The value of humaniora

A short letter from an 18-year-old high school student who wants to be an archaeologist when he grows up. Aware of the small chance of a career in archaeology, Henk de Ronde asks Arie Kampman of the NINO for advice. Whatever advice Kampman gave him, Henk would eventually end up never going to college. The war awakens in the young Henk a higher calling, so to speak - one that he would pay for with his life.

Whenever I’m at a party, say, and I tell people I’m the director of an institute that researches civilizations from thousands of years ago, reactions are overwhelmingly positive and interested at first. But… inevitably, the question comes: what use is there for all that knowledge? It’s a fair question, and one that does not have a straightforward answer.

Jet: I never based my choice of education on what I could do with it, that’s just not who I am. I have always been like: I’m doing this out of pure interest and I’ll eventually land on my feet somewhere.

This is Jet Vellinga. She’s getting her master’s degree in Assyriology at Leiden University. She’s currently writing her thesis on the Hittites.

Jet: It’s an empire that existed in ancient Anatolia, in the second millennium BC.

Even as a child, Jet was fascinated by stories about ancient Egypt.

Jet: I remember when I was 11 and my dad took me to the Louvre, and then.. I didn’t even see the Mona Lisa…. I just stayed in the Egypt section the entire time, you know, and I got one of those ankh, or life, sign things, a golden necklace, very ugly, but I loved it. So that fascination with Egypt has always been there.

But Jet did not pick Egyptology as her specialism in Leiden, but Assyriology.

Jet: If I’m going to do something super unique, then I want something truly unique. So I started doing Assyriology, because no one was doing that. I was the only one in the bachelor that year.

And the fact that you learn languages that almost nobody knows, spoke to Jet as well. Languages that use the cuneiform script.

Jet: Hardly anyone can read or translate that, and there are still parts of it that need deciphering, so that’s just really cool as an aspiring Indiana Jones, Lara Croft-type person.

Jet’s story is familiar. I, too, followed my heart back then, without worrying too much about my further career. But the question of whether you should follow your passion and choose the path of an uncertain future, or pick an education with a ‘job guarantee’, that question plays a big role for a lot of students. Not just today, but 80 years ago as well.

Henk de Ronde: Dearest Sir, Would you please be so kind, as to provide me with some information about the following: I am in the 5th year of high school, and I have a great interest in archaeology and art history.

In this way , NINO curator Arie Kampan received a letter from then 18-year-old high school student Henk de Ronde during the war:

[…] Career opportunities for an archaeologist seem to be slim, however, and I might be wise to opt for archaeology as a minor. My major, consequently, should be something that could eventually earn me a living. The question then remains, which major would best be suited for that and would yield the most favorable match with archaeology, of which the Near East, Egypt and America are of most interest to me. I would greatly appreciate it, if you could answer these questions. Highest regards, H. de Ronde

Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to find a copy of Arie Kampman’s answer in the archive. Jet would have advised Henk to opt for studying a language in addition to archeology.

Jet: I would say: pick a study programme that focuses on the linguistic aspects of one of those regions, so you cover both the archaeological and the linguistic side of things. I can see him as manager of an archaeological site who then knows things like: oh, this is a tablet from that area, and then he’d be able to organize everything really well, instead of the archaeologist having to call the Assyriologist to ask what it is.

Jet doesn’t see a career in academia for herself in the future. Personally, I think that’s a shame, because Jet would certainly be a good fit. She is a creative, talented student who’s shown that she’s capable of original research leading to new insights. But Jet wants to put her knowledge of the Near East to use in a completely different way.

Jet: For example making video games, or writing stories, and things like that.

And in order to let that ambition become reality, she has applied for the Game Design department at the renowned Tisch School of the Arts in New York. A school with a very strict application policy.

Jet: And I was accepted there, with my Assyriology background, because they thought that was really interesting; of course it’s not something you hear a lot. So in that way, it was the right choice to go for something unique, and not law school. I just want to tell those stories, and I think games are a great, modern, and innovative way to do that, also because it’s very much where the future is.

Tragically, in the end, Henk de Ronde would end up not going to college at all. He was shot by the Germans on account of sabotage. His sister writes this in a letter to Arie Kampman, in which she cancels his membership to the Ex Oriente Lux Society.

Dearest Mister Kampman,

I hereby have to inform you that my brother Henk de Ronde passed away on September 26. The reason for it is really quite sad. He was arrested in Haarlem on September 23, and executed in the Euterpestraat in Amsterdam a few days later. It has been really hard on me, my only brother, and to then leave this world so soon.