[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review]
This book is the sixth volume of the series Scripta Maiora of the Bibliotheca Cumontiana, a collection launched in 2006 by the Academia Belgica in Rome as an editorial project for the critical reedition of the books (reprinted in the Scripta Maiora series) and articles (compiled thematically in the parallel Scripta Minora) of the influential historian of religions Franz Cumont (1868–1947). This project offers in-depth historiographical introductions to each of Cumont’s major works or collection of essays, which aim at deepening our understanding of the formation of his historical thinking and his research methods by examining, on the basis of the author’s archives in the Belgian Academy, the political, sociocultural and intellectual contexts of the production of his studies.
In the previous volumes of the Bibliotheca, these historiographical assessments precede Cumont’s reprinted texts, but unlike these publications, the present book does not include a reedition of any of the historian’s studies. Indeed, following the transfer of Cumont’s works into the public domain in 2017, the Belgian Academy started the digitization of the scholar’s own copies of his books, enriched with handwritten notes, to make them accessible online on the institution’s website, an initiative that has led the editorial board of the Bibliotheca to stop reprinting the original texts and publish only their historiographical introductions. This decision has resulted in the collective volume Scripta Maiora VI, which gathers the introductions to the four books that report the archaeological trips and field work of the Belgian scholar in the former territories of the Ottoman Empire: Studia Pontica II. Voyage d’exploration archéologique dans le Pont et la Petite Arménie (co-written with his brother Eugène, 1906) and Studia Pontica III. Recueil d’inscriptions du Pont et de la Pétite Armenie (1910), both discussed in the first introduction; Études syriennes (1917), and Fouilles de Doura-Europos (1922-1923) (1926). Each introduction is followed by an appendix entitled “L’atelier de Franz Cumont”, which contains the transcription of the marginalia written by the author in his own copies of Studia Pontica III (SP II presents no annotations), Études Syriennes and Fouilles, as well as the description of photographs and articles he left inside his books. The discussion of Études Syriennes is further complemented by an annex with a selection of 53 letters; the discussion of Fouilles by an appendix with historically valuable photographs of Dura-Europos’ archaeological campaigns. The whole book is also well illustrated with high-quality photographs of Cumont’s trips, manuscripts and maps.
The introduction to Studia Pontica, divided in eight chapters, is the product of the collaborative work of Daniela Bonanno, Corinne Bonnet, Omar Coloru and Annick Fenet. The first six chapters immerse the reader in a thrilling account of the archaeological expedition into Pontus and Lesser Armenia that the brothers Franz and Eugène Cumont undertook in the spring of 1900. The purposes of the mission — investigating the historical geography of the area and documenting its archaeological and epigraphic evidence without conducting excavations; its academic, administrative and logistical preparations; its sponsors; its support by an international network of scholars and partners in the field; and the itinerary of the two brothers — are treated in detail on the basis of Cumont’s correspondence and travel diaries, as well as of maps drawn by Eugène.
Chapter 7 deals with the birth of the editorial series Studia Pontica from the collaboration between Cumont and the British scholars John George Clark Anderson and John Arthur Ruskin Munro, whose trip to Galatia and the Galatian Pontus in 1899 was published as SP I in 1903.[1] It also discusses the publication of the report of the Cumont brothers’ expedition as SP II and of the first volume of the Recueil d’inscriptions as SP III, and it explains why the second volume of this corpus was never published. The final chapter assesses the enthusiastic reception of SP II and III in early-twentieth-century scholarship and the later development of the studies on Pontus and Lesser Armenia, underlying the value that those volumes still have for current research.
This introduction lacks, however, a detailed treatment of the structure and contents of SP II and III, whose most influential finds and thesis could have been discussed in light of the latest advances in scholarship — as done in the third historiographical introduction of the book. For example, attention could have been paid to the cult of Zeus Stratios at Amaseia (SP II pp. 139, 145, 172–184; SP III, pp. 150–152, nos. 140–142): Cumont’s location of the sanctuary of this god on a plateau near Yassıçal, 10 km east of Amaseia, and its reconstruction as an open-air sacred enclosure with a monumental altar, have been confirmed by recent archaeological research, while the Belgian’s thesis on the “syncretistic” origin of the cult —combining Pontic, Greek and Iranian elements — and its dynastic nature have recently been called into question in favour of a non-dynastic cult of either Hellenic or Anatolian origin.[2]
Seven years after his Pontic experience, Franz Cumont embarked, this time alone, on a new exploration in Northern Syria, which would result in the collection of essays Études syriennes. On the grounds of the historian’s personal documents, Omar Coloru discusses in five chapters the objectives, preparations and itinerary of this trip, the implication of the elites of Aleppo and Damascus (whose personal histories are summarized in a captivating way) engaged in collecting and trading antiquities, and the publication and warm scholarly reception of the Études. Coloru highlights that the different papers gathered in this collection offer still-valuable insights into the archaeology, historical geography and religious history of Greco-Roman and Byzantine Syria. He assesses their impact on later historiography by hinting at the contributions of recent studies to some of the research problems set out in them, such as the confirmation of Cumont’s hypothesis about the location of the sanctuary of Jupiter Dolichenus on the top of Dülük Baba Tepesi. However, as in the previous historiographical introduction, a more comprehensive critical treatment of the contents and major thesis of the Études would have been desirable. Furthermore, the reader may gain a better understanding of Cumont’s selection of, and approach to, the religious themes addressed in the Études by consulting the introductions of the volumes Scripta Maiora I and III, which discuss the historian’s grand narrative on the “oriental cults”.
A thorough analysis of contents, research hypotheses and outcomes is, by contrast, a major focus of the introduction to Fouilles de Doura-Europos (1922-1923) by Ted Kaizer. Kaizer’s section differs from the previous discussions in that it sets out to make a scientific assessment of Cumont’s work in light of later research, and in that it draws less on the private correspondence and travel diaries of the scholar. In its first two chapters, Kaizer describes the events that led Cumont to undertake the two short excavation campaigns at Dura-Europos that would result in the two monumental volumes of Fouilles (533 pages of Texte and an Atlas of more than one hundred illustrations), and he comments on the main discoveries of these seasons.[3] In chapter 3, he conducts the scientific assessment of Fouilles, discussing the rejection, modification, or confirmation by recent research of Cumont’s considerations on archaeological and epigraphic finds and the history of Dura-Europos. Kaizer takes a stance on some controversial issues, such as the most appropriate designation for the suburban temple at Dura — he argues for “temple of Bel” instead of Cumont’s label “temple of the Palmyrene gods” — or the interpretation of the divine triad depicted on the temple’s painted panel VI, which he identifies as the Palmyrene gods Aglibol, Arsu and Yarhibol.
Chapter 4 delves into a central and highly influential theme of Fouilles, the relationship between Dura-Europos and Palmyra, on the basis of Cumont’s much-debated thesis that the Palmyrenes based at Dura were directly engaged in the long-distance trade of luxury products of their home city’s commercial caravan. Special emphasis is placed on new studies showing that Dura’s trade was local or regional rather than long-distance in character.
Certainly, Kaizer’s discussions in chapters 3 and 4, enriched with abundant bibliographic notes, constitute a very helpful overview of the research history and the state of the art of Dura-Europos. However, one should note that the recent book by Simon James, The Roman military base at Dura-Europos, which sheds new light on the Roman occupation of the city, is missing from the bibliography.[4]
Chapter 5 makes some considerations on the appendix “L’atelier de Franz Cumont”, and chapter 6 deals with the reception of Fouilles, whose still outstanding usefulness for future research is underlined in the concluding chapter 7.
Despite the different focus of the first two historiographical introductions and the third one, the joint publication of the three is a wise editorial decision given their thematic coherence. Read together, they provide a detailed picture of the thought processes, working circumstances and methods of the Belgian historian, as well as of his human side and his great passion for the ancient world. Nevertheless, the three introductions seem to have been originally written to be published separately, as suggested by the absence of cross-references between them. For example, in the introduction to Études syriennes, Omar Coloru mentions (pp. 92-93) the expedition to Pontus and Lesser Armenia and briefly repeats some information and bibliographic citations given in the first introduction, to which he strangely makes no reference, and in the discussion of Fouilles, Ted Kaizer (p. 186 and n. 3) makes no allusion to the other two historiographical essays when referring to literature on SP II and Études.
Moreover, there is a notable lack of consistency in the appearance of the three introductions, particularly with respect to the typography used for the chapter titles and subtitles (titles in bold or in normal letters and of different size, subtitles in italics or underlined, numbered or unnumbered). Likewise, there are stylistic differences between the three appendixes of “L’atelier de Franz Cumont”: the historian’s handwritten notes are transcribed in normal letters in the first “atelier” and in italics in the others; they are numbered only in the second “atelier”; and the indications of the books’ lines to which they refer are given differently in each appendix.
These notes naturally make little sense in themselves and must be read in parallel to the corresponding books. In this respect, we can regret that Studia Pontica III has not yet been released online by the Belgian Academy – Études and Fouilles are already available. One may also regret the absence of a complete bibliography at the end of the book or after each of its three parts.[5] Finally, the title of the book, should be Studia Pontica instead of Studia Pontica II. Indeed, inside the book, the first introduction is entitled only Studia Pontica, without the II, as it treats the genesis and reception of the whole SP collection, not just its second volume.
These inconsistencies do not however undermine the great value and usefulness that this collective publication presents for all historians of religions, both junior and senior, by introducing them, through an enjoyable reading, into the historical and intellectual circumstances and personal experiences that shaped the thinking of one of the most groundbreaking and influential scholars of ancient religion of the twentieth century.
Authors and Titles
Introduction
I. Studia Pontica. Un voyage aux portes de l’Orient
1. Tintin au pays de Mithra (Corinne Bonnet)
2. Eugène (1669–1945), dans l’ombre de son frère (Annick Fenet)
3. Les préparatifs du voyage à travers la correspondance de Franz Cumont (Corinne Bonnet)
4. Une exploration archéologique sous le signe de l’aventure (Omar Coloru)
5. La chasse aux antiquités (Omar Coloru)
6. De l’érudition en poche: les carnets de voyage (Annick Fenet)
7. Genèse et développement d’un projet éditorial: les Studia Pontica dans la correspondance de Franz Cumont (Daniela Bonanno)
8. La réception des Studia Pontica (Omar Coloru)
9. L’Atelier de Franz Cumont (notes transcribed by Norma Quagliana)
II. Études Syriennes (Omar Coloru)
9. Mémoires de voyage pour un temps de guerre Syrie, 1907
10. Cumont en Syrie, entre réseaux sociaux et antiquités
11. Du retour en Europe à la publication des Études syriennes
12. L’art de rendre d’importants services “sous un titre modeste”. La réception des Études syriennes
Annexe I: choix de lettres
L’Atelier de Franz Cumont
III. Fouilles de Doura-Europos (1922–1923) (Ted Kaizer)
14. Kan Kalessi and “die namenlose Stadt”: the first discoveries of Salihiyah
15. Cumont and the exploration of Dura-Europos
16. The final report: Fouilles de Doura-Europos (1922–1923)
17. Dura-Europos, “satellite” of Palmyra & “le commerce de l’Inde”
18. Cumont’s Atelier
19. Reviews and reception
20. Concluding remarks
L’Atelier de Franz Cumont
Appendix: Images related to Franz Cumont & Dura-Europos
Notes
[1] John C. G. Anderson, Studia Pontica I. A journey of exploration in Pontus. Brussels: H. Lamertin, 1903.
[2] Luis Ballesteros Pastor, “El culto de Mitrídates a Zeus Estratio”. In M. Garrido-Hory, A. Gonzales (eds.), Histoire, espaces et marges de l’Antiquité: hommages à Monique Clavel-Lévêque (pp. 209–222). ISTA 899. Besançon: Institut des Sciences et Techniques de l’Antiquité, 2003; Sergej Ju. Saprykin, “The religion and cults of the Pontic Kingdom: political aspects”. In J. M. Højte (ed.), Mithridates VI and the Pontic Kingdom (pp. 249–275). Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 2009; Christina G. Williamson, “Power, politics, and panoramas: viewing the sacred landscape of Zeus Stratios near Amaseia”. In T. Bekker-Nielsen (ed.), Space, place and identity in Northern Anatolia (pp. 175–188). Geographica Historica, 29. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2014.
[3] On this, see also today Simon James, “Strange meeting at Salihiyeh: who discovered (or encountered, or identified, or invented) Dura-Europos, and when?”, Electrum, 2022, 29, pp. 301–328.
[4] Simon James, The Roman military base at Dura-Europos, Syria: an archaeological visualisation. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.
[5] Errors: Bonano for Daniela Bonanno, p. 3; SP II for SP III, p. 71.