His 1848 work brought him to the attention of Alexander von Humboldt and Prussian King Frederick William IV.[citation needed] After completing his university course,[2] support from the king[citation needed] enabled him to complete his studies with visits to foreign museums at Paris, London, Turin, and Leyden.[2] In 1853, he was sent to Egypt by the Prussian government in 1853, and contracted an intimate friendship with Mariette, whom he assisted in his work. After this he returned to Berlin, where, in 1854, he was appointed privatdocent in the university,[2] and, in 1855, assistant in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin. He visited Egypt again in 1857.[1]