Paul E. Kahle
Encyclopedia
Paul Ernst Kahle was a German
orientalist
and scholar.
He was born in East Prussia
and studied orientalism and theology in Marburg
. He attained his doctorate in 1898. He was a Lutheran pastor. He studied semitic philology in Cairo
between 1908 and 1918. In 1918 he was promoted to a full professorship (Ordinary professor) at Gießen University
, a chair previously held by Friedrich Schwally
. In 1923 he switched to Bonn University, where he developed the Eastern Studies curriculum by adding a Chinese and a Japanese class.
Kahle migrated to England and the University of Oxford in 1939, having been dismissed from his University post in Bonn, owing at least in great part to the fact that he had a Polish rabbi (Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg
) as an assistant. At Oxford he gained two further doctorates. During this period in Oxford he suffered the personal tragedy of his son Paul's untimely death.
Kahle returned to Germany after the war, where he pursued his research as Professor Emeritus. His principal academic renown is as editor of the Hebrew Bible.
Part of his work is published in the book What the Koran Really Says
, edited by Ibn Warraq
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
orientalist
Oriental studies
Oriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Asian studies and Middle Eastern studies...
and scholar.
He was born in East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
and studied orientalism and theology in Marburg
Marburg
Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.- Founding and early history :...
. He attained his doctorate in 1898. He was a Lutheran pastor. He studied semitic philology in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
between 1908 and 1918. In 1918 he was promoted to a full professorship (Ordinary professor) at Gießen University
University of Giessen
The University of Giessen is officially called the Justus Liebig University Giessen after its most famous faculty member, Justus von Liebig, the founder of modern agricultural chemistry and inventor of artificial fertiliser.-History:The University of Gießen is among the oldest institutions of...
, a chair previously held by Friedrich Schwally
Friedrich Schwally
Friedrich Zacharias Schwally was a German Orientalist with professorships at Strasbourg, Gießen and Königsberg. He held the degrees of Ph.D., Lic. Theol., Dr...
. In 1923 he switched to Bonn University, where he developed the Eastern Studies curriculum by adding a Chinese and a Japanese class.
Kahle migrated to England and the University of Oxford in 1939, having been dismissed from his University post in Bonn, owing at least in great part to the fact that he had a Polish rabbi (Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg
Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg
Rabbi Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg was a noted European Orthodox rabbi, posek and rosh yeshiva. He is best known as author of the work of responsa Seridei Eish....
) as an assistant. At Oxford he gained two further doctorates. During this period in Oxford he suffered the personal tragedy of his son Paul's untimely death.
Kahle returned to Germany after the war, where he pursued his research as Professor Emeritus. His principal academic renown is as editor of the Hebrew Bible.
Part of his work is published in the book What the Koran Really Says
What the Koran Really Says
What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text and Commentary is the title of a book edited and translated by Ibn Warraq and published by Prometheus Books...
, edited by Ibn Warraq
Ibn Warraq
Ibn Warraq is the pen name of a polemical author of Pakistani origin who is critical of Islam, and who founded the Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society . He is a senior research fellow at the Center for Inquiry focusing on Qur'anic criticism...
.
Works
- The Cairo Geniza (Schweich Lectures for 1941)
- "The Arabic Readers of the Koran". Journal of Near Easter Studies 8.2 (1949), pp. 65
- Bala'izah, Coptic Texts from Deir el-Bala'izah in Upper Egypt. London: Oxford University Press. 1954.
- "A Gypsy Woman of Egypt in the Thirteenth-Century AD". Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society 29: 11-15. 1959.