John Wintour Baldwin Barns (12 May 1912 – 23 February 1974) was a British Egyptologist, papyrologist, Anglican priest, and academic.
[1][3] Though he had an interest in Egyptology from an early age, since the discover of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, his father encouraged him to study classics.
[2] After completing his second undergraduate degree, Barns began studying Greek papyrology under C. H. Roberts in preparation for a doctorate.
[1][7] His research during this time produced two books, The Ashmolean Ostracon of Sinuhe (1952) and Five Ramesseum Papyri (1956), in addition to a number of journal articles.
[7] This meant moving away from Egyptology to teach Ancient Greek papyrology in the Faculty of Literae Humaniores.
[1] On 1 October 1965, Barns was appointed Professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford, in succession to Jaroslav Černý.
This led him to seek ordination, and he trained for Holy Orders at St Stephen's House, Oxford, an Anglo-Catholic theological college.
[2][3] It is not known if he held any religious appointments, but he did give sermons; a number were published after his death in a book titled John Wintour Baldwin Barns: Priest and Scholar (1912–1974).