The Current Study of the Ancient Near East in Spain

In the nineteenth century in Spain there was a growing interest in the civilizations of the East—those located to the east of the Mediterranean. However, in Spain this interest did not translate into a consolidation of cuneiform studies in academia as it had done in other countries. In this article we offer some clues to help understand these two circumstances by providing an overview of the study of the ancient Near East in the Iberian Peninsula. In our analysis we shall pay special attention to Spain, and also highlight the connections with its neighbor Portugal and with the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries of Latin America, where this field of studies has expanded notably in recent decades.