The Max van Berchem Foundation was established in 1973 in honour of Max van Berchem (1863-1921), the founding scholar of Arabic epigraphy as its own discipline. In recent years, the Foundation has financed archaeological excavations, research projects and studies in Islamic art and architecture in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Spain, Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco, Iran, Sudan, Iraq, Turkmenistan and India. It has also provided financial support for epigraphical projects in France (the Thesaurus d'Epigraphie Islamique), Spain, Italy, Palestine, China, Yemen, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Bengal.