Eberhard Otto (Egyptologist)

Eberhard Otto (26 February 1913, Dresden – 11 October 1974 Heidelberg) was a German Egyptologist.

Otto studied from 1932 to 1937 in Leipzig, Munich and Göttingen and after his Promotion in 1938 and his Habilitation in 1943 was appointed in 1950 unofficial professor extraordinarius of Egyptology at the University of Hamburg. In 1955 he was appointed professor ordinarius of Egyptology at the University of Heidelberg. He was known for his work on the religion and art of ancient Egypt and, in particular, his role as co-editor, with Wolfgang Helck, of the first volume of the multi-volume Lexikon der Ägyptologie. After his death his successor as co-editor for volumes 2 through 7 was Wolfhart Westendorf. Otto's most commercially successful book was the paperback book dedicated to his wife and entitled Ägypten. Der Weg des Pharaonenreiches (Egypt: The Way of the Pharaonic Kingdom). The book was first published in 1953 and had five editions through 1979 with a reprint of the 1979 fifth edition in 2010.

In 1957 he became a full member of the Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften.