Sapir, N. 2014. The bird collection, including the collection of Israel Aharoni. Haasiana (newsletter of the biological collections of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem) 7:1-8.
ABSTRACT
The bird collection of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was founded by Prof. I Aharoni (1882 – 1946; Fig. 1), containing specimens collected since 1906, before the establishment of the Hebrew University in 1925. Aharoni was an avid naturalist and a multi-lingual expert in near east and other (e.g., East European) languages. In his autobiographic book, “The Memories of a Hebrew Zoologist” (1943), he stated that “Even before my arrival to the land of Israel, my double life-long goal was clear to me: a) The study of wild animals in their natural habitat, in the birth place of each one of them, and b) The study of the original name of each creature, whom the desert dwellers (who live on their hunting and did not change their culture and way of life since the days of “Abraham” our father) are calling each living animal known to them”. Since his immigration to Israel in 1902, Aharoni travelled many times throughout the entire area between areas that are currently found within the borders of Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, to research the region’s wildlife. During his numerous expeditions throughout the Middle East, he collected specimens for different animal collections and gained expertise in the study of the region’s animals.