Herbert Rüdiger Ricke (27 September 1901 – 22 March 1976), was a German archaeologist,

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...

and

architectural historian An architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it. Professional requirements As many architectural historians are employed at universities and other facilities ...

who is best known for his works on ancient Egyptian architecture.

Biography

H. Ricke studied

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

from 1920 to 1925 at

Leibniz University Hannover Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hannover (german: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität), also known as the University of Hannover, is a public research university located in Hanover, Germany. Founded on 2 May 1831 as Higher Vocational Sc ...

where he was influenced by the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...

. After obtaining his

Diplom A ''Diplom'' (, from grc, δίπλωμα ''diploma'') is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus ...

in 1925, he worked in Egypt from 1926 to 1928 under the direction of

Ludwig Borchardt Ludwig may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ludwig (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ludwig (surname), including a list of people * Ludwig Ahgren, or simply Ludwig, American YouTube live streamer and co ...

on the publication of excavations undertaken at Tel al-Amarna by the

Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft The Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft (, ''German Oriental Society''), abbreviated DOG, is a German voluntary association based in Berlin dedicated to the study of the Near East. The DOG was officially founded in January 1898 to foster public interest ...

(German oriental society), which had been interrupted by the

first world war World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Thanks to his work ''Der Grundriss des Amarna-Wohnhauses'' (The plan of dwellings at Amarna), he received his doctorate under the supervision of Uvo Hölscher at

. He then returned as an employee of Borchardt in Egypt, in Borchardt's Institute, now known as the Swiss research institute on Egyptian architecture and archaeology in Cairo.Website
/ref> He undertook excavations in western Thebes from 1934 to 1937 and in

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (, which was originally derived from ar, خورنق ''Khurnaq'' "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construct ...

and

Elephantine Elephantine ( ; ; arz, جزيرة الفنتين; el, Ἐλεφαντίνη ''Elephantíne''; , ) is an island on the Nile, forming part of the city of Aswan in Upper Egypt. The archaeological sites on the island were inscribed on the UNESCO ...

in 1938. The outbreak of the

second world war World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

surprised him while he was in Switzerland and prevented his return to Egypt. H. Ricke thus worked at the institute headquarters in Zurich during the war. He resumed work in Egypt after the war and from 1944 until 1950 published his most important work ''Bemerkungen zur ägypt. Baukunst des Alten Reichs'' (Remarks on the Egyptian architecture of the Old Kingdom). From 1950 onwards he led the institute as a research expert together with its executive director Dr. Étienne Combe. They placed the institute under the patronage of the Swiss Embassy in Cairo and consequently had it renamed Schweizerische Institut für Ägyptische Bauforschung und Altertumskunde in Kairo. At the time he worked on excavations and architectural history studies at Karnak (1952–54),

Dahshur DahshurAlso transliterated ''Dahshour'' (in English often called ''Dashur'' ar, دهشور ' , ''Dahchur'') is a royal necropolis located in the desert on the west bank of the Nile approximately south of Cairo. It is known chiefly for several p ...

(1951–1955),

Abusir Abusir ( ar, ابو صير ; Egyptian ''pr wsjr'' cop, ⲃⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲓ ' "the House or Temple of Osiris"; grc, Βούσιρις) is the name given to an Egyptian archaeological locality – specifically, an extensive necropolis of ...

(1954–57) where he excavated the Sun temple of Userkaf, and Elephantine (1954, 1958). In 1957 he became the scientific director of the institute and worked in Khor-Dehmit and Beit el-Wali (1960–61), Giza (1965–67) and again in Thebes (1964 and 1970). H. Ricke finally became the executive director of the institute in 1962, a position he held until his retirement in 1970. He retired in Dießen am Ammersee (Upper Bavaria) where he died 6 years later.

Honors

In 1953 H. Ricke was elected corresponding member of the German Archaeological Institute. He became an honorary member of the Egyptology Institute of Charles University, Prague (1963), Member of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen (since 1965) and the Institut d'Egypte (1968).

Works

* B. Peyer: ''Beiträge zur Ägyptischen Bauforschung und Altertumskunde.'' Band 12, 1971, p. XIII. * Morris J. Bierbrier: ''Who was who in Egyptology.'' London 1995, p. 357.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ricke, Herbert 1901 births 1976 deaths German Egyptologists German male non-fiction writers Archaeologists from Lower Saxony