É. Apor , I. Ormos (ed.): Goldziher Memorial Conference, June 21–22, 2000, Budapest.
ORMOS, István: The Correspondence of Ignaz Goldziher and Max Herz
THE CORRESPONDENCE OF IGNAZ GOLDZIHER AND MAX H ERZ Herz thanks Goldziher for his article on the veneration of Muslim saints in Egypt 8" in the following words: "I liked your Heiligenkultus very much. I thank you for the pleasure given by it. I was already thinking that you had missed the tombs VI but 1 have found them at last. It was not only that I liked your study but it interested me somewhat directly too because my works bring me into direct contact with this cult of the dead. You are right; it is to be regretted that in our Institute we do not have people active in the field of Arab cultural history. Everybody throws himself upon the Pharaonic period, perhaps because there it is easier to give free rein to blague [= brag, bounce, swagger]. It is the local scholars themselves who could do something in the field of Arabic studies but they seem to regard this ground as profanation. Alas! 1 am planning to collect data when 1 have the opportunity and 1 shall gladly put them at your disposal. (Ihr Heiligenkultus hat mir sehr sehr gefallen. Danke für den mir hiedurch bereiteten Genuß. Schon glaubte ich, daß Ihnen die Gräber úí »_> [ j] vi entgangen waren, da fand ich sie denn doch zuletzt. Die Studie gefiel mir nicht nur, sie interessirte mich auch ein wenig direct, denn meine Arbeiten bringen mich in direkte Beziehung zu diesem Todtenkultus. Sie haben recht: es ist schade, daß wir in unserem Institut keine Leute haben, die etwas arabische Kulturgeschichte treiben. Alles wirft sich auf die pharaonische Zeit, vielleicht weil man da der 'Blague ' leichter die Zügel schießen lassen kann. Wer im Arabischen etwas thun könnte, sind die Eingeborenen selbst, die scheinen aber dieses Terrain als Profanation zu betrachten. Schade! Ich nehme mir vor, wenn ich Gelegenheit haben werde, Daten zu sammeln, die ich Ihnen gerne zur Verfugung stellen werde. )" 8 3 Around 1911 several letters deal with Goldziher's eventual guest professorship at the newly founded Egyptian University. Herz states explicitly that it was he who first suggested to the organizers that they invite Goldziher 8 4 and then it was Prince Ahmad Fu'äd, 8 5 who played an outstanding role in the development of the university, who made many efforts to persuade Goldziher to accept the invitation to deliver the course "History of Philosophical Doctrines (il corso di storia de/le dottrine filosofiche)" at the Egyptian University during the winter semester beginning on 15 November 1911. In the beginning the confidential soundings were carried out via Herz and then in the later phases of the undertaking Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, and Count Széchenyi, the diplomatic 8 2 Goldziher, 'Aus dem mohammedanischen Heiligenkultus in Ägypten...,' 233-240. [= Id., Gesammelte Schriften..., vol. IV, 111-118.] See the reference to Herz on p. 236 [= 114]. 8 3 Letter dated Hotel Beau-Séjour, Stresa, Lago Maggiore, 1 August 1897. 8 4 Letter dated Cairo, 6 January 1911. 8 5 He later became Sultan Fu'äd and subsequently King Fu'äd I. On him see Rasid Kämil, Al-Matika Näzli. Garäm wa-intiqäm, Cairo 1998, 10-31; Goldschmidt Jr., Biographical Dictionary..., Cairo 2000, 59-60. 183
