Dieter Arnold
Dieter Arnold (born 1936 in Heidelberg) is a German Egyptologist.
Biography
He received his doctorate on 31 January 1961 from LMU Munich with the thesis "Wall relief and spatial function in Egyptian temples of the New Kingdom".[1]
Arnold worked for the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo during excavations in Dahshur, Deir el-Bahari and El-Tarif.
From 1979 to 1984, he was a professor at the University of Vienna and then a curator at the Egyptian Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.[2] Arnold's specialty is the architecture of Ancient Egypt. As an employee of the Metropolitan Museum, he leads the museum's annual expeditions to el-Lisht and Dahshur.

In 1981, he published a proposal for the construction of the Great Pyramid. The ramp runs first outside and then in a corridor inside the pyramid. Arnold was aware that the construction method could not be explained purely archaeologically due to the lack of finds: "It is no longer possible to determine how the Egyptian builders managed their work. However, the examples of the Cheops and Chephren pyramids demonstrate that they succeeded in solving the problem".[3][4]
Arnold is married to the Egyptologist Dorothea Arnold.[5]
Publications
- Der Pyramidenbezirk des Königs Amenemhet III. in Dahschur. Band 1: Die Pyramide (= Archäologische Veröffentlichungen. Vol. 53). von Zabern, Mainz 1987, ISBN 3-8053-0608-3.
- The Pyramid of Senwosret I (= Publications of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Expedition. Band 22). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1988, ISBN 0-87099-506-5 (Online).
- Building in Egypt. Pharaonic Stone Masonry. Oxford University Press, Oxford u. a. 1991, ISBN 978-0-19-511374-7.
- The Pyramid Complex of Senwosret I PDF (= Publications of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Expedition. Band 25). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1992, ISBN 0-87099-612-6 (Online).
- Die Tempel Ägyptens. Götterwohnungen, Kultstätten, Baudenkmäler. Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1992, ISBN 3-7608-1073-X.
- Lexikon der ägyptischen Baukunst. Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1994, ISBN 3-7608-1099-3.
- Temples of the Last Pharaos. Oxford University Press, New York (NY) u. a. 1999, ISBN 0-19-512633-5.
- The Pyramid Complex of Senwosret III at Dahshur. Architectural Studies PDF (= Publications of the Metropolitan Museum Egyptian Expedition. Band 26). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2002, ISBN 0-87099-956-7 (Online).
- Middle Kingdom Tomb Architecture at Lisht PDF (= Publications of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Expedition. Band 28). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2008, ISBN 978-1-58839-194-0 (PDF)
- The Pyramid Complex of Amenemhat I at Lisht. The Architecture (= Publications of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Egyptian Expedition. Vol. 29). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2016, ISBN 978-1-58839-604-4.
Literature
- Peter Jánosi (ed): Structure and Significance. Thoughts on Ancient Egyptian Architecture (= Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Denkschriften der Gesamtakademie. Volume 33/ Untersuchungen der Zweigstelle Kairo des Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts. Volume 25). Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2005, ISBN 3-7001-3552-1 (Festschrift for Dieter Arnold).
References
- ↑ Wandrelief und Raumfunktion in ägyptischen Tempeln des Neuen Reiches (PhD thesis). Münchner ägyptologische Studien. 1962 – via Index Theologicus.
- ↑ "Dieter Arnold". American University in Cairo Press.
- ↑ Dieter Arnold: Überlegungen zum Problem des Pyramidenbaues. In: Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo. (MDAIK) Vol. 37, 1981, p. 15f.
- ↑ Müller-Römer, Frank (2007). Pyramidenbau mit Rampen und Seilwinden (PDF) (Report). (28 MB) pp. 122-124 – via edoc.ub.uni-muenchen.de.
- ↑ "Meet the Staff". The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
External links
- Dieter Arnold, The Tombs of Senwosret III, in: Konstantin C. Lakomy, Sabah Abdel Razik Saddik and Rafed El-Sayed (ed.), Egypt's Greatest Treasure. Studies in Egyptology, Museology and Archaeology in Honour of Wafaa T. El-Saddik (Wiesbaden, 2025), 556 pages, 179 illustrations b/w, 687 illustrations color, hardback, Reichert Verlag (Publishing), TOC, pp.97-106 PDF
- Literature by and about Dieter Arnold in the German National Library catalogue