Some of my favorite sources for more in-depth information (which, really, you will not regret delving into) include: There’s so much that can be been said – and has been said! – about the Seated Scribe. These completed texts were places in “houses of books,” some of the earliest known libraries. It was a demanding profession but it was not without satisfying rewards as noted in a book of instruction: “Become a scribe so that your limbs remain smooth and your hands soft, and you can wear white and walk like a man standing whom courtiers will greet.” A high-ranking scribe with a reputation as a great scholar could hope to be appointed to one of several “houses of life,” where lay scribes and priestly scribes together copied, compiled, studied, and repaired valuable sacred and scientific texts.
They learned reading, writing, and also arithmetic, algebra, religion, and law. We know there were at least some female scribes because a word has been found for them, but generally, of course, most were men. The “middle-age spread” of his abdomen might be a mark of his high status and certainly of his sedentary occupation.Įgyptian scribes trained from childhood. His chest is broad and the nipples are marked by two wooden dowels.
The hands, fingers, and fingernails are sculpted remarkably realistically. His cap of hair is cut close to the skull. An off-center hole was drilled in the back of each to give the appearance of the pupil – ingenious! A line of black paint defines the eyebrows. The entire eye was then held in the socket by two large copper clips welded on the back. The back side was covered with a layer of organic material, creating the color of the iris and also probably serving as an adhesive. The front part of the crystal was carefully polished. (My mom used to say that about me!) Inlaid, they consist of a piece of red-veined white magnesite, in which a piece of rock crystal has been placed. Pay close attention to his eyes, his most striking feature. It is obvious that his right hand originally held a reed pen which has long since disappeared. He wears only a simple white kilt which supports his partially-rolled scroll of papyrus. He is not highly-stylized like the pharoanic sculptures with their wigs, lavish clothing, and hieroglyphics. He sits cross-legged, in the most common posture for scribes.
Tiny timeline: ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia in a global context, 2nd–1st millennia B.C.E.The Seated ScribePainted limestone with rock crystal, magnesite, and copper/arsenic inlay for the eyes and wood for the nipples, found in Saqqara.Tiny timeline: ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia in a global context, 5th–3rd millennia B.C.E.Elena FitzPatrick Sifford on casta paintings Reframing Art History, a new kind of textbook.Not your grandfather’s art history: a BIPOC Reader.With 503 contributors from 201 colleges, universities, museums, and researchĬenters, Smarthistory is the most-visited art history resource in the world. We believe that the brilliant histories of art belong to everyone, no matter their background. At Smarthistory, the Center for Public Art History, we believe art has the power to transform lives and to build understanding across cultures.
0 kommentar(er)
