John Robert Baines, (born 17 March 1946) is a retired British

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religiou ...

and academic. From 1976 to 2013, he was Professor of Egyptology at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

Early life

Baines was born on 17 March 1946. He is the oldest son of Edward Russell Baines and his wife Dora Margaret Jean (née O’Brien). He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

, an all boys

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

boarding school in Winchester,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, England. He went on to study

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious p ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree (BA) in 1967, later promoted to

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

(MA). He gained his

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degree (DPhil) in 1976.

Academic career

Baines was Professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford from 1976 to 2013. He was one of the youngest

professors Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

at the university at the age of 30. He retired from full-time academia in 2013 but maintains his link with Oxford as a

research associate Research associates are researchers (scholars and professionals) that usually have an advanced degree beyond a Master's degree. In some universities/research institutes, such as Harvard/Harvard Medical School/Harvard School of Public Health, th ...

. Baines is the author of multiple scholarly articles and publications relating to Ancient Egypt. His research interests are in

Ancient Egyptian art Ancient Egyptian art refers to art produced in ancient Egypt between the 6th millennium BC and the 4th century AD, spanning from Prehistoric Egypt until the Christianization of Roman Egypt. It includes paintings, sculptu ...

, religion, literature, and biographies; modelling ancient Egyptian society; comparative and

anthropological Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

approaches to ancient civilizations. In 2011, he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with State (polity), state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but ...

for the humanities and social sciences.

Publications

*(with Jaromir Malek) ''Atlas of Ancient Egypt'' (1980) *''Fecundity Figures: Egyptian Personification and the Iconology of a Genre'' (1987) *''Pyramid Studies and Other Essays Presented to

I.E.S. Edwards Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen Edwards, (21 July 1909 – 24 September 1996) — known as I. E. S. Edwards— was an English Egyptologist and curator, considered to be a leading expert on the pyramids. Biography Born in London, he was the son of Edwar ...

'' (1988) *(Contributor) ''Religion in ancient Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Personal Practice" (1991) *(Translator of Erik Hornung's), ''Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: the One and the Many'' (1982) *''Stone Vessels, Pottery and Sealings from the Tomb of Tutankhamun'' (1994) *''High Culture and Experience in Ancient Egypt '' (2000) *''Fecundity Figures'' (2001) *''Visual and Written Culture in Ancient Egypt'' (2007) *

References

External links

Home page at Oxford UniversityFull list of publications 1970-2008
Living people 1946 births British Egyptologists Fellows of The Queen's College, Oxford Professors of Egyptology (University of Oxford) People educated at Winchester College Alumni of the University of Oxford Fellows of the British Academy Members of the American Philosophical Society {{Egyptologist-stub