[1] He studied in Leipzig and was habilitated in 1877 in Munich, where in 1885, he became an extraordinary professor of Semitic languages.
[1] He was the doctoral supervisor of Muhammad Iqbal, who wrote the thesis The Development of Metaphysics in Persia under his supervision.
[citation needed] He was intrigued by linguistical problems, and also interested in the history of the Middle East and its connection with culture and intellectual life.
He excelled in studies of cuneiform literature, ancient Arabic poetry, old Turkic inscriptions and Egyptian pyramid texts.
[1] Among his better written efforts were a history of Babylonia and Assyria, Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens (1885) and a highly regarded work on the geography and history of the ancient Near East, titled: Grundriss der Geographie und Geschichte des Alten Orients (1904).