Johannes Dümichen (15 October 1833, Weißholz bei Großglogau7 February 1894,

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

) was a German

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end ...

Biography

Dümichen was born near Glogau. He studied

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and Breslau. Subsequently, he became a pupil of Karl Lepsius and

Heinrich Brugsch Heinrich Karl Brugsch (also ''Brugsch-Pasha'') (18 February 18279 September 1894) was a German Egyptologist. He was associated with Auguste Mariette in his excavations at Memphis. He became director of the School of Egyptology at Cairo, producin ...

, and devoted himself to the study of Egyptian inscriptions. He travelled widely in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, and published his results in a number of important books. He was tasked by the

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n government to explore the

Nile Valley The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the longest river i ...

in 1862 and 1868. On the first expedition (1862–65), along with investigations of the Nile Valley in Egypt, he also conducted extensive research in

Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...

and the

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

. In 1869 he accompanied the Prussian

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

to Egypt on the occasion of the opening of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

. On his fourth trip to Egypt (1875), he studied the inscriptions of the largest private tomb in the

Theban Necropolis The Theban Necropolis () is a necropolis on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Thebes, Egypt, Thebes (Luxor) in Upper Egypt. It was used for ritual burials for much of the Ancient Egypt, Pharaonic period, especially during the New Kingdom of Egyp ...

. He was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1869. In 1872 he was chosen professor of Egyptology at

, where a new chair was created to compete with the famous chair of Egyptology at the

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

Works

The value of his work consists not only in the stores of material which he collected, but also in the success with which he dealt with many of the problems raised by the inscriptions. Among his works are: * ''Bauurkunde des Tempels von Dendera'' (1865) – Book on the

Dendera Temple complex The Dendera Temple complex (Ancient Egyptian: ''Iunet'' or ''Tantere''; the 19th-century English spelling in most sources, including Belzoni, was Tentyra; also spelled Denderah) is located about south-east of Dendera, Egypt. It is one of the be ...

. * ''Geographische Inschriften altägyptischer Denkmähler'' (4 vols., 1865 1885) – Geographical inscriptions of ancient Egyptian monuments. * ''Altägyptische Kalenderinschriften'' (1866) – Egyptian calendar inscriptions. * ''Altägypt. Tempelinschriften'' (2 vols., 1867) – Ancient Egypt, temple inscriptions. * ''Historische Inschriften altägypt. Denkmäler'' (2 vols., 1867–1869) – Historical inscriptions of ancient Egyptian monuments. * ''Die kalendarischen Opferfestlisten von Medinet-Habu'' (1881) – The calendar on the Festival of Sacrifice in the Temple of Medinet Habu. * ''Die Oasen der libyschen Wüste''. Straßburg (1877) – The oases of the

Libyan Desert The Libyan Desert (not to be confused with the Libyan Sahara) is a geographical region filling the northeastern Sahara Desert, from eastern Libya to the Western Desert (Egypt), Western Desert of Egypt and far northwestern Sudan. On medieval m ...

. * ''Geschichte des alten Aegypten'' (1879) – History of ancient Egypt. * ''Der Grabpalast des Patuamenap in der thebanischen Nekropolis'' (1884–1894). The grave palace of

Pediamenopet Padiamenope (also known by the hellenised form Petamenophis) was an ancient Egyptian royal scribe and chief lector priest between the late 25th Dynasty and the early 26th Dynasty, known mainly for TT33 (tomb), his immense tomb, one of the largest ...

in the

. ** Band 1: ''Inschriften über Titel und Würden der Verstorbenen und Verzeichnis der alljährlichen Todtenfesttage''. Leipzig 1884 UB Heidelberg. ** Band 2: ''Darstellungen und Inschriften der Zimmer V, IV, III''. Leipzig 1885 UB Heidelberg. ** Band 3. Leipzig 1894 UB Heidelberg. The last work, originally intended to comprise six volumes, was left unfinished at Dümichen's death. Part 3 was published after his death by

Wilhelm Spiegelberg Wilhelm Spiegelberg (25 June 1870, Hannover – 23 December 1930, Munich) was a German Egyptologist. He specialized in analyses of Demotic and hieratic text. Spiegelberg grew up as the second oldest of four brothers in a German Jewish family. He ...

.WorldCat Title
Der grabpalast des Patuamenap in der thebanischen nekropolis, etc.

Notes

References

Johannes Dümichen bibliography
de.Wikisource. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dumichen, Johannes 1833 births 1894 deaths German Egyptologists People from Głogów People from the Province of Silesia Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Breslau alumni Academic staff of the University of Strasbourg German male non-fiction writers International members of the American Philosophical Society