John Wintour Baldwin Barns (12 May 1912 – 23 February 1974) was a BritishEgyptologist,papyrologist,Anglican priest, and academic. From 1965 to 1974, he wasProfessor of Egyptology at theUniversity of Oxford.

Barns was born on 12 May 1912 inBristol, England.^[1][2] Having won a scholarship, he was educated atFairfield School, then aprivate school on Bristol.^[1][3] Though he had an interest inEgyptology from an early age, since the discover ofTutankhamun's tomb in 1922, his father encouraged him to studyclassics.^[1] He taught himselfAncient Greek because it was not a subject available at his school.^[1]

At the age of 17, Barnsmatriculated into theUniversity of Bristol to study classics.^[1] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1932.^[2] He then matriculated intoCorpus Christi College, Oxford to studyLiterae Humaniores.^[1] He was elected to a classical scholarship in 1933.^[3] He achievedfirst class honours inMods (i.e.Latin and Ancient Greek) in April 1935.^[1][4] He then approachedBattiscombe Gunn, theProfessor of Egyptology at Oxford, to ask if he could study Egyptology as the second half of his degree; he was refused as Gunn thought it was too early in Barns' academic studies to move into the subject.^[1][3] He continued with his classics degree, studyingGreats.^[1] He graduated with a further BA degree; as per tradition, his BA was promoted to aMaster of Arts (MA Oxon) in 1942.^[2]

After completing his secondundergraduate degree, Barns began studying Greekpapyrology underC. H. Roberts in preparation for a doctorate.^[1][3] His studies were interrupted byWorld War II.^[1] Hisdoctoral thesis, which he submitted in 1946, was titled "The character and use of anthologies among the Greek literary papyri: together with an edition of some unpublished papyri".^[5] He completed his Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree in 1947.^[2]

DuringWorld War II, Barns worked inmilitary intelligence.^[1][3] Between 1940 and 1945, he served atBletchley Park. He worked inHut 4 (analysing naval intelligence gleaned from crackedEnigma andHagelin messages), Hut 5 (military intelligence focusing on Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese ciphers), and Block A (Naval Intelligence). He reached the rank of Temporary Senior Assistant Officer.^[6]

In 1945, after the end ofWorld War II, Barns returned to theUniversity of Oxford having been appointed theLady Wallis BudgeResearch Fellow inEgyptology atUniversity College, Oxford.^[3][7] He worked with and was mentored byBattiscombe Gunn (the then Professor of Egyptology) for the next five years, until Gunn's death in 1950.^[1] He continued to hold the Lady Wallis Budge Fellowship until 1953.^[7] During this period of his career, he worked with a wide range of original texts covering most stages of theEgyptian language; fromhieroglyphicstelae dating to theSecond Intermediate Period toCopticpapyri from thePtolemaic Period.^[1][7] His research during this time produced two books,The AshmoleanOstracon ofSinuhe (1952) andFive Ramesseum Papyri (1956), in addition to a number of journal articles.^[3]

In 1953, Barns was appointedSenior Lecturer inPapyrology.^[7] This meant moving away from Egyptology to teachAncient Greek papyrology in theFaculty ofLiterae Humaniores.^[3] He published a number of previously untranslated papyri over the next few years, includingsome papyri from excavations atOxyrynchus.^[1]

On 1 October 1965, Barns was appointedProfessor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford, in succession toJaroslav Černý.^[8] He held the post until his sudden death in 1974.

During the 1950s, Barns found himself more and more interested in theology. This led him to seek ordination, and he trained forHoly Orders atSt Stephen's House, Oxford, anAnglo-Catholictheological college.^[9] He wasordained in theChurch of England as adeacon in 1955 and as apriest in 1956.^[2][3] It is not known if he held any religious appointments, but he did givesermons; a number were published after his death in a book titledJohn Wintour Baldwin Barns: Priest and Scholar (1912–1974).^[10]

Barns died suddenly on 23 February 1974. He was aged 61.^[1]

In 1954, Barns married Dorothy Eileen Constance Sturges. They did not have any children.^[9]

• Barns, John W. B. (1952).The Ashmolean ostracon of Sinuhe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Barns, John W. B. (1956).Five Ramesseum papyri. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Barns, John W. B. (1961).The placing of papyrus fragments. Oslo: Norwegian University Press.
• Barns, J. W. B.;Parsans, P. J.; Rea, John; Turner, E. G. (1966).The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Part XXXI. London: Egypt Exploration Society.
• Reymond, E. A. E.; Barns, J. W. B. (1973).Embalmer's Archives from Hawara: Catalogue of Demotic Papyri in the Ashmolean Museum. Oxford: Griffith Institute.
• Reymond, E. A. E.; Barns, J. W. B., eds. (1973).Four martyrdoms from the Pierpont Morgan Coptic codices. Oxford: Clarendon Press.ISBN 9780198154488.
• Barns, John W. B. (1978).Egyptians and Greeks: Inaugural lecture delivered before the University of Oxford on 25 November 1966. Brussels: Fondation Égyptologique Reine Élisabeth.
• Barns, J. W. B.; Browne, G. M.; Shelton, J. C., eds. (1981).Nag Hammadi Codices: Greek and Coptic Papyri from the Cartonnage of the Covers. Leiden: Brill.ISBN 978-9004062771.

• 1912 births
• 1974 deaths
• British Egyptologists
• British papyrologists
• 20th-century English Anglican priests
• Writers from Bristol
• People educated at Fairfield Grammar School
• Alumni of the University of Bristol
• Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford
• Professors of Egyptology (University of Oxford)
• Bletchley Park people
• Fellows of University College, Oxford
• Fellows of the Queen's College, Oxford
• Alumni of St Stephen's House, Oxford
• Historians of Gnosticism
• British historians of religion

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