Ludwig Borchardt

1863-1938

       Ludwig Borchardt was a German Egyptologist and architect. He was born October 5,1863 in Berlin. He was part of the excavations at Abusir, Amarna and is most noted for his work at Abu Ghurab and the Temple of Niuserre. Ludwig Borchardt worked with Henrich Schafer during the excavation from 1898 to 1901 on the temple dedicated to the god Re.  

       Another area that Borchardt worked at was the old settlement of Amarna, which was located 150 kilometers(90 miles) south of Cairo.  That is where, in 1912, he discovered the bust of Queen Nefertiti, wife of the Sun King Akhenaten. Borchardt dug the bust of Nefertiti out of the sand and then smuggled it out of Egypt where it was then taken to Germany. The Berlin Museum of Antiquities made the bust the center of their collection. Armana was built between the former capitals of Memphis and Thebes, about ten kilometers south of present day Mallawi. It was built by the short term Pharaoh Akhetaten who reigned from 1353 to 1333 BC. 

    The New York Times reported in 1929 that the Egyptians wanted the bust of Queen Nefertiti returned to Egypt. The Times reported in 2007 that the Egyptian government was still trying to get Germany to at least make them a loan the bust of Queen Nefertiti, but the Germans said the bust was going nowhere.

       Borchardt has been credited with founding the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo in 1907 and made many contributions to the understanding of ancient Egyptian architecture. He passed away on August 12, 1938.

 

Resources

Dunn, Jimmy. The Egyptologist , 1999

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/

Wilkinson, Richard H. The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt, New York: Thames and Hudson Inc, 2000

New York Times, March 31, 1929.

The Times, April 26, 2007.

 

Written By: Chuck Daniels, 2002

Edited By: Lillian Dolentz, 2008