FINLAND & PALESTINE Proceedings of a Joint Workshop

Finnish Orientalists
• •
Dr. Mikko Louhivuori
Rockefeller Museum, jerusalem
Finland is far to the north of Palestine in Scandinavia. In some
sense, our country really is "fin land" or the end of land, as our
northern most border almost reaches the sea around the
North Pole of our planet.
In our own language, we call our country "Suomi," which is a
very ancient name of uncertain origins. It may have something
to do with the word "suo," or marshland, of which we have
plenty. Modern archaeology teaches that Finns, or "suomalainen",
are probably the original inhabitants in this region, with
roots well in the Stone Age.
Finnish interest in the Near East has included, in chronological
order, the study of the Bible and Holy Land, the Arabic language
and Islamic culture, as well as ancient Mesopotamia. I
only give a short description of some of our Orientalists who
have worked in these fields, in order to give a general idea
about the subject.
5