Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 90:359 (Jul 1933)
Article: The School Of Oriental Studies At Cairo
Author: E. E. Elder

BSac 90:359 (July 1933) p. 343

The School Of Oriental Studies At Cairo

E. E. Elder

On December 9, 1932, the new home of the School of Oriental Studies of the American University at Cairo was formally opened. The building includes, in addition to administrative offices, class rooms and library, the “Oriental Hall” which is decorated in the Arabesque style. Two American ladies, Mrs. D. L. Gillespie and Miss Mabel Gillespie, who generously donated the building, requested that this hall and its vestibule should be of oriental design. The decorative stalactites in the ceiling which are rich in blue, gold and red, the “mashrabiya” portals and windows, and the graceful arches all testify to the success of the architect in carrying out their desire.

It was just twenty years ago that there was founded the institution out of which the School of Oriental Studies has grown. It was the first organized language school in the East for the study of Arabic and Islamic history and culture by Occidentals. The idea of schools in Oriental lands for the instruction of people from the West in the languages and life of the Orient was a development from Christian missions. As far back as the eighties of the last century the China Inland Mission established two training centers in China for its own missionaries. The first decade of the twentieth century saw a school in Tokyo for the study of Japanese and others in China in addition to the two already mentioned.

The Edinburgh Conference of 1910 published in the series of volumes reporting its deliberations and findings one on the training of missionaries. The necessity for schools and training centers on the fields was strongly emphasized. As a direct result of this report about twenty schools were started in China, Japan, Korea, India, the Near East and Africa during the next decade. At the second conference for missions among Muslims meeting in Lucknow, India, in 1911. it was strongly recommended that Cairo be made a center for a school for the specialized

BSac 90:359 (July 1933) p. 344

training of missionaries for Muslim lands. The following reasons were given for selecting this city: (1) it is not only the centre of the ancient scholastic learning, but also the heart of a strong and growing reform movement; (2) there are to be found there the greatest Islamic presses in the world, and also an Arabic Christian press which is growing in usefulness and output every year; (3) it is on the high road between the home bases and the great Muslim fields, and is consequently easy of access for missionaries going and coming; (4) it is the gateway to the Sudan, which is the natural base on the west for the chain of stations to be thrown across Africa.

In November of 1912 the Cairo Study Center came in...