Max van Berchem


Max van Berchem was a Swiss epigraphist and historian. Best known as a pioneer of Arabic epigraphy, he created "Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum", an impressive collection of Arabic inscriptions.

History

He studied at the Universities of Geneva, Leipzig, Strasbourg and Berlin, receiving his degree in 1886 with the dissertation La propriété territorial et l'impôt sous les premiers califes.
After graduation, he embarked on scientific expeditions to Egypt, Jerusalem and Palestine, and Syria. On these journeys he studied and collected a vast amount of Arabic inscriptions. Being aware of the enormity of this project, he divided the work amongst others, mostly French and German scholars, with Berchem, for the most part, limiting his personal investigations to the cities of Cairo, Jerusalem and Damascus. In his work, he used photography as a means to record Arabic inscriptions. Between 1895 and 1914, he dedicated most of his time and energy towards the publication of the large amount of textual material that he had accumulated.
Since 1973 the "Max van Berchem Foundation" has financed archaeological excavations, research projects and studies in Islamic art and architecture throughout the Middle East and north Africa.

Associated works