John Baines

John Baines is a Professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford. His research ranges broadly both in time and thematically. A major aim of his work is to foster dialogue among different disciplines and scholars who work on civilizations in different regions of the world. His principal areas of interest are Egyptian art, literature, religion, and self-presentation, the position of writing in Egyptian society, and modeling social forms, including issues of literacy and of the formation and ideology of elites. In working on these themes, he makes use of texts, images, archaeological data, and various theoretical approaches. He is currently working on ancient Egyptian elite uses of and reflections about the wider environment, particularly in forms and practices, such as hunting, that must be approached indirectly because they leave little physical trace.