Breasted became an instructor at the University of Chicago in 1894 soon after earning his doctorate. Five years later the university agreed to his accepting an invitation from the Prussian Academy of Sciences to work on its Egyptian dictionary project. From 1899 to 1908 he did fieldwork in Egypt, which established his reputation. He began to publish numerous articles and monographs, as well as his "History of Egypt from the Earliest Times Down to the Persian Conquest" in 1905. At that time he was promoted to Professor of Egyptology and Oriental History for Chicago (the first such chair in the United States).