassanid period and the Iranian national epic. The former was translated into Persian by Abbas Zaryab Koei, and the latter by Bozorg Aravi.
The history of the Persians and Arabs during the Sassanid period (Geschichte der Perser and Arab Zur Zeit der Sasaniden) examines the Sassanid Empire and its relationships with the Arabs. This is one of the important sources for studying the history of Sassanid. Another notable work, Kitab Al Chabal (his translation and analysis of Tariq Al Tabari’s Iranian section), focuses on some of Tariq Al Tabari, which deals with Iran; Provides important insight into the Sassanid era and a transition of power to Muslims.
In his book The National Epic of Iran (Das Iranische National Epos), Nöldek, published in 1920, analyzed Shahnameh as the Iranian national epic. He wrote that its structure, content and historical features. and aims to explore cultural significance and establish its position in world literature. In his study of the source of Shaname, he has created its historical and narrative aspects of ancient Iranian and Arabic texts and Comparisons were made and historical accuracy was assessed.
Neldke’s views on Shaname
Nöldeke analyzed Shahnameh from a historical and mythical perspective. He believed that the epic was a fusion of the true history, legends and oral stories of ancient Iran. He pointed to the influence of Kwade Namug (the King’s Book) on the Sassanian sources, particularly the structure of Shaname.
He criticized certain stories for their historical inaccuracies while admiring Shaname’s epic and literary values. His work had a major impact on Western Iranian studies, and many later scholars adopted his methods and findings in the study of Iranian history and literature. Nöldeke took an important approach to analyzing Shahnameh’s linguistics, style and historical resources. He was one of the first scholars to view Shaname not just as an epic but as a historical source for understanding Iran’s past.
The importance of Nöldeke’s work
In his work on Shename, Nordeke sought a deeper understanding of its historical, mythical and literary aspects. He saw Shaname not only as a masterpiece of literature, but also as an essential source for understanding not only the Islamic period, but also the history and culture of ancient Iran. He also explored the mutual influence of Iranian and Islamic cultures within Shahnameh, highlighting that Feldousi preserved ancient Iranian myths and history in the form of lasting literary works.
Neldeke’s work on Shaname was part of his broader efforts to study and understand the history and culture of Iran and Islamic. His work has contributed significantly to Western scholars’ understanding of Persian literature and the global importance of Shaname. Through his accurate and academic analysis, he illuminated various aspects of this great epic and helped to raise awareness in the West.
Nöldeke’s legacy, final year
Nöldeke holds a prominent place among Easternists and is remembered with great respect. He is considered one of the most influential scholars in the field, and has influenced both contemporaries and later researchers. His extraordinary intelligence, deep knowledge of Greek literature, and acquisition of three Semitic languages (Arabic, Syrian and Hebrew) has been a part of his long life, among German Orientalists as well as scholars around the world. But I was able to achieve a prominent position.
Theodoru Neldeke spent his last year with his son Karlsruhe, and died on December 29, 1930 at the age of 94.
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