100 years ago "Die grosse Täuschung" appeared from the pen of the Assyriologist Friedrich Delitzsch. This publication marks the end of a conflict between the still young Assyriology and the Theology that extends far beyond the boundaries of science. The German orientalists no longer wanted to see themselves reduced to the role of representatives of an Old Testament auxiliary science. The philological research of the cuneiform tradition led to a steadily growing knowledge of the history and the cultural history of the neighbouring Mesopotamia: Science was now able to access autochthonous evidence. These new sources questioned the paradigm of the uniqueness of the Hebrew tradition. It could no longer be denied that much of what we read in the Hebrew texts had been formulated in Mesopotamia centuries earlier. The attempt at emancipation, which was to become known as "Babel-Bible-Streit", attracted public attention, primarily through a series of public lectures that Friedrich Delitzsch held for the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft from 1902 onwards. – With a certain temporal distance, the situation in the early 20th century should be considered again. The collected contributions are presented in four sections: The first, “Friedrich Delitzsch und der Babel-Bibel-Streit”, sheds light on the background and presents the scientific-historical foundations of the dispute. The second section deals with “Der politische und gesellschaftliche Rahmen” of the controversy. The third section illuminates the difficult relationship between “Theologie und Wissenschaft des Judentums”. The fourth part documents the special exhibition “Der Babel-Bibel-Streit. Politik, Theologie und Wissenschaft um 1900” of the Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin.weiterlesen