Jenifer and I visited the British Museum in London
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
By Steve Hunegs, Executive Director
October 10, 2024
On a recent visit to London, we decided to tour the British Museum’s special exhibit: Silk Roads, which “unravels how the journeys of people, objects and ideas that formed the Silk Roads shaped culture and histories.” (The events and artifacts of the exhibit cover the years 500 to 1000 CE).
One document on display transfixed me. It was written in Judeo-Persian (a form of Farsi written in Hebrew characters like Yiddish and Ladino written in Hebrew as a form of German and Spanish, respectively).
The document was found in Dandan Uiliq, a Buddhist site and oasis in the Taklamakan Desert of China. (According to Wikipedia, the site was rediscovered by explorers in 1896 and has been partially excavated.). The letter discusses sheep trading. The exhibit opines this evidences Jews as Central Asian sheep traders in 802 CE.
One theme of the exhibit is the interaction of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and Jews in the time period of the silk roads—which lasted many centuries. Their engagement propelled the movement of people; ideas and goods over a wide geographic area—in short, the spread of knowledge among disparate peoples and different philosophies. Jenifer and Steve Hunegs at the Eagle Squadron Memorial in London
I learned from Prof. Kenneth Sacks at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a classicist who taught Greek and Roman history—to take great care in extrapolating from the ancient world its events and personalities—and applying them to the present. Nevertheless, maybe we can learn from the first half of the first millennium about the possibility of co-existence promoting economic and intellectual growth. I don’t know enough history to ascertain whether these five centuries in Central Asia were relatively more peaceful than other places on earth. That said, we should not despair of individuals and their ability to create a better future with people holding different values and views of the world.
Sites in London also tell the story of the importance of collective security both individually and nationally. In Grosvenor Square—long a symbol of “American” London (our embassy was located there from 1938 to 2018)—you see the obelisk honoring the Eagle Squadron. The squadron was comprised of American volunteers who flew for the RAF—most notably and heroically in the Battle of Britain. The pilots placed their citizenship and lives at risk in the defense of the United Kingdom and ultimately freedom, democracy and decency. Etched into the memorial are the names of all the Eagle Squadron pilots including Art Donohue from St. Charles, MN who named his Spitfire: Message from Minnesota. These Americans were part of “Their Finest Hour” (in the words of Winston Churchill) who fought for the Last Hope Island (in the words of Lynne Olson) and for the security of the United States and the western world.
A 15 minute walk away are the Churchill War Rooms where the Prime Minister and his government conducted much of the Second World War from a secret, subterranean location in Westminster not far from Parliament and Number 10 Downing Street. (The Cabinet War Rooms were opened to the public in 1984.). A Winston Churchill museum has been added to the site. An artifact on exhibit is a broadside of the “Atlantic Charter”—a joint declaration of the United States and the United Kingdom signed by President Franklin Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston The Atlantic Charter Churchill aboard the USS Augusta in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland and released on August 14, 1941. The Atlantic Charter was one of the earliest expressions of the need for collective security to protect the independence of nations and all which flows from it. The charter explicitly references the “final destruction of the Nazi tyranny” some four months before the United States entered the war. The 374 words of the Atlantic Charter comprise one of the most important documents of the 20th century and Anglo-American history,
Its spirit lives. This past April the informal coalition of Israel; the United States; the United Kingdom; Saudi Arabia: Jordan and the United Arab Emirates all cooperated to shoot down the vast majority of missiles and drones which Iran fired at Israel. Similarly, the United States Navy and Jordan intercepted some of the 200 ballistic missiles which Iran fired at Israel on October 1. As with Nazi Germany, the partnership of allied nations is critical in containing if not defeating Iran and its proxies who have all sworn to destroy Israel and attack the United States. Let us all hope for a more peaceful world in 5785; the release of the hostages; the end of the suffering of all innocents while remaining resolute in the security of our community and all communities.
This blog post was the featured staff column for the October 2024 Gesher (‘Bridge’ in Hebrew) – JCRC’s monthly email newsletter. Subscribe
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