Wolfgang Helck

Who was Wolfgang Helck?

Hans Wolfgang Helck was a German Egyptologist, considered one of the most important Egyptologists of the 20th century. From 1956 until his retirement in 1979 he was a Professor at the University of Hamburg. He remained active after his retirement and together with Wolfhart Westendorf published the German Lexikon der Ägyptologie, completed in 1992. He published many books and articles on the history of Egyptian and Near Eastern culture. He was a member of the German Archaeological Institute and a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences.

Helck was the son of philologist Hans Helck. He studied at the University of Leipzig under Georg Steindorff and at the University of Göttingen under Hermann Kees, completing his studies in 1938. He was a prisoner of war during World War II, returning to Göttingen in 1947, completing his doctorate in 1951.