Georg Steindorff
Encyclopedia
Georg Steindorff was a German
Egyptologist.
noun forms. In 1893, the University of Leipzig
appointed him to its chair for Egyptology, which had existed since 1870 and had previously been held by Georg Ebers
. The Egyptian collection was founded by the archaeologist Gustav Seyffarth
, but Steindorff built the small training collection that was left to him into a true museum. On his research trips to Egypt
he acquired household and grave funishings and also small-format artworks. He also brought larger finds from excavations back to Leipzig with him (for example the limestone head of Queen Nefertiti
) with the permission of the then French-run Antiquities Service
.
Of particular importance are Steindorff's excavations in Giza, Qau, and Aniba
between 1903 and 1931. The Egyptian Museum possesses many objects that were discovered on these expeditions. After his retirement in 1934, Steindorff lived another four years in Leipzig before emigrating to the United States
in 1939, to avoid persecution as a Jew in Nazi Germany
.
He was married to Elise Oppenheimer, sister of Franz Oppenheimer
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Egyptologist.
Life
Georg Steindorff was a graduate of the Egyptology seminars of the University of Göttingen. He earned a doctorate in 1884 with a linguistic dissertation on CopticCoptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
noun forms. In 1893, the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
appointed him to its chair for Egyptology, which had existed since 1870 and had previously been held by Georg Ebers
Georg Ebers
Georg Moritz Ebers , German Egyptologist and novelist, discovered the Egyptian medical papyrus, of ca. 1550 BCE, named for him at Luxor in the winter of 1873–74...
. The Egyptian collection was founded by the archaeologist Gustav Seyffarth
Gustav Seyffarth
Gustav Seyffarth was a German-American Egyptologist, born at Uebigan in Saxony. He studied at the University of Leipzig and under Campolion in Paris in 1820. He became professor of philosophy at Leipzig in 1825 and professor of archæology in 1829...
, but Steindorff built the small training collection that was left to him into a true museum. On his research trips to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
he acquired household and grave funishings and also small-format artworks. He also brought larger finds from excavations back to Leipzig with him (for example the limestone head of Queen Nefertiti
Nefertiti
Nefertiti was the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a religious revolution, in which they started to worship one god only...
) with the permission of the then French-run Antiquities Service
Supreme Council of Antiquities
The Supreme Council of Antiquities is the branch of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture responsible for the conservation, protection and regulation of all antiquities and archaeological excavations in Egypt...
.
Of particular importance are Steindorff's excavations in Giza, Qau, and Aniba
Aniba
Aniba is an american neotropical flowering plant genus in the family Lauraceae. They are present in low and mountain cloud forest in Caribbean islands, Central America, and norther to central South America.- Description :...
between 1903 and 1931. The Egyptian Museum possesses many objects that were discovered on these expeditions. After his retirement in 1934, Steindorff lived another four years in Leipzig before emigrating to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1939, to avoid persecution as a Jew in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
.
He was married to Elise Oppenheimer, sister of Franz Oppenheimer
Franz Oppenheimer
Franz Oppenheimer was a German-Jewish sociologist and political economist, who published also in the area of the fundamental sociology of the state.-Personal life:...
.