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Gustaf Dalman (1855-1941) became head of the Institutum Judaicum in 1887. After visiting Palestine in 1899 he became director of the German Evangelisches Institut fur Altertumswissenschaft des Heiligen Landes until accepting a position as Professor of Theology at Greifswald. A top scholar, Dalman’s magnum opus was the eight-volume work ’Arbeit und Sitte in Palestine’, a massive and detailed study of the customs of the Palestinian Arabs. Dalman’s many years in Palestine give his work particular authority. After all of these years, his work still has value in illuminating the oriental background of the biblical narratives.