Richard Anthony Parker (December 10, 1905 – June 3, 1993) was a prominent

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end ...

and professor of

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Ancient Greek, Greek , ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian History of Egypt, history, Egyptian language, language, Ancient Egypt ...

. Originally from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, he attended Mt. Carmel High School (then known as St. Cyril) with acclaimed author James T. Farrell. He received an A.B. from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

in 1930, and a Ph.D. in Egyptology from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1938. He then went to

Luxor Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt. Luxor had a population of 263,109 in 2020, with an area of approximately and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. It is among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited c ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

to work as an epigrapher with the University of Chicago's Epigraphic and Architectural Survey, studying the mortuary temple of

Ramses III Usermaatre Meryamun Ramesses III was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty in Ancient Egypt. Some scholars date his reign from 26 March 1186 to 15 April 1155 BC, and he is considered the last pharaoh of the New Kingdom to have wielded sub ...

. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

necessitated a temporary halt to the project, Parker came back to Chicago to teach Egyptology at the university. In 1946, he returned to Egypt to continue his work on the epigraphic survey, and soon rose to the position of field director. In 1948, he founded the Department of Egyptology at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

and became its first chairman, and also assumed the newly created position of the

Charles Edwin Wilbour Charles Edwin Wilbour (March 17, 1833 – December 17, 1896) was an American journalist and Egyptologist. Wilbour is noted as one of the discoverers of the Elephantine Papyri and the creator of the first English translation of ''Les Misérables' ...

Professorship. That year, Parker also began his service as a founding trustee of the

American Research Center in Egypt The American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) is an American non-profit dedicated to supporting research in Egyptian history. It is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History ARCE was founded in 1948 in Boston by Edw ...

. Parker's primary interests were in ancient science and

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

. In 1951, he traveled to Egypt to examine monuments linked to ancient astronomy, and in subsequent years studied

papyri Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can ...

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and

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, in

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. His major contributions included significant work in the areas of Egyptian language (including

Demotic Demotic may refer to: * Demotic Greek, the modern vernacular form of the Greek language * Demotic (Egyptian), an ancient Egyptian script and version of the language * Chữ Nôm Chữ Nôm (, ) is a logographic writing system formerly used t ...

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

, and

chronology Chronology (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , , ; and , ''wikt:-logia, -logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. It is also "the deter ...

. Of particular note was his discovery that two ancient Egyptian calendars were employed simultaneously: a 365-day calendar used for administrative needs, and a lunar calendar used for religious and agricultural purposes. Parker's work in this area continues to influence Egyptological research. In 1971,

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

elected Parker as a corresponding fellow, the highest accolade for scholarship given in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. He was the only American Egyptologist selected for membership in the society. Parker also served on the visiting committees of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

’s department of Middle Eastern Civilizations, and was a member of the department of Egyptian art at the

Boston Museum of Fine Arts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. Parker was a devoted fan of Brown University football, and was noted for forgoing trips abroad so as not to miss a home game.Janet Johnson
''In Memoriam: Richard Anthony Parker: 1905-1993'' (1993)
/ref>

Publications

* ''Medinet Habu Demotic Ostracon 4038'' (1938) (doctoral dissertation; a revised version was published in Volume XXVI (1940) of the ''

Journal of Egyptian Archaeology The ''Journal of Egyptian Archaeology (JEA)'' is a bi-annual Peer review, peer-reviewed international academic journal published by the Egypt Exploration Society. Covering Egyptology, Egyptological research, the JEA publishes scholarly articles, f ...

'' under the title ''A Late Demotic Gardening Agreement: Medinet Habu Ostracon 4038'') * ''Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C. - A.D. 45'' (University of Chicago Press, 1942 eprinted 1946 * ''The Calendars of Ancient Egypt, Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization'' (University of Chicago Press, 1950) * ''Sothic Dates and Calendar Adjustment'' * ''The Problem of the Month-Names: A Reply'' (1957) * ''Lunar Dates of Thutmose III and Ramesses II'' (Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 1957) * ''A Vienna Demotic Papyrus on Eclipse- and Lunar-Omina'' (Brown University Press, 1959) * ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts'' (with O. Neugebauer) (1960) * ''A Saite Oracle Papyrus From Thebes'' (with J. Cerny) (Brown University Press, 1962) * ''Two Demotic Astronomical Papyri in the Carlsberg Collection'' (1962) * ''Egyptian Astronomical Texts, III. Decans, Planets, Constellations and Zodiacs'' (Brown University Press, 1969) * ''The Calendars and Chronology, the Legacy of Egypt'' (1971) * ''Demotic Mathematical Papyri'' (Brown University Press, 1972) * ''Ancient Egyptian Astronomy, the Place of Astronomy in the Ancient World'' (Oxford University Press, 1974) * ''The Edifice of Taharqa by the Sacred Lake of Karnak'' (with

Jean Leclant Jean Leclant (8 August 1920 – 16 September 2011) was a French Egyptologist who was an Honorary Professor at the College of France, Permanent Secretary of the Academy of Inscriptions and Letters of the Institut de France, and Honorary Se ...

and Jean Claude Goyon) (Brown University Press, 1979) * ''Egyptological Studies in Honor of Richard A. Parker: Presented on the Occasion of His 78th Birthday'' ( Leonard H. Lesko, ed.) (1986)

Notes

External links

* John Larson & Janet Johnson
''In Memoriam: Richard Anthony Parker: 1905-1993'' (1993)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Richard Anthony People from Chicago American Egyptologists American historians of science Dartmouth College alumni University of Chicago alumni University of Chicago faculty Brown University faculty Harvard University people 1905 births 1993 deaths Corresponding fellows of the British Academy