Franz Joseph Lauth

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Franz Joseph Lauth (18 February 1822 – 11 February 1895) was a German Egyptologist from Landau. He studied classical philology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich from 1842 to 1845 and then taught at the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich.

From 1863 to 1865 he traveled in Egypt as part of his research. In 1865 he was appointed professor at the Maximilians Gymnasium and received the Great Golden Medal from Maximilian II of Bavaria for his studies of the zodiac of Denderah and Manetho. This recognition gave him access to royal collections and libraries, helping him study Egyptian artifacts and papyri in places like Vienna, Trieste, Rome, Florence, Paris, London, and Leiden. He contributed to the Journal of Egyptian Language and Antiquities.

In 1869 Lauth became an Honorary Professor of Egyptology at Munich University and curator of the university’s Egyptian collections. He published many works, including From Prehistoric Times of Egypt (1879–80), The Zodiacs of Denderah, Manetho and the Turin Papyrus (1865), The Historical Results of Egyptology (1869), Explicatory Index of the Monuments of the Egyptian Antiquities (1875), Guide to the K. Antiquarium in Munich (1870), Papyrus Prisse, Egyptian Chronology (1877), From Ancient Egypt: The Prehistoric Period, The Stele of Piankhy (Piankhy) (1870), and On the Date of the Nativity (1876). He also wrote travel letters about his 1872–73 trip to Egypt.

Later critics questioned his writing style, and his influence waned as other scholars challenged his conclusions. He resigned in 1882 and gradually faded from memory, though he remained a respected figure. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1872. Lauth died in Munich and was buried at Alter Südfriedhof. He published around 184 books, papers, and writings.