Barry John Kemp CBE is an English archaeologist and Egyptologist, currently Professor in Egyptology in the Department of Oriental Studies at the University of Cambridge and field director of the Egypt Exploration Society excavations at Amarna in Egypt. His widely renowned book Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilisation is a core text of Egyptology and many Ancient History courses, although many students find its self-confessed lack of thematic structure a major issue with using the book as a reference tool.
He has also contributed to many other highly regarded and widely used Egyptology texts, including the Journal of Civilisations of the Ancient Near East, edited by Jack Sasson, and Ancient Egypt: A Social History, which incorporates the work of many leading Egyptologists and addresses recent trends in the subject towards developing a holistic picture of Ancient Egyptian society rather than focussing on the elite culture that dominates the archaeological record.
Kemp 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.[1]