Hebrew University’s botanical gardens
A source in scientific knowledge creation in Mandatory Palestine
Publication date
2022-05-10
Document type
Forschungsartikel
Author
Organisational unit
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva
Publisher
North Carolina State University, Department of History
Series or journal
Mashriq & Mahjar. Journal of Middle East and North African Migration Studies
ISSN
Periodical volume
9
Periodical issue
2
First page
42
Last page
55
Part of the university bibliography
Nein
Language
English
Keyword
Mandatsgebiet Palästina
Zionismus
Botanik
Mobilität
Hebräische Universität
Jerusalem
Frontier Making
Abstract
This primary source commentary analyzes a letter (dated 28 July 1929) sent by Alexander Eig, botanist and custodian of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s herbarium, to Judah Magnes, chancellor and later first president of Hebrew University. This letter, which discusses the creation of a botanical garden connected to the university, shows how the emerging Jewish community of botanists at the newly established Hebrew University was carvingout space foritselfin the international communityof botanical experts. Moreover, the letter exemplifies the importance of people’s mobility in creating botanical knowledge, as well as the movement of plants, seeds, and other specimens, and highlights interaction between scientific institutions as an important aspect of nation-building. Mandatory Palestine’s position as the “Holy Land,” as well as its location across Middle Eastern and Mediterranean environmental spaces, made Jerusalem a unique and attractive center for botanical knowledge creation, as was recognized early on by the Jewish botanists in question.
Description
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Version
Published version
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