Wouter Jacques "Wout" van Bekkum (born 21 May 1954) is a Dutch professor emeritus of Middle East Studies at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

. His expertise lies in the field of Semitic languages and cultures, especially the different varieties of the

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language unti ...

and Hebrew poetry from Late Antiquity until pre-modern times.

Career

Van Bekkum was born on 21 May 1954 in

Winschoten Winschoten (; ) is a city with a population of 18,518 in the municipality of Oldambt (municipality), Oldambt in the northeast of the Netherlands. It is the largest city in the region of Oldambt (region), Oldambt in the province of Groningen (prov ...

. During his life van Bekkum committed himself to the Jewish heritage and community in Groningen. His mother also noticed his interest in foreign scripts and stimulated his interest in the field, which made him abandon his plans to become an English teacher. This led to him starting a study of

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew language, Hebrew, Maltese language, Maltese, Modern South Arabian language ...

and

cultures Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

at the

in 1972. When he started in 1972 he was the only student who applied for the program. He studied until 1979 and for the final year of his study he did a one-year program at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

. After completing his studies he was a student assistant in Hebrew and Judaeo-Arabic Linguistics for one year before being appointed as assistant-teacher in

Modern Hebrew Modern Hebrew (, or ), also known as Israeli Hebrew or simply Hebrew, is the Standard language, standard form of the Hebrew language spoken today. It is the only surviving Canaanite language, as well as one of the List of languages by first w ...

in 1980. Van Bekkum kept this position until 1986. In that year he started as lecturer of Classical, Rabbinic, Medieval and Modern Hebrew. In 1988 he earned his doctor title in Medieval Hebrew Poetry at the University of Groningen with a thesis titled: ''The Qedushta'ot of Yehudah according to Genizah Manuscripts''. In 2000 he was appointed as full professor of

Middle Eastern studies Middle Eastern studies, sometimes referred to as Near Eastern studies, West Asian Studies or South Western Asian studies, is a name given to a number of academic programs associated with the study of the history, culture, politics, economies, an ...

. During his career he was mostly focused on medieval Jewish poetry and Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic linguistics, specializing in

piyyut A piyyuṭ (plural piyyuṭim, ; from ) is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, chanted, or recited during religious services. Most piyyuṭim are in Mishnaic Hebrew or Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, and most follow some p ...

. After the student number and satisfaction dropped for the academic program, the academic program was in risk of being scrapped. Van Bekkum designed a new curriculum and managed to revitalize the program and attract more students. In 1996, aside from his work at the University of Groningen, he also started working as professor occupying an

endowed chair A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are ...

(Dutch: bijzonder hoogleraar) of Modern Jewish history at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

. He remained in function in Amsterdam until 2001. Van Bekkum was elected a member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

in 2003. In 2019 during the Medieval Hebrew Poetry Colloquium in

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

, Belgium, he was honored with a

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

, edited by Joachim Yeshaya, Elisabeth Hollender, Naoya Katsumata, ''The Poet and the World, Festschrift for Wout van Bekkum on the Occasion of His Sixty-Fifth Birthday'', Studia Judaica 107, De Gruyter Berlin, 339 pages. On 24 April 2020 he was appointed Officer in the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

. Van Bekkum took up

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

status in 2020.

Main publications

van Bekkum, W. J. (1998). ''Hebrew Poetry from Late Antiquity. Liturgical Poems of Yehudah. Critical Edition with Introduction & Commentary''. (vol. 43 ed.) Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff/Brill. van Bekkum, W. J. (2007). ''The Secular Poetry of El 'azar ben Ya'aqov ha-Bavli. Baghdad, Thirteenth Century, on the basis of Manuscript Heb. IIA, 210.1''. EJM 34. Leiden-Boston: Brill. van Bekkum, W.J. (2023). ''The Religious Poetry of El'azar ben Ya'aqov ha-Bavli''. Baghdad, Thirteenth Century. EJM 94. Leiden-Boston: Brill. van Bekkum, W. J., & Katsumata, N. (2011). ''Giving a Diamond, Essays in Honor of Joseph Yahalom on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday''. (Tome XLIX ed.) Leiden-Boston: Brill. van Bekkum, W. J. (1996). Deutung und Bedeuting in der hebraïschen Exegese. ''Frankfurter Judaistische Beiträge'', ''23'', 1 - 13. van Bekkum, W. J. (1998). Lights of Sion and Lights of Edom. ''Dutch Studies published by NELL'', ''1-2'', 109 - 120. van Bekkum, W. J. (2002). Reconstruction of Yiddish Colloquial in Winschoten. In K. Siewert (Ed.), ''Aspekte und Ergebnisse der Sondersprachenforschung II'' (pp. 197 - 208). (Sondersprachenforschung; No. 7). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. van Bekkum, W. J. (2008). Qumran Hymnology and Piyyut: Contrast and Comparison. ''Revue de Qumran'', ''Numéro 91''(Tome 23), 341 - 356. van Bekkum, W. J. (2009). Discussing Cultural Influences: Text, Context, and Non-Text in Rabbinic Judaism. ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'', ''129''(1), 139–141. van Bekkum, W. J. (2011). The Future of Ancient Piyyut. In M. Goodman, & P. Alexander (Eds.), ''Rabbinic Texts and the History of Late-Roman Palestine'' (pp. 217 - 233). Oxford: Oxford University Press. van Bekkum, W. J. (2012). Hebrew Poetry. In S. Cushman, & R. Greene (Eds.), ''The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics'' (pp. 601 - 610). van Bekkum, W. J. (2013). Leopold Zunz and Jewish Hymnology. ''European Journal of Jewish Studies'', ''7.2'', 187 - 197. van Bekkum, W., & Katsumata, N. (2017). Between Convention and Innovation: A Study of Thematic and Literary Features of Three Sedarim for Wayyosha of the tenth and eleventh centuries . ''Journal of Jewish Studies'', ''68''(2), 324–345.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bekkum, Wout van 1954 births Living people 20th-century Dutch historians 21st-century Dutch historians Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam Academic staff of the University of Groningen Historians of Jews and Judaism Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Middle Eastern studies scholars Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau People from Winschoten University of Groningen alumni