Von Berlin nach Meroe: Erinnerungen an den Agyptologen Fritz Hintze (1915-1993).

• Author: Feder, Frank
• Position: Book review

Von Berlin nach Meroe: Erinnerungen an den Agyptologen Fritz Hintze (1915-1993). Edited by ERIKA ENDESFELDER. Asien- und Afrikastudien der Humboldt-Universitat, vol. 3. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2003. Pp. 111. (paper)

Volume 3 of Asien- und Afrikastudien der Humboldt-Universitat contains a number of papers presented during a colloquium that took place on 20 April 1995 to celebrate, two years after his sudden death in an accident, the eightieth birthday of the German Egyptologist and pioneer in the study of Meroitic language and culture in the Sudan, Fritz Hintze. The event, therefore, gathered above all Hintze's colleagues and students who followed and accompanied the honoree on his scholarly path. The variety of his academic interests is also reflected by the various disciplines of the participants in the colloquium. Unfortunately, the volume appeared only after a considerable delay, and not all those who took part in the colloquium submitted their papers for publication.

The subtitle of the volume is mirrored in the personal character of some contributions (e.g., H. Horz, "Das Verhaltnis Fritz Hintzes zur Philosophie--Erinnerungen mit Anmerkungen"). Since there had already been two Festschriften in honor of Hintze's scholarly achievements (on the occasion of his sixtieth and seventy-fifth birthdays: Agypten und Kusch [Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1977]; Studia in honorem Fritz Hintze [Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1990]), these articles focus on Hintze's importance for the development of the institutions for which he was responsible and with which he was associated in one way or another, contributions that are considered here in the larger historical context (e.g., E. Blumenthal, "Berliner und Leipziger Agyptologie"; E. Endesfelder, "Die Agyptologie an der Berliner Universitat"; W. F. Reineke, "Fritz Hintze und die agyptologische Arbeit an der Berliner Akademie"; St. Wenig, "Fritz Hintze als Ausgraber").

One of Hintze's particular merits was doubtless the application of computer-based analysis to archaeological and philological data in the humanities. He was able to inspire many colleagues, even beyond the frontiers of his own area of specialization, to recognize...