The Past of the Crimea as Perceived by British Missionary Ebenezer Henderson

Abstract

This paper analyses the notion of the past of the Crimea in the public mind of the first quarter of the nineteenth century according to a book by famous British Biblicist and traveller Ebenezer Henderson (1784–1858). Henderson worked for the Russian Bible Society which distributed the Holy Scriptures among the peoples of the Empire. Emperor Alexander I patronised the work of the Society probably in order to use their results to facilitate the integration of non-Orthodox populations into his Empire. In 1820, Henderson and his fellows took an inspection trip through Russian provinces. It resulted in the publication of a travelogue which became an interesting account of Russia under Alexander I. Henderson’s journal is important for the understanding of the mind in the period when, using already published studies on the history of the Crimea, travellers reconsidered them in their travelogues by comparing in-situ observations with book records. Henderson’s book is a specific experience of interpretation of history by a person who had all-round knowledge in philology and therefore could, unlike the majority of his contemporaries, read Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Oriental sources in the original. Henderson, as a religious figure, experienced an influence of his Christian feelings and quests. The result was his book, composed as a mosaic of scientific and religious, sentimental and pious, realistic and delusive fragments. The author’s historical associations were triggered by both archaeological sites and simple geographical locations relatable with monuments of the past that were lost for good.

Keywords

• записки путешественников
• история науки
• археология Крыма
• история Крыма
• воображаемая география
• Эбенезер Хендерсон.