Shifting Horizons: Observations from a Ride Through the Syrian Desert and Asia Minor: a Translation of Johannes Elith Ostrup's 'skiftende Horizonter' (Archive Archaeology, 1)

Johannes Elith Ostrup (1867-1938), son of a Danish farmer, philologist of Turkish and Semitic languages, and later Vice Chancellor of Copenhagen University, spent 1891-1893 travelling by horse around Syria, Lebanon, and Anatolia. Unlike most European travellers, his language skills allowed him to chat with locals in cafes, stay in people's homes, and travel with the Bedouin. A curious young man, Ostrup travelled with eyes, ears, and mind open to the unknown, and recorded his journey in this lively travelogue, Skiftende horizonter (1894). His writing offers a vivid account of his time in the region, and dwells with equal interest on both the region's broader political, ethnic, and religious struggles, and the day-to-day concerns of those who lived there. Now, for the first time, this text is available to English-speaking readers thanks to this translation by Cisca Spencer, Ostrup's great granddaughter and a former Australian diplomat. With a foreword by Rubina Raja, Professor of Classical Archaeology at Aarhus University, together with Ostrup's own photographs and new maps, this volume captures all the charm and enthusiasm of the original in bringing this nineteenth-century travelogue to a modern readership. An account by an Arabic- and Turkic-speaking Danish philologist, Johannes Østrup, of travels in coastal and desert Syria, Lebanon and Anatolia in the 1890s. His knowledge of classical and Byzantine history adds depth to his observations. The text is full of lively observations and reveals a deep interest, and respect for, the peoples of the region.00Johannes Elith Østrup (1867-1938), son of a Danish farmer, philologist of Turkish and Semitic languages, and later Vice Chancellor of Copenhagen University, spent 1891-1893 travelling by horse around Syria, Lebanon, and Anatolia. Unlike most European travellers, his language skills allowed him to chat with locals in cafés, stay in people?s homes, and travel with the Bedouin. A curious young man, Østrup travelled with eyes, ears, and mind open to the unknown, and recorded his journey in this lively travelogue, 'Skiftende horizonter' (1894). His writing offers a vivid account of his time in the region, and dwells with equal interest on both the region?s broader political, ethnic, and religious struggles, and the day-to-day concerns of those who lived there.0Now, for the first time, this text is available to English-speaking readers thanks to this translation by Cisca Spencer, Østrup?s great granddaughter and a former Australian diplomat. With a foreword by Rubina Raja, Professor of Classical Archaeology at Aarhus University, together with Østrup?s own photographs and new maps, this volume captures all the charm and enthusiasm of the original in bringing this nineteenth-century travelogue to a modern readership Front Matter 1 Making the Danish Engagement in Near Eastern Research Available to a Broader Public 11 Foreword 13 Chapter 1 17 Chapter 2 49 Chapter 3 69 Chapter 4 81 Chapter 5 87 Chapter 6 95 Chapter 7 105 Chapter 8 119 Chapter 9 137 Chapter 10 143 Chapter 11 151 Chapter 12 163 Chapter 13 177 Notes on the Context 187 Works Cited 190