Introduction
Half way through the19th century, a number of Arab intellectual showed willing to revive their heritage after approaches evolved within the European sphere since the 16th century. The term “Nahda” often translated as renaissance or rebirth may be understood in different ways as was discussed in the first part of this course, but it also got superseded by the term “Islah” and its distinctly religious connotations. This cross-disciplinary movement of Arab renaissance, altogether literary, political, cultural and religious, which first found an expression at the end of the 18th century counted numerous actors. Without overstating its influence, Bonaparte's[1] Campaign in Egypt and Syria, which involved, alongside the military, technicians, administrators and scientists was a turning point in the process. This event invited the questioning and the curiosity of elites wherein a desire for constructive change was aroused. Crucial to this in their eyes was the implementation of an educational policy open to what had been done in Europe and in North America.
At that same time Protestant and Catholic missionaries competed to gain a foothold within these societies. The knowledge of written Arabic's cultural legacy and of its dialectal forms pertaining to a large section of the world population was key to this process. The translation of the bible into Arabic thus fitted into their project of converting the people to Protestant or Catholic Christianity. The most ancient translation of the Bible into Arabic for which sources still exist was found on Mount Sinai and dates back to 867, it only deals with the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles. Another was sighted there in 1066 and, at the end of the 19th century, the review Al-Muktataf mentioned on the one hand a 750 Arabic translation of the old Testament by John, Bishop of Seville and on the other hand the 9th century translation of the Torah[2] into Arabic by Rabbi Saadia Gaon of the Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, of which later printed copies still exist. However, at the time Protestant missionaries launched their new project, the extant and latest Arabic translation of the Bible was that conducted under the direction of Sergius Risi, archbishop of Damascus and published by the Catholic Church in 1671. In its cultural dimension, the Americans' project correlated with the aspiration of some Arab intellectuals looking to a social awakening and a religious revival through education: one could not just be content with just reproducing old texts, it had got to stop. This laid the groundwork for potential cooperation. Who were the pioneers of that era's bible translation? What strategies and methodologies did they choose? What criticism did this translation incur? What competition did it face? All told, what was this project's impact on the Nahda scientific awakening?
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