| Dr. Robert K. Ritner | |
| Birth Date: | 5 April 1953[1] |
| Birth Place: | Houston, Texas, United States |
| Death Place: | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Alma Mater: | Rice University University of Chicago |
| Known For: | Egyptology, Critiquing the Book of Abraham |
| Employer: | University of Chicago, Oriental Institute |
| Occupation: | Professor of Egyptology |
Robert Kriech Ritner (April 5, 1953 – July 25, 2021) was an American Egyptologist most recently at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
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.
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.
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-Masonic Governor 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 died on 25 July 2021 at the age of 68.[3]