Georg Moritz Ebers (1837-1898), was a German Egyptologist and a novelist who discovered the Egyptian medical papyrus at Luxor (Thebes) in the winter of 1873-74. Ebers early conceived the idea of popularizing Egyptian lore by means of historical romances. An Egyptian Princess was published in 1864 and obtained great success. He had made two scientific journeys to Egypt, and his first work of importance, Egypt and the Prophet Moses, appeared in 1867-1868. His subsequent works of the same kind Uarda (1877), Homo sum (1878), of which the scene is laid in Egypt at the time of Hadrian, Serapis (1885) and Cleopatra (1894), were also well received, and did much to make the public familiar with the discoveries of Egyptologists. Ebers also turned his attention to other fields of historical fiction-especially the 16th century (The Burgomaster's Wife, 1882) without, however, attaining the success of his Egyptian novels.