Ritner received his BA in psychology from Rice University in 1975, and his Ph.D. (with honors) in Egyptology from the University of Chicago in 1987. His dissertation was The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice.
Teaching
Between 1991 and 1996, Ritner held the position of Marilyn M. Simpson Assistant Professor of Egyptology in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale University. In 1996, he was recruited to the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute and Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.
Field of work
Ritner was widely known for his work on Egyptian religious practices, language, medicine, literature, magic, and political history. Within the Mormon studies community, Ritner was known for confirming the conclusions of other Egyptologists who have investigated the Joseph Smith papyri. Ritner concluded that the Book of Abraham is "a perhaps well-meaning, but erroneous invention by Joseph Smith."[2]
He was a descendant of Joseph Ritner, who served as the Anti-MasonicGovernor of Pennsylvania from 1835 to 1839, which Professor Ritner noted with some amusement as he personally credited Freemasonry with helping to popularize ancient Egyptian culture and architecture.
Ritner, Robert K. (1993), The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice, Chicago: Oriental Institute of University of Chicago, ISBN0918986753, OCLC28176694
Simpson, William Kelly; Ritner, Robert K. (2003) [1973], The literature of ancient Egypt: an anthology of stories, instructions, stelae, autobiographies, and poetry (3rd ed.), New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, ISBN9780300128567, OCLC234083884
Nissinen, Martti; Ritner, Robert Kriech; Seow, C L; Machinist, Peter (2003), Prophets and prophecy in the ancient Near East, Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, ISBN158983027X, OCLC51969302
Yener, K Aslihan; Batiuk, Stephen; Ritner, Robert Kriech (2005), The Amuq Valley regional projects, Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, ISBN1885923325, OCLC66385293
Ritner, Robert K. (2009), The Libyan Anarchy: Inscriptions from Egypt's Third Intermediate Period, Writings from the ancient world, no. 21, Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, ISBN9781589831742, OCLC60671773
——; Coenen, Marc; Marquardt, H. Michael; Woods, Christopher (2013), The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri: A Complete Edition, Salt Lake City: Signature Books, ISBN978-1560852209, OCLC869043745
Ritner, Robert K., ed. (2018). Essays for the Library of Seshat: Studies Presented to Janet H. Johnson on the Occasion of Her 70th Birthday. Chicago: Oriental Institute Press. ISBN978-1614910329.
Chapters
Ritner, Robert K. (1989), "Horus on the crocodiles: a juncture of religion and magic in late dynastic Egypt", in Simpson, William Kelly (ed.), Religion and philosophy in ancient Egypt, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale Egyptological Seminar, Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Yale University, ISBN0912532181, OCLC20996843