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GABAIN, Annemarie von (b. 7 April 1901, d. 15 January 1993; FIGURE 1),
German scholar who worked in the field of Central Asian (primarily
Turkic) studies, first as a linguist but later as an art historian.
After completing a dissertation in Sinology, von Gabain studied
Turcology with Johann Wilhelm Bang Kaup (q.v.), the founder of the
Berlin school of Turkic studies, and she began to work on the Old
Turkic materials kept at the Academy of Sciences in Berlin. Although
she left Berlin after the Second World War, she remained in close
contact with the Academy there. She published the first grammar of Old
Turkic in 1941. While still working with Bang Kaup, she also had
contacts with Iranologists such as Heinrich Junker and Wolfgang Lentz
and gave advice as well on Chinese and Buddhist questions to the
editors of Middle Iranian texts (see, e.g., F. Müller, “Soghdische
Texte II,” SPAW, 1934, pp. 504, 550 n. 1). Her association with
Iranologists continued even while she was working on the objects of art
and history from the Central Asian expeditions. During her visits to
Berlin she always discussed problems of mutual interest with many
scholars, including Iranologists such as Werner Sundermann.
Von Gabain was particularly interested in the question of
the extent to which the religious ideas of the Central Asian peoples
had been influenced by Zoroastrianism or other Iranian beliefs, and
this perspective is reflected in several of her publications. A short
chapter of her book Einführung in die Zentralasienkunde,
entitled “Elemente aus iranischem Bereich und von Volksreligionen,” was
devoted to the question of Iranian-Turkic contacts. There she wrote, “Die
genauen Zusammenhänge zwischen iranischem Glauben einerseits und dem
der Zentral- und Ostasiaten andererseits sind noch zu klären” (von Gabain, 1979, p. 53). She also authored a general survey of “Irano-Turkish Relations in the late Sasanian Period” (Camb. Hist. Iran
III/1, pp. 613-24). A third article (von Gabain, 1977) examined general
aspects of the Irano-Turkic relationship and suggested a whole set of
Turkic beliefs and customs going back to Iranian models; however, some
of these ideas are no longer accepted, such as the theory (following
Edward Conze) that the concept of the bodhisattva is of Iranian origin (von Gabain, 1977, p. 58).
In connection with the general topic of Iranian-Turkic
contacts, von Gabain devoted two studies (1972, 1973) to Kṣitigarbha,
the bodhisattva who guides beings through the hells. The apocryphal sūtra
on the ten kings who control the different stages of the hells had
become popular and widespread at least since the 9th century (see
Teiser). However, it can be demonstrated that the textual dependence of
the Old Turkic text on the Chinese counterpart is obvious and stronger
than von Gabain had thought (cf. Zieme, 1996). Von Gabain (1976) also
provided the first extensive information about Old Turkic texts written
in Sogdian script. These texts follow more strictly the scribal system
used by the Sogdians themselves (the question of the orthography has
been reviewed recently by Fedakâr, 1991, 1994)
Von Gabain was personally acquainted with the researchers
of the “first generation of Turfan scholars” as she called Friedrich W.
K. Müller, Albert von Le Coq and others (von Gabain, 1991), and that
area of study remained of great interest to her. She wrote a short
survey on the geography of the Tarim Basin and the sites where
manuscripts had been discovered (von Gabain, 1970). In this connection
she also described active Saka-Turkic relations, although
linguistically, despite the Saka-Turkic word-lists, it is difficult to
establish or to prove them. In a study of interest to Iranologists, she
discussed the historical relationship of the two rather distant regions
of Bāmīān and Kuča and demonstrated their resemblance in terms of
artistic similarities (von Gabain, 1979-80; cf. BĀMĪĀN). The subject of
Maitreya and Mithra was another topic of great importance to her.
Through the symbiosis of Indic peoples and the Iranian-speaking
population in the Kuṣāṇa realm there developed the imperial manner of
depicting the seated bodhisattva, especially of Maitreya. She
further argued that the Maitreya belief developed among the Kuṣāṇa
through the influence of the Iranian adoration of Mithra (von Gabain,
1987).
Bibliography: Obituaries and articles on von Gabain’s work: R. E. Emmerick, W. Sundermann, I. Warnke, and P. Zieme, eds., Turfan,
Khotan und Dunhuang: Vorträge der Tagung “Annemarie v. Gabain und die
Turfan-forschung,” veranstaltet von der Berlin-Brandenburgischen
Akademie der Wissenschaften in Berlin (9.-12.12.1994), Berlin, 1996. H. Eren, “Annemarie von Gabain (1901-1993),” Türk Dili 495, 1993, pp. 213-15. D. Fedakâr, “Maryam apa’nın ardında: Annemarie von Gabain (4.7.1901-15.1.1993),” Türk Dili Araştırmaları Yıllığı Belleten, 1993, pp. 135-39. G. Hazai, “Annemarie von Gabain und die türkische Sprachwissenschaft,” in R. E. Emmerick et al., eds., Turfan, Khotan und Dunhuang, Berlin, 1966, pp. 165-74. J. P. Laut, “Annemarie von Gabain (4.7.1901-15.1.1993),” Türk Dilleri Araştırmaları 4, 1994, pp. 5-10. Idem, “Annemarie von Gabain 1901-1993,” Finnisch-ugrische Forschungen 52, 1994, pp. 367-74. M. Ölmez, “Annemarie von Gabain (1901-1993),” Türk Dilleri Araştırmaları 3, 1993, pp. 289-92. K. Röhrborn, “Annemarie v. Gabain (1901-1993),” Turkish Linguistics Post 7, 1994, pp. 2-3. Idem and W. Veenker, “Annemarie v. Gabain (1901-1993),” Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher 12, 1993, pp. 1-4. D. Sinor, “In memoriam Annemarie von Gabain,”
Permanent International Altaistic Conference Newsletter 21, 1993, pp. 2-3. Idem, “In Memoriam Annemarie von Gabain,” Eurasian Studies Yearbook/Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher 66, 1994, pp. 171-72. H. Umemura, “Prof. Annemarie v. Gabain (1901.7.4-1993.1.15),” The Toyo Gakuho 77, 1996, pp. 80-86. N. Yüce, “Annemarie von Gabain’in eserleri,” Türk Dilleri Araştırmaları
4 (1994), pp. 11-50 (the most complete bibliography of her work but
still lacking some studies such as her article, “Maitreya und Mithra,”
in W. Heissig and H.-J. Klimkeit, eds., Synkretismus in den Religionen Zentralasiens, Wiesbaden, 1987, pp. 23-32). P. Zieme, “In memoriam Annemarie von Gabain (4.7.1901-15.1.1993),” Altorientallische Forschungen 20, 1993, fascicle 2. Idem, “In memoriam Annemarie von Gabain (4.7.1901-15.1.1993),” ZDMG 144, 1994, pp. 239-49. Idem, “Annemarie von Gabain und die turfanforschung,” Manichaean Newsletter 12, 1995, pp. 6-9. Idem, “Annemarie von Gabain und die Turfanforschung,” in R. E. Emmerick et al., eds.,
Turfan, Khotan und Dunhuang, Berlin, 1996, pp. 409-17.
Works by von Gabain related to Iranian studies: Der Buddhismus in Zentralasien, HO VIII/2, 1961, pp. 496-514. “Historisches aus den Turfan-Handschriften,” Acta Orientalia 32, 1970, pp. 115-24. “The Purgatory of the Buddhist Uighurs: Book Illustrations from Turfan,” in W. Watson, ed., Mahayanist Art after A.D. 900,
Colloquies on Art and Archeology in Asia 2, London, 1972, pp. 25-35.
“Kṣitigarbha-Kult in Zentralasien: Buchillustrationen aus den
Turfan-Funden,” in H. Härtel and V. Moeller, eds., Indologen-Tagung 1971, Wiesbaden, 1973, pp. 47-71. “Alt-türkische Texte in sogdischer Schrift,” in Hungaro-Turcica. Studies in Honour of Julius Németh, Budapest, 1976, pp. 69-77. “Iranische Elemente im zentral- und ostasiatischen Volksglauben,” Studia Orientalia 47, 1977, pp. 57-70. Einführung in die Zentralasienkunde, Darmstadt, 1979. “Von Kuča (Kuśan) nach Bāmiyā: Eine kulturhistorische Studie,” Harvard Ukrainian Studies III/4, 1979-80, pp. 258-70. “Irano-Turkish relations in the late Sasanian period,” in Camb. Hist. Iran III/1, 1983, pp. 613-24. “Maitreya und Mithra,” in W. Heissig and H.-J. Klimkeit, eds., Synkretismus in den Religionen Zentralasiens,
Wiesbaden, 1987, pp. 23-32. “Die erste Generation der Forscher an den
Turfan-Handschriften,” in H. Klengel and W. Sundermann, eds., Ägyten Vorderasien Turfan: Probleme der Edition und Bearbeitung altorientalischer Handschriften, Berlin, 1991, pp. 98-105.
Book reviews by von Gabain related to Iranian studies: Indo-skythische Studien: Khotanese Texts IV, in Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher 33, 1961, pp. 285-87. A Catalogue of Iranian Manuscripts in Maniuchen Script in the German Turfan Collection, by M. Boyce, in OLZ 60, 1965, pp. 501-4. Aus dem Osten des Alexanderreichs: Völker und Kulturen zwischen Orient und Okzident, by J. Ozols and V. Thewalt, in Central Asiatic Journal 29, 1985, pp. 317-19. Die Seidenstrasse: Handelsweg und Kulturbrücke zwischen Morgen-und Abendland, by H.-J. Klimkeit, in ZDMG 140, 1990, pp. 172-74.
Other references: D. Fedakâr, “Das Alttürkische in sogdischer Schrift: Textmaterial und Orthographie,” I, Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher 10, 1991, pp. 85-98; II, Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher 13, 1994, pp. 133-57). S. Teiser, The Scripture on the Ten Kings and the Making of Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism, Honolulu, 1994. P. Zieme, “Old Turkish Versions of the Scripture on the Ten Kings,” G. Stary, ed., Proceedings of the 38th Permanent International Altaistic Conference (PIAC), Kawasaki, Japan, August 7-12, 1995, Wiesbaden, 1996, pp. 401-25).
(PETER ZIEME) |