Cosponsored by the France Chicago Center and the Department of Near East Languages and Civilizations
The Near East of today is very much in the center of attention, for obvious political and military reasons. Yet, it is worth while to look at its past cultural history. It was for millennia the hub of the world’s higher culture. It was especially fruitful in the Roman Empire and in the first centuries of Islam. Its influence on European culture was real. It is a duty for us all to recall this heritage and to try and save what is left of it.