Barry John Kemp, CBE, FBA (14 May 1940 – 15 May 2024) was an English archaeologist and Egyptologist. He was Professor of Egyptology at the University of Cambridge and directed excavations at Amarna in Egypt. His book Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilisation is a core text of Egyptology and many Ancient History courses.[1]
Barry J. Kemp
| |
---|---|
Born | (1940-05-14)14 May 1940
Birmingham, England
|
Died | 15 May 2024(2024-05-15) (aged 84) |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | University of Liverpool |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Egyptologist |
Sub-discipline |
|
Institutions |
|
Kemp was born on 14 May 1940 in Birmingham.[2][3] He studied Egyptology at the University of Liverpool, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1962.[3][4] He died on 15 May 2024, a day after his 84th birthday.[5][6]
In 1962, Kemp joined the University of Cambridge as an assistant lecturer.[7] He was promoted to lecturer in 1969, Reader in Egyptology in 1990, and made Professor of Egyptology in 2005.[3][8] He was also a FellowofWolfson College, Cambridge from 1990 to 2007.[3][9] He retired from full-time academia in 2007, and was made professor emeritus.[3] Beginning in 2008, he was a senior fellow of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at Cambridge.[3][10]
From 1977 until 2008, he was the director of excavation and archaeological survey at Amarna for the Egypt Exploration Society.[11] He continued his research of the Amarna Period of ancient Egypt as director of the Amarna Project and secretary of the Amarna Trust.[12] He also contributed to many highly regarded and widely used Egyptology texts, including Civilisations of the Ancient Near East, edited by Jack Sasson. He was a co-author of Bruce Trigger's Ancient Egypt: A Social History, which incorporates the work of many leading Egyptologists and addresses recent trends in the subject.[13] Kemp stated he was interested in developing a holistic picture of Ancient Egyptian society rather than focussing on the elite culture that dominates the archaeological record: "This holistic approach involves explaining the present appearance of the site in terms of all the agencies at work..."[14]
Kemp was elected Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) in 1992.[7] He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to archaeology, education and international relations in Egypt.[15]
This biography article of a United Kingdom academic is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This biographical article about an Egyptologist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This biographical article about a British archaeologist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |