Reclaiming Byzantium —— Russia, Turkey and the Archaeological Claim to the Middle East in the 19th Century

----- 回收拜占廷：俄罗斯，土耳其19世纪对中东的考古诉求

ISBN: 9781788310123 出版年：2020 页码：225 Pinar Ure Bloomsbury Publishing

There is a long-held feeling in Russia that Moscow is the true heir to the Christian Byzantine Empire. In 1894, Imperial Russia opened one of the world's leading centres for Byzantine archaeology in Istanbul, the Russian Archaeological Institute – its purpose was to stake the claim that Russia was the correct heir to 'Tsargrad' (as Istanbul was referred to in Russian circles). This then is the history of that institute, and the history of Russia's efforts to reclaim its Middle East – events since in the Crimea, Syria and Georgia are all, to some extent, wrapped up in this historical framework. Ure looks at the founding of the Russian Archaeological Institute, its aims, and its place in the 'digging-race' which characterised the late Imperial phase of modern history. Above all, she shows how the practise of history has been used as a political tool, a form of "soft power".