Hermann Junker

Hermann Junker (November 29, 1877 in Bendorf – January 9, 1962 in Vienna) was a German archaeologist best known for his discovery of the Merimde-Benisalam site in the West Nile Delta in Lower Egypt in 1928.

Early life

Junker was born in 1877 in Bendorf, the son of an accountant. In 1896 he joined the seminary at Trier, studying theology, where he developed an interest in philosophy and oriental languages. After four years of study Junker entered the priesthood and became a chaplain in Ahrweiler, continuing his language studies with Alfred Wiedemann in Bonn, gradually devoting himself only to Egyptology.

Hermann Junker (sitting on the right) at the cemetery of Arminna (1911/12).

Professional education

In 1901 Junker began studying under Adolf Erman in Berlin, publishing his dissertation in 1903 titled "On the writing system in the Temple of Hathor in Dendera".

In 1906 he published a grammar of the texts at Dendera, which got him an appointment in 1907 as associate professor of Egyptology at the University of Vienna. In 1908 he traveled for the first time to Egypt for the Prussian Academy of Sciences to help document the texts in the Temple of Philae. As a member of the Egyptian Commission of the Austrian Academy of Sciences he was officially proposed as a field director.

Professional work

In winter 1909/10 Junker began the first official Austrian excavations in the village of Tura near Cairo, where he found rich prehistoric finds that he sent to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The following winter he led excavations at El-Kubanieh south of Aswan, finding prehistoric tombs and cemeteries from the Middle Kingdom and the Nubian C-group. His interest in the ancient Nubian people drew him to Toschke in Middle Nubia, which he excavated in 1911-12. As a result of his work, in 1912 he was appointed full professor of Egyptology at the University of Vienna.

In January 1912 he began excavating Giza, engaging in three campaigns by 1914 covering an area of 15,000 square meters and more than 600 graves. On January 10, 1913 he discovered Mastaba of Kaninisut. Shortly after the decision was made to purchase the cult chamber of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna in order explore the typical grave architecture of the Old Kingdom.

The fourth campaign for 1914-1915 was already in the pipeline when World War I prevented further work. Even after the war, the economic situation in Austria and the political situation in Egypt (which remained until 1922 a British protectorate) prevented further work. In January 1926 the fourth campaign began, continuing to the south side of the Great Pyramid in 1928 in the seventh campaign.

After Giza, Junker began excavating the Merimde-Benisalame site in the West Delta. In seven campaigns from 1928-1939 he uncovered an extensive Neolithic free settlement that became one of the most important for this epoch.[1]

In 1929 Junker took over the management of the German Institute of Egyptian Archaeology of the Cairo Department of the German Archaeological Institute. In 1934 he became professor of Egyptology at the University of Cairo, where he taught for 10 years.

Caught by surprise on vacation at the outbreak of World War II, excavations in Egypt had to stop. The Cairo Department was moved first to Berlin, then in 1943 to Vienna. During the war Junker continued to work on the publication of materials on Giza, and never returned to Egypt.

Selected publications

References and notes

  1. ↑ Bogucki, Peter I. (1980). Egypt before the pharaohs: the prehistoric foundations of Egyptian civilization. Taylor & Francis. p. 167. ISBN 0-7100-0495-8.
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