Conference devoted to the 90th anniversary of the Oriental Department

1–2 December 2010 a conference devoted to the 90th anniversary of the Oriental Department of the State Hermitage was held. The birth date of the department is 1 November 1920 when the Hermitage Council made a decision to establish the Muslim Oriental Department the appointed guardian of which was Iosif Orbeli.

Thanks to the energy and enthusiasm of I. Orbeli, the Oriental Department became one of the most significant centers of Russian and international oriental studies and has remained so throughout its entire history.

Collections kept at the Oriental Department are quite various in their geographical and chronological range consistent with the wide scope of research conducted by the department employees.

Presented at the conference were reports on history of the Oriental Department - on the people who contributed to the establishment of the department and the people who subsequently glorified it, as well as on history of development of the Hermitage oriental studies. To close the conference, a round table devoted to the prospects of researching new topics and unexplored collections was held.