Review: [untitled] Author(s): Nabia Abbott Reviewed work(s): The Passing of Traditional Society: Modernizing the Middle East

by Daniel Lerner Source: Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 19, No. 3, (Jul., 1960), pp. 238-240 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/543783 Accessed: 10/04/2008 04:13
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on the current Buraimi dispute (pp. 209 f.). The average Sacfdi Arabian receives some NABIA ABBOTT recognition. His adaptability and industry are noted in the pertinent references to Oriental Institute Sacfidi Arabian private enterprise in regional Chicago University of trade and in small industries. The role of foreign companies, especially that of Aramco, Saudi Arabia. By K. S. TWITCHELL, with the in transforming unskilled SaCfidi Arabians of EDWARD SURJI and R. collaboration into skilled laborers, mechanics, and able BAYLY WINDER. Third edition. Princeton: supervisors is well told. The extent and Princeton University Press, 1958. Pp. xiv success of this co-operation may come as a + 281, illus. $5.00. surprise to some. While oil looms steadily in Those familiar with the earlier editions the economic survey, other mineral resources, (1947, 1953) of this handy, timely, and his- animal husbandry, and agriculture are by no means obscured. The author's careful study torically important account by an actively participating eyewitness of the dramatic and explorations have uncovered several political and economic developments of SaCfidi promising possibilities for future developArabia, will welcome this up-to-date, lively, ments in all three fields as also in that of lucid, and richly illustrated edition of the transportation. His vision includes the site work. New readers will find the work illumina- of a future summer resort for resident ting in its broad-minded and far-sighted foreigners, tourist centers-the sacred cities approach to the economic policies and possi- of Mecca, Medina, and Ta?if excluded-for bilities of this comparatively little knownenterprising western travelers, and accelerexcept for its oil-major Islamic country of ated interest in archeological explorations. A serious effort is made to analyze the the Middle East. The work is organized into three parts: characteristic features of Sacfidi problems that arise from the size and the needs of the royal family and sincere admiraArabia, social and political developments, and the position of Sacidi Arabia in world tion is, as a rule, expressed for the role and achievements of its leaders. Ruler and ruled, economy. The author's personal and nonpolitical con- it would seem, are judged to be capable of tact with the country, its rulers, and its achieving an orderly transition into legitipeople dates back to 1931. His first-hand mate modernity. The author closes on the account of the initial stages of mining explo- optimistic note: "To me the future of ration, Ibn Sacfid's great concern with the Sacfdi Arabia is full of promise." The present edition enhances the value of search for water, the unexpected major oil discoveries, the rugged search for foreign the work by the inclusion of a larger number capital in the depression years, and the of illustrations and maps and by the addition subsequent evaluation of Aramco make of a bibliography. Errors are few; those fascinating reading. readily noticed involve inconsistencies in The author, unlike too many others, does figures (e.g., on pp. 24 versus 65 and 26 not consciously or otherwise neglect or versus 32). NABIA ABBOTT underplay the role of the rulers and administrators in the historic changes of twentiethThe Oriental Institute century Sacfidi Arabia. Nor does he tread on University of Chicago foreign, particularly British, toes in doing this. He avoids involvement in the pros and cons of the morality of the political settlements following the two World Wars (chap. The Passing of Traditional Society: Modernizxiii) but does not hesitate to express himself, ing the Middle East. By DANIEL LERNER from direct personal knowledge of that issue, with the collaboration of LUCILLE W. the Free World and the northern half of the great continent of Africa.

BOOK REVIEWS PEVSNER. Introduction by DAVID RIESMAN. Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1958. Pp. xiii + 466. $7.50. This more or less experimental study in the behavioral sciences has been blessed by the dual sponsorship of the Bureau of Applied Social Research, Columbia University, and the Center for International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The first was largely responsible for the field work undertaken by several members of its staff, and the second provided the services of the authors who supplemented, analyzed, and interpreted the primarily statistical materials at their disposal. The field work was systematized to yield comparative data by the use of a uniform questionnaire (Appendix A) to interview some 300-odd nationals in each of the six countries visited-Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iran. Earlier versions of the Introduction and of four of the eleven chapters of the book have appeared in various magazines and journals. They present the rationale of the basic social theory on which the study is based, the analysis of comparative data, and the conclusions reached in retrospects and prospects. The seven remaining chapters present for the first time the detailed materials relative to the above named six Middle Eastern countries. Two of these chapters are devoted to Turkey, which is Professor Lerner's own and which he enthusiastically speciality portrays as being well on its way from the past toward the future. The initial project seems to have been designed for the successor states of the former Ottoman Empire, that is, the Republic of Turkey and the Arab lands. Local obstacles led to the omission of Iraq, for which Iran was then substituted (pp. 1, 80, 351). No reason is given for the omission of either Sacfdi Arabia or Israel, the very presence of which exerts tangible though different influences on the psychological, economic, and political development of the entire Middle East. The popular representation of these two countries as typifying extreme traditionalism and modernity is Those with and largely propagandistic. long

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intimate of the Middle East knowledge realize that Sacfdi Arabia is making remarkable progress, considering its background and history, in the very media that are emposited as indices of modernization: pathy, mobility, urbanization, and literacy. Israel, with its international population representing many levels of culture, each of which is in some sort of transition, could data on many of the yield comprehensive problems investigated in this study that has been ten years in the making. Omissions notwithstanding, students of the Middle East will welcome this work and its approach and some may even enjoy it once the cumbersome sociological terminology is overcome. For the study provides a seat to the stirring drama that is being enacted on the stage of the Middle East as the old traditional society either yields to or resists the impact of modernity in such varying degrees as to produce an expanding transitional society. The articulate members in each group express a sense of bewilderment as they seek to recapture or discover an identity compatible with their new desires and aspirations. Nevertheless, in a situation so varied and fluid one may question if a total of some 1600 responses to the experimental questionnaire can be considered as of the present adequately representative scene. Certainly these responses alone are no sure guide to either the direction or the rate of future change in the Middle East. Not all the countries studied provide the same degree of fascination or receive an equally brilliant treatment, in both of which respects the chapters on Turkey and Persia are about the best-perhaps because empathy is here supplemented with a measure of sympathy. The economic and political dilemmas facing President Nasser of the United Arab Republic receive a penetrating analysis. But the over-all view of the role of Egypt's Nasser in Arab nationalism reflects no more than the current climate of opinion. The view presented of the region as a whole is too narrowly bound by the present political boundaries, which have themselves resulted from the impact of the West, and

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too little concerned with the long history and enduring force of the social and religious mores that give Islamic society a unity that transcends these artificial political divisions. The work comes provided with constructive criticism, for David Riesman's fifteen page Introduction is largely in the nature of a sociologist's critique of the theory, adequacy of methods, and the conclusions of the work. It contributes much to the real value of the work when read both before and after the main text. NABIA ABBOTT Oriental Institute University of Chicago Excavation Coins from the Persepolis Region. By GEORGE C. MILES. ("Numismatic Notes and Monographs," No. 143.) New York: American Numismatic Society, 1959. Pp. v + 124 + XXI pls. $5.00. The coins catalogued in the present monograph were discovered during the excavations of 1935-1937, in some of which the author himself participated, under the directorship of Dr. Erich F. Schmidt on behalf of the of the University of Oriental Institute the of Museum PhilaChicago, University delphia, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The coins are now equally divided between the Persian government and the Oriental Institute. The find consists of 1143 coins over a thousand of which are Islamic. The date range is from about 310 B.C. to about A.D. 1848. The coins are catalogued chronologically within each of three divisions Istakhr (1051), according to provenience: Persepolis Terrace (19), and Nagsh-i Rustam (73). Inasmuch as the excavations covered but a small part of the region, the author has wisely refrained from drawing general conclusions as to the economic and historic significance of the individual sites for any given period represented by the coin issues. Nevertheless, the wealth and variety of early Islamic coins from Istakhr reflect that city's commercial prosperity in the seventh and

eighth centuries. The number of Sassanian, Arab-Sassanian, and Umayyad issues add to our still incomplete knowledge of the early Muslims' experimentation with coinage. The hybrid coins in particular throw interesting light on the use of human and animal representation in early Islamic issues. However, Unvala's suggestion that the winged horse on a few Arab-Sassanian and hybrid issues may perhaps represent Muhammad's legendary Buraq (pp. 41 f.) seems somewhat far-fetched. A number of the early Islamic coins are of special interest for their details of political significance, such as the use of the Abbasid propaganda slogan (pp. 51, 66 f.) and the names of heirs and wazirs. Also of interest is the use of several abbreviations whose is not clear. The initial significance always and separate forms of the letter ha' could also stand for the dotted sister letter jim and as such perhaps stand for either ,r. or jr. which appear on other coins (pp. 95, 50, 58, 87). Many of the coins permit only a tentative identification. Apart from these and the large number of badly damaged and therefore unidentifiable issues, the author threads his way carefully through the entire collection to pin down some half-dozen new Umayyad and thirty new Abbasid issues and three new mints. He draws attention to some unique coins (pp. 47, 66, 101)and takes the opportunity to correct some previous errors (pp. 52, 77, 100). His industry in a taxing field where it is impossible at times to distinguish a late Pahlavi from an early Kufic inscription (p. 103) is indeed commendable. An Inventory of Field Catalogue Numbers is provided for those interested in provenience as evidence for the dating of levels or objects (pp. 108-15). Indexes of dates, of mints and places, of personal names, and of Arabic inscriptions and eighteen plates of illustrations round out this representative useful and welcome monograph. NABIA ABBOTT Oriental Institute University of Chicago