Assyriology under Nazism: A Contextual Analysis of Three Texts by Wolfram von Soden from 1936-38

Jakob Flygare

Assyriology is sometimes seen as a disinterested discipline somewhat detached from the world around it. Like all other academic fields, however, Assyriology reflects the political and ideological reality of which it is a part. This article investigates the reflexivity of three texts from the period 1936-38. They reflect the worldview of their author, the German Assyriologist Wolfram von Soden, who was strongly influenced by Nazism. Furthermore, by exposing and deconstructing the ideological basis of the three texts as well as their specific context, it will be shown how the texts helped lay the “scholarly” foundations of the Nazi Weltanschauung (worldview). The article falls into two parts. In the first part I briefly present the topic of the article and my approach before presenting my investigation of the three texts and my conclusions. In the second part I contextualize the texts and reflect upon the specific situation that they and their author were active participants in.

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