Donald B. Redford, Emeritus Professor in the Department of Classics & Ancient Mediterranean Studies at Penn State, passed away in the afternoon of October 18, 2024, a month after his 90th birthday. He died at home, surrounded by his family.

Professor Redford was a historian and philologist specializing in Northeast Africa and the Near East. He had been trained in Semitics and Akkadian under W. Lambert, J.V. Kinnier-Wilson, and A. Sachs, and in Egyptian language under R.A. Parker, H.J. Polotsky, and R. Caminos. Having completed both his undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the University of Toronto, he worked there from 1962 to 1998, starting as an Assistant/Associate Professor and then becoming a full Professor. In 1998, he left the University of Toronto per Canadian retirement requirements and moved to the U.S. to take a faculty position in Penn State’s Department of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies (CAMS). He finally retired in July 2024, having established the university as an authority on the study of ancient Egyptian civilization. Over his 60-year career, Professor Redford produced and advised over 30 successful PhD candidates, all of whom achieved placement.

His fieldwork activity was impressive. From 1964 to 1967, he served under Dame Kathleen Kenyon in the excavations of the old city of Jerusalem. From 1972 to 1976, digging in Karnak, Egypt, he took off the direction of the Akhenaten Temple Project (1966-1978), one of the most ambitious and groundbreaking fieldwork projects ever conducted in Egypt (a “spinoff” of the project is currently running as the Akhenaten Talatat Project Conservation), identifying the oldest temple of the heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten. In subsequent years, he revealed a major domestic area of the capital city of Thebes as part of his East Karnak Excavations (1976–1991). Since 1991, his annual expeditions to Mendes in the Nile Delta have significantly contributed to our understanding of the advent of complex society and state formation in Egypt around 3100 BCE, as well as refining knowledge of Egypt during the Late and Hellenistic Periods (circa 700 – 200 BCE). His fieldwork also included excavations at Tel Kedwa in North Sinai and further research in the Sinai Peninsula.

His numerous publications are key reference works in Egyptology. Notable writings include A Study of the Biblical Story of Joseph (1970), Pharaonic King-Lists, Annals, and Day-Books (1986), Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times (1992), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (2001), The Wars in Syria and Palestine of Thutmose III (2003), and City of the Ram-Man: The Story of Ancient Mendes (2010).

Throughout his life, Professor Redford held a variety of high-profile positions, including vice president of the Canadian Mediterranean Institute, trustee of the American Schools of Oriental Research, research associate at the University Museum (UPenn) and the Royal Ontario Museum, president of the new CIC Institute in Cairo, and editor-in-chief of the Oxford Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egypt (2001). He was also a pioneer in public archaeology, working as a consultant for DreamWorks and featuring in numerous documentaries on the Discovery Channel, Learning Channel, History Channel, National Geographic, French television, Deutsche Welle, and ABC’s Nightline.