The Department of Archaeology is deeply saddened to report the death on 15th May 2024 of Emeritus Professor Barry Kemp, Director of the Amarna project and one of the foremost Egyptologists of his generation. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1992 and appointed a CBE in 2011.
Barry combined a deep, fresh and intellectually holistic approach to the study of ancient Egypt with an exceptional dedication to field archaeology, notably through the excavations, survey and wider research that he led from 1977 at the royal city of Akhetaten, modern Amarna, which have transformed our understanding of the social dynamics of New Kingdom Egypt. His thought-provoking, masterly vision as set out in the three editions of Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, has inspired generations of students and scholars to engage in innovative ways with the analysis of ancient Egypt's extraordinary legacy of material remains, writing and imagery. His academic legacy is self-evident in the ongoing research of his former students and colleagues, and more widely in the central status of Egyptian studies within comparative world archaeology.
Barry taught for over forty years at the University of Cambridge, for most of it in the then Faculty of Oriental Studies, retiring in 2007. He was a dedicated and inspiring teacher: his lectures always built from evidence to interpretation, with frequent updating to incorporate his most recent ideas. He asked difficult questions, not to catch people out, but because the questions reflected his thinking at the time and he was genuinely interested in how students might respond. As a research supervisor he was hands off, gently nudging students in the right direction with probing questions and pauses long enough for reconsideration. He was enormously supportive of the work and careers of former students and of members of the archaeological team at Amarna.
Despite his ambivalence about some aspects of university life, Barry was an enthusiastic and engaged founder member of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. He built a strong community of archaeologists and specialists around the project at Amarna and was always interested in new methods, approaches and ideas that would advance interpretation of the site’s archaeology. He was actively involved in excavation, research and publication right up until his death. He will be deeply mourned in Cambridge, in Egypt, and internationally. Our thoughts at this time are with his family and friends.
