04/11/2025
R.I.P. Dr. Daniel Polz 😥😥😥
October 5, 1957 – October 27, 2025
On October 27, after a long and serious illness, our former Scientific Director, colleague, and friend Dr. Daniel Polz passed away.
Daniel Polz’s academic path began in 1978 at the Institute of Egyptology of Heidelberg University, where he also studied Pre- and Early History, Linguistics, and Classical Archaeology as minor subjects. He discovered early on his passion for archaeology within the field of Ancient Studies. From 1979 to 1981, he learned excavation methodology in Germany and soon after began to participate in fieldwork in Egypt, which would take him there annually from 1980 onward. In addition to his work in the DAI Cairo Department’s projects at Merimde and Dahshur, he soon found his main field of interest in the Theban necropolis on the west bank of Luxor, with the nearby German House in Qurna, where he would work for 40 years—becoming a second home to him. From early on, he was committed to introducing progressive archaeological methods into tomb research, which had until then been primarily epigraphically oriented.
In 1988, he completed his studies in Heidelberg with a doctoral dissertation supervised by Jan Assmann on the tomb of Hui and Kel (Thebes No. 54), for which he was awarded the DAI’s travel scholarship in 1989/1990. From 1989 to 1993, Daniel Polz worked as a research associate at the DAI Cairo Department. The project he initiated in 1991 in the necropolis area of Dra Abu el-Naga sought to address a significant gap in knowledge concerning the tombs and burial practices of the Second Intermediate Period and the early New Kingdom. He continued this work even during his next academic appointment as Assistant and later Associate Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he taught Egyptian Archaeology and History from 1993 to 1999.
In 1999, Daniel Polz was appointed Scientific Director of the DAI Cairo Department and continued to expand the project in the Theban necropolis. His work yielded substantial results for the period between 1650 and 1550 BCE, while also offering important insights into later phases, including the Ramesside era. His own research focused on the second millennium BC, but he also recognized the great potential of the Byzantine-period architectural complex located above the Dra Abu el-Naga necropolis. In collaboration with the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, he initiated the study of the Monastery of St. Paul (Deir el-Bachit) there.
His academic career also led him to Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, where he completed his habilitation in 2006 with a thesis entitled „Der Beginn des Neuen Reiches: zur Vorgeschichte einer Zeitenwende“. In addition, he developed a keen interest in the history of science, most notably expressed in the publication series „Menschen – Reisen – Forschungen“, which he founded. Although he no longer held a university teaching position in recent years, he continued to support and mentor younger scholars—both on site at the Dra Abu el-Naga excavation and within his professional circle in Cairo. When he retired in 2022, the scientific direction of the project passed to Ute Rummel.
It was not granted to Daniel Polz to fulfill his wish of a long and productive scholarly phase following his retirement. The publications of the various stages of the Dra Abu el-Naga project, to which he continued to devote great energy even under difficult personal circumstances, could no longer be completed by him.
With great dedication and personal commitment, he headed the editorial office of the DAI Cairo Department from 1999 to 2022, leaving behind an impressive legacy of nearly one hundred volumes. He was deeply committed to upholding the highest standards of quality and guided generations of student assistants in mastering the demanding editorial tasks of the institute. Unforgettable, too, was his extraordinary effort in organizing the centenary celebrations of the DAI Cairo Department in 2007. And to all who knew him, his passion for exploring sociopolitical questions of the second millennium BC within—what he often called—“the world’s largest archaeological museum,” the tombs and temples of Luxor, will remain an enduring memory.
The Cairo Department of the German Archaeological Institute mourns the loss of a passionate scholar. His closest colleagues mourn a warm-hearted friend. The department will honor the memory of Daniel Polz and extends its deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.
(Photo: Ute Rummel)
