PARKINSON, R(ichard) B(ruce) 1963-

PERSONAL: Born May 25, 1963, in Darlington, Durham, England; son of Harold (an artist and teacher) and Jessie Rae (a teacher; maiden name, Bruce) Parkinson. Ethnicity: "British." Education: Queen's College, Oxford, B.A. (oriental studies; with honors), 1985, D.Phil., 1988.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—British Museum, Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan, Great Russell St., London WC1B 3DG, England. E-mail—RParkinson@british-museum.ac.uk.

CAREER: Egyptologist. Oxford University, Oxford, England, instructor and M.Phil. supervisor, 1987-92 and 1995-96, external examiner of Egyptology, 1995-98, M.Phil. supervisor, 1995-98, D.Phil. supervisor, 1999—; Department of Egyptian Antiquities, British Museum, London, England, special assistant in epigraphy, 1989, assistant keeper, 1992—; Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, assistant editor, 1993-98; University of Liverpool, Liverpool, England, external examiner of Egyptology, 1995-98. Toured with British Museum Traveller. Also worked as a lecturer.

AWARDS, HONORS: Teaching fellow, Oriental Institute, Oxford, 1988-89; Lady Wallis Budge junior research fellow, University College, Oxford, 1990-91; British-Kuwait Friendship Society Literary Award, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, 1998, for The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, 1940-1640 B.C.

WRITINGS:

(Translator and editor) Voices from Ancient Egypt: An Anthology of Middle Kingdom Writings, University of Oklahoma Press (Norman, OK), 1991.

British Museum Colouring Book of Ancient Egypt, British Museum Press (London, England), 1994.

(With Stephen Quirke, Ute Wartenberg, and Bridget Leach) Papyrus, University of Texas Press (Austin, TX), 1995.

(Author of introduction and notes, translator, and editor) The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, 1940-1640 B.C., Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1997.

(Consultant and illustrator) The Tomb of Nebamun, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, England), 1997.

Cracking Codes: The Rosetta Stone and Decipherment, British Museum Press/University of California Press (London, England), 1999.

(Consultant and illustrator) Meredith Hooper, Who Built the Pyramid?, Walker Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Poetry and Culture in Middle Kingdom Egypt: A Dark Side of Perfection, Continuum Press (New York, NY), 2002.

Pocket Guide to Egyptian Hieroglyphs, British Museum Press (New York, NY), 2003.

Also served as a consultant and illustrator for other publications of the British Museum Press and related British Museum merchandise. Contributor to books, including Sixth International Congress of Egyptology: Abstracts of Papers, Organizing Committee of the Sixth International Congress of Egyptology (Turin, Italy), 1991; The British Museum Book of Ancient Egypt, edited by Stephen Quirke and A. J. Spencer, British Museum Press, 1992; Studies in Pharaonic Religion and Society in Honour of J. Gwyn Griffıths, EES (London, England), 1992; Hieroglyphic Texts, British Museum Press, 1993; Egypt, the Aegean, and the Levant, by W. V. Davies and L. Schofield, British Museum Press, 1995; Ancient Egyptian Literature: History and Forms, edited by A. Loprieno, Brill (Leiden, Netherlands), 1996; Studies in Honour of William Kelly Simpson, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 1996; Essays in Ancient Egypt in Honour of Herman Te Velde, Styx Publications (Gröningen, Netherlands), 1997; Ancient Egypt, the Aegean, and the Near East: Studies in Honour of Martha Rhoads Bell, edited by J. Phillips, Van Siclin Books (Austin, TX), 1998; How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphics, British Museum Press, 1998; Studies in Honour of H. Smith, 1998; UCLA Conference (Lingua Aegyptia Supplement), edited by G. Moers, University of California—Los Angeles, 1999; Definitely: Egyptian Literature. Proceedings of the Symposium "Ancient Egyptian Literature: History and Forms" Los Angeles, March 24-26, 1995, G. Moers, 1999; Leipzig Proceedings of Conference in Honour of Georges Posener, 1999; Studies in Egyptian Antiquities: A Tribute to T. G. H. James, British Museum Press, 1999; Egyptian Archaeology, 2000; Studies on Ancient Egypt in Honour of H. S. Smith, Egypt Exploration Society, 2000; The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt I, Oxford University Press, 2001; The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt II, Oxford University Press, 2001; The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt III, Oxford University Press, 2001; Color and Painting in Ancient Egypt, British Museum Press, 2001; and History in Quotations: Reflecting 5,000 Years of World History, Cassel, 2003. Also contributed articles to Archaeology Odyssey, British Museum, BSA, Chronique d'Egypte, Egyptian Archaeology, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, KMT: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt, Middle Kingdom Studies, National Art Collections Fund Review, and Revue d'Egyptologie.

WORK IN PROGRESS: The Rosetta Stone: A Biography, for British Museum Press; Among Other Histories: Expressive Culture in Ancient Egypt, for Blackwell Publishing; Nebamun's Painted Tomb Chapel, for British Museum Press.

SIDELIGHTS: R. B. Parkinson, a specialist in ancient Egyptian culture at the British Museum, brings to contemporary readers works from the Middle Kingdom period in Egypt, an era that spanned the years 2081 to 1640 B.C. Parkinson depicts Egyptian culture of the time in Voices from Ancient Egypt: An Anthology of Middle Kingdom Writings. This anthology of sixty texts includes such works as hymns, poetry, letters, legal texts, graffiti, and a text on monuments. History: Review of New Books contributor Emily Teeter concluded that Voices from Ancient Egypt is "an ideal source book for use in high school and college-level courses on ancient Egyptian culture. The colloquial but accurate translations will also be of great interest to the casual reader with an interest in the ancient world."

Again highlighting works created during the Middle Kingdom period, Parkinson focuses on ancient Egyptian poetry in his editing and translation of The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, 1940-1640 B.C. The ancient Egyptians themselves regarded the Middle Kingdom years as a golden age in Egyptian literature. With this anthology Parkinson gives readers much-needed modern translations of these pivotal works. Reviewing the work in the Times Literary Supplement, John Ray observed: "It is clear that for a new translator there are pitfalls to avoid, and difficult achievements to match. However, in sensitivity to language, range of scholarship, and attention to nuances, Richard Parkinson is simply the best."

Parkinson told CA: "My work draws on a philological training and an interest in the New Historicist literary criticism to attempt to reconstruct the meaning of ancient Egyptian poetry as a complex and imaginative experience—essentially a balancing act between the ancient 'otherness' of that culture and the common humanity we share to try to engage in a dialogue with the dead."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Bibliotheca Orientalis, number 50, 1993, review of The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, 1940-1640 B.C., pp. 117-122, 347-353.

Classical Review, Volume 48, number 2, 1998, p. 508.

History: Review of New Books, summer, 1992, Emily Teeter, review of Voices from Ancient Egypt, p. 172.

Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, number 84, 1998, pp. 241-243.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, September 8, 1991, p. 18.

Middle East Journal, winter, 1992, review of Voices from Ancient Egypt, p. 129.

Times Higher Education Supplement, November 20, 1998, review of The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, 1940-1640 B.C., p. 29.

Times Literary Supplement, August 14, 1998, John Ray, review of The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems, 1940-1640 B.C., p. 28.

University Press Book News, December, 1991, p. 33.