Franz Joseph Lauth (18 February 1822,

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990) ...

, Germany – 11 February 1895, Munich), was a German

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 religiou ...

Career

From 1842 to 1845 he studied

classical philology Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

. In 1849 he became a teacher at the

Wilhelmsgymnasium (Munich) The Wilhelmsgymnasium is a gymnasium (selective school) in Munich, Germany. Founded in 1559 to educate local boys, it is now coeducational. Wilhelmsgymnasium is one of the few remaining gymnasiums in Bavaria to be a "pure ''Humanistisches Gymnas ...

. *From 1863 to 1865 he traveled in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

(Part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

). *In 1865 he was appointed professor at the Maximilians Gymnasium and received the Great Golden Medal from

Maximilian II of Bavaria Maximilian II (28 November 1811 – 10 March 1864) reigned as King of Bavaria between 1848 and 1864. Unlike his father, King Ludwig I, "King Max" was very popular and took a greater interest in the business of Government than in personal extr ...

, for his chronological studies of the zodiac circle of Dendera and Manetho. *From this recognition he was able to gain access to the collections at the court and library of king Ludwig I of Bavaria and study the royal collection of Egyptian artifacts held within. He later studied similar collections in Vienna,

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...

, Rome, Florence, Paris, London and

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

(focusing especially on the papyri). He made major contributions to the newly founded ''Journal of Egyptian Language and Antiquities''. In 1869 he was appointed Honorary Professor of Egyptology, at

Munich University The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

and

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of the Egyptian collections. Some time later he began to be heavily criticized for the style of his writings. In the winter of 1872/73 he toured Egypt (Cairo, Alexandria and

Luxor Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''. Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...

) which led to him publish some ''Travel letters'', about his experiences there. Subsequent research by others increasingly diminished the importance of his writings. After his resignation in 1882, he was gradually forgotten. He was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1872.

Selected works

Lauth published 184 books, papers and miscellaneous writings during his lifetime. * From Prehistoric Times of Egypt: A clear representation of the Egyptian history and culture from first beginnings to

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

(in 1879–80) * The Zodiacs of

Denderah Dendera ( ar, دَنْدَرة ''Dandarah''; grc, Τεντυρις or Τεντυρα; Bohairic cop, ⲛⲓⲧⲉⲛⲧⲱⲣⲓ, translit=Nitentōri; Sahidic cop, ⲛⲓⲧⲛⲧⲱⲣⲉ, translit=Nitntōre), also spelled ''Denderah'', ancient ...

: memo where they establish that these are memorial calendars of... * Manetho and the Turiner King's papyrus (1865) * The Historical Results of Egyptology (1869) * Explicatory Index of the monuments of the Egyptian Alterthums (1875) * Guide to the K. Antiquarium in Munich (1870) *'' Papyrus Prisse'' (82 pages) * Egyptian Chronology (1877) - 240 pages * From ancient Egypt: Issue 1 The prehistoric period (544 pages) * The Stele of

Piankhy Piye (once transliterated as Pankhy or Piankhi; d. 714 BC) was an ancient Kushite king and founder of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt, who ruled Egypt from 744–714 BC. He ruled from the city of Napata, located deep in Nubia, modern-day Sudan ...

(1870) * On the date of the Nativity - ''Letter to Mr.Bosanquet'' (1876)Christine Beinlich-Seeber - Bibliographie Altagypten, 1822-1946 Otto Harrassowitz Verlag

(''previously'') books.google, Retrieved 2012-01-21
/ref>

Career

Selected works

See also

References

Further reading