Stefan Baumann

Stefan Baumann is a tenure-track lecturer in Egyptology at the Archaeology Research Group of KU Leuven's Faculty of Arts and serves as a researcher (supervisor) at the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels. He is also a member of LECTIO – KU Leuven Institute for the Study of the Transmission of Texts, Ideas and Images in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and participates in the Faculty Council of Arts as an observer.

Dr. Baumann earned his PhD in Egyptology summa cum laude from the University of Tübingen in 2018 with his dissertation "Schatzkammern: Ihre Dekroartion und Raumkonzeption in ägyptischen Tempeln der griechisch-römischen Zeit" (Studien zur spätägyptischen Religion 19), published by Harrassowitz. His academic background includes studies in Egyptology, Prehistory and Classics at the University of Tübingen. Prior to joining KU Leuven, he served as a lecturer in the Department of Egyptology at the University of Trier (2018-2024) and as a Research Assistant on the project "Der Tempel als Kanon der religiösen Literatur Ägyptens" at the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences / University of Tübingen (2010-2018).

Baumann's research is exceptionally broad and interdisciplinary, spanning Greco-Roman temple inscriptions and architecture, ancient Egyptian coffins, New Kingdom tombs, late antique and modern travel accounts, connections between text and visual culture, and ancient Egyptian intellectual history. His work also encompasses Egyptian travelogues from late antiquity to 1800, semantics of color in hieroglyphic texts, space and design of Egyptian temples, ancient Egyptian 'survivals' in modern Egypt, history of mineralogy, Egyptian visual language, and pseudo-archaeology. As a trained archaeologist, philologist and epigrapher, he has participated in archaeological missions in Athribis and Saqqara (Egypt), and Pantelleria (Italy).

His recent publications (2022-2025) reveal a strong focus on temple inscriptions, mineralogy in ancient Egypt, Egyptian travel accounts through Western eyes, and critical examinations of popular misconceptions about ancient Egypt. His work demonstrates consistent engagement with both textual and material evidence, often bridging philological analysis with archaeological context. The thematic threads connecting his publications include the study of cultural transmission, the relationship between text and image in Egyptian culture, and critical approaches to the reception of ancient Egypt in modern times.

Baumann currently leads or co-leads several significant research projects including "The reconstruction of ancient Egyptian sites using early modern cartographic and visual sources" (2025-2029), "Space for the Leuven Integrated Archaeological Information System" (2025), and "Early Egyptian Travelogues from Late Antiquity to Napoleon" (2024-2026).

His scholarly approach integrates traditional Egyptological methods with broader archaeological and historical perspectives, making significant contributions to our understanding of Egyptian temple architecture, material culture, and the reception of ancient Egypt through time.