Wilhelm Spiegelberg (25 June 1870, Hannover – 23 December 1930, Munich) was a German Egyptologist. He specialized in analyses of Demotic and hieratic text.
Spiegelberg grew up as the second oldest of four brothers in a German Jewish family. He studied Egyptology and archaeology in Strasbourg and Berlin, obtaining his doctorate from the University of Strasbourg in 1891. As a student his influences included Johannes Dümichen, Adolf Michaelis and Adolf Erman. After graduation, he continued his education in Paris as a student of Gaston Maspero. In 1899 he became an associate professor at Strasbourg, where in 1907 he obtained a full professorship. In 1919 he relocated to the University of Heidelberg, and four years later succeeded Friedrich Wilhelm von Bissing as chair of Egyptology at the University of Munich.[1]
Starting in 1894, he took part in excavatory work in Egypt, most notably at the Necropolis of Thebes.[1] Around 1900 he began work at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, serving as a cataloger and editor of Demotic material.[2] Spiegelberg made important contributions towards the deciphering of Demotic script and in the field of Demotic lexicography.[1]
During his tenure at Munich, he accompanied novelist Thomas Mann to Egypt, where he provided assistance towards the drafting of Mann's "Joseph" tetralogy.[1][3] In 1919 he became a member of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences (a non-resident member since 1923), and from 1924, was a full member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences.[2][4]
