Barry Kemp

Barry John Kemp, (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.

Life and education Kemp was born to Ernest and Norah (nee Lawless) Kemp on 14 May 1940 in Birmingham. His father Ernest, was a traveling salesmen who also served his time in the Egyptian military in World War II. This is what sparked Kemp's curiosity with the Egyptian world. Kemp dedicated his life to Egyptology and the advancement of excavations in Amarna. He died on 15 May 2024, in Cambridge, England, a day after his 84th birthday.

Academic career In 1962, Kemp joined the University of Cambridge as an assistant lecturer. He was promoted to lecturer in 1969, Reader in Egyptology in 1990, and made Professor of Egyptology in 2005. He was also a Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge from 1990 to 2007. He retired from full-time academia in 2007, and was made professor emeritus. Kemp was always inspiring his students with new ideas and constant interest in the use of new methods. From 1977 until 2008, he was the director of excavation and archaeological survey at Amarna for the Egypt Exploration Society. He continued his research of the Amarna Period of ancient Egypt as director of the Amarna Project and secretary of the Amarna Trust. 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. 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..." Kemp's contributions to Egyptology reinvented it as a social science. Kemp's work in the excavation at the site of Amarna gave new information about the religion, and diets of ancient Egyptian citizens. Kemp was inspirational and a dedicated professor always adding his new ideas about Egyptian civilizations.

Publications Kemp, Barry, 1977. A Building of Amenophis III at Kôm el-'Abd The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 63. (1977), pp.71-82 PDF

Kemp, Barry J. 1977. The City of El-Amarna as a Source for the Study of Urban Society in Ancient Egypt World Archaeology, Vol. 9, No. 2, Architecture and Archaeology (Oct., 1977), pp. 123-139 PDF

Barry Kemp, Soil and brick architecture in Ancient Egypt, pp.78-103 Barry Kemp, "Meretaten's Bathroom," The Ostracon 7.3 (Fall 1996): pp.1-5 PDF

Kemp, Barry & Zink, Albert, 2012 “Life in Ancient Egypt: Akhenaten, the Amarna Period, and Tutankhamun.” In: “Sickness, Hunger, War, and Religion: Multidisciplinary Perspectives,” edited by Michaela Harbeck, Kristin von Heyking, and Heiner Schwarzberg, RCC Perspectives 2012, no. 3, pp.9–23. PDF

Barry Kemp, The Royal Tombs of Amarna, January 2016 issue of the Akhetaten Sun, the newsletter of the Amarna Research Foundation of Denver, Colorado. 12 pages PDF

Amarna Reports Webpage & Amarna Project Horizons Webpage (Amarna Reports II): Barry Kemp (site supervisor) Chapter 4-Report on the 1984 excavations Chapel Group 528-531 1984 excavation, 12 pages PDF (Amarna Reports IV): Barry Kemp (site supervisor), Chapter 6-Report on the 1986 Excavations: Chapel 556 1986 excavation, 17 pages PDF (Amarna Reports VI): Barry Kemp, Chapter 4-Site Formation Processes and the Reconstruction of House P46.33 1987 excavation, 23 pages PDF (Amarna Reports VI): Barry Kemp, Chapter 15-Outlying temples at Amarna 1987 excavation, 52 pages PDF Horizon: The Amarna Project and Amarna Trust Newsletter, Barry Kemp, Carved limestone fragments from the Great Aten Temple (pp.14-18) Issue 18, Autumn 2017 PDF Horizon: The Amarna Project and Amarna Trust Newsletter, Barry Kemp, Miniature Landscapes at Amarna (pp.5-6) Issue 17, Spring 2016 PDF Horizon: The Amarna Project and Amarna Trust Newsletter, Barry Kemp The Great Aten Temple as newly revealed (pp.2-10) Issue 19, Autumn 2018, PDF Horizon: The Amarna Project and Amarna Trust Newsletter, Barry Kemp, Amarna’s waterfront buildings and the context of building O43.1 (pp.14-21) Issue 21, Spring 2021 PDF Horizon: The Amarna Project and Amarna Trust Newsletter, Barry Kemp & Corinna Rossi, Quarry size and building size at Amarna (pp.15-21) Issue 22, Summer 2022, PDF Amarna Boundary Stela by Barry Kemp Archived The Akhetaten Sun, Barry Kemp, EES Field Director's Report Spring 2001 (pp.2-19) Vol.5 No.2 September 2001 PDF The Akhetaten Sun, Barry Kemp, Amarna Excavations Update (pp.20-40) Vol.26 No.2 December 2020, PDF The Akhetaten Sun, Barry Kemp, After the Founder: the Post-Amarna Period at Amarna (pp.1-32) Vol.28, No.1 June 2022 PDF

Interview Interview: Barry Kemp on the Latest Findings of the Amarna Project, January 12, 2010, Heritage Key, Archived