The Seated Scribe The seated scribe is a sculpture made in 2500 B.C.E in Saqqara, Egypt fourth dynasty. This piece of artwork can explain a lot about the society it came from which makes it significant. In the following paragraphs I will address; what makes it unique? Who it was found by? The impact this had on our understanding of the piece, and modern interpretations of Egyptian art. First here’s a description: The seated scribe is 1’9” high and is made from limestone; it’s typical of an Egyptian sculpture in that it’s painted. He sits with perfect posture; cross legged, head facing forward, hand ready to write although his brush is missing. His eyes are a complex structure (I will go into further detail in page 3 paragraph 2). He wears a simple white cloth resembling what we might call a skirt. What makes the sculpture different from others of this time period are two things; the subject matter, in that it depicts no god, nor Pharaoh only a mortal human writing in a mostly illiterate society. Secondly it demonstrates age shown in sagging muscles and rotund belly. Due to this relaxed style we can gather that the subject is not a Pharaoh as it was dishonourable to insinuate that they aged as they were supposed to be gods on earth. According to the Louvre website, (www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/seated-scribe) the sculpture was found in Saqqara Egypt in 1850 by an archaeologist by the name of Auguste Mariette. The exact location of the Seated Scribe has remained a
Ancient Greek art is something to be admired; the accuracy of the figures, compared to Egyptian art is commendable. The art works show great depths of emotion and detail. The “Grave stele of a little girl” is a beautiful relief of what appears to be a small child holding two birds. The forearm resembles a young child’s arm because it seems that the “baby fat” is still present, but it is strange that the face has less-childish features. The figure is in strict profile, which possibly suggests a Greek sculptor, in addition to the intricate detail and the contrapposto. Egyptian sculptors did not have
Ancient Egypt was a captivating and intricate civilization. Over the years, historians have found it easier to study this civilization, rather than other historical civilizations, because the Egyptians went through great lengths to record their history. Besides being decent record keepers, they were very religious, and “ahead of their time,” due to their technological and economic breakthroughs. Because of the aspects of this culture, it has to be one of the greatest civilizations of the world.
This document entitled Advice to a Young Egyptian: “Be a Scribe” the reader is informed that it is written with multiple spelling mistakes so it is believed that it was written by an Egyptian writing students learning how to write. That answers one of the questions as to who, as well as where it was written. Since it was written by student, we have no information about their
The Seated Statue of Nehy is a white limestone Egyptian sculpture from the New Kingdom period dating back to 1250-1200 BCE with the measurements of 51 15/16 x 17 3/4 x 34 9/16 inches. The sculpture’s accession number is 22.106. It was discovered in the Memphite necropolis of Saqqara and was acquired by Henry Walters in 1924 (Egyptian Art New Kingdom 92). The sculpture exhibits texture, large scale, and stylization, which is common in Egyptian sculpture.
The statue of King Sahure and a Nome god is an interesting piece of Ancient Egyptian art ( c. 2500 BC ) that shows signs of Ancient Egyptian culture and beliefs. The statue is a small relief sculpture, meaning the sculptural elements are attached to the solid background of the sculpture and appears to be emerging from the material. The piece clearly depicts two figures side by side, one standing on the left and one sitting on the right (facing foreward). The purpose of this piece was probably to depict a certain symbolic interaction between the two characters.
In the sculpture, Yuny and His Wife, Renenutet, the artist conveys a strong, affectionate marriage between two important social figures in New Kingdom Egypt. This relationship is visually conveyed by multiple factors in the visual properties of this sculpture. To provide a quick description of the piece which is dated to ca. 1294–1279 B.C.E., Yuny, a chief royal scribe, is portrayed sitting next to his wife, Renenutet, a temple-ritual singer for the god Amun-Re on a bench. The sculpture was made out of limestone and originally painted. It’s 33 1/4” in height and 21 7/16” in width. Yuny and Renenutet are both depicted in elegant clothing with equally elegant wigs. Renenutet is shown wearing a long, tight-fitting dress that comes down to her ankles ending just where her bare feet start. A large, elaborate necklace takes up the majority of her chest. Her left hand sits in her lap as she holds a menat that drapes down in front of her legs and her right hand is wrapped around the lower back of Yuny. Yuny is shown wearing a long pleated skirt with hieroglyphs down the center of it. He also wears a sophisticated top going up to his neckline with the sleeves stopping at his elbows where it flares out with elaborate pleating. Unlike Renenutet, Yuny wears sandals and his forearms and hands are broken off but it’s suggested that they originally laid by his sides.
The Seated Scribe from the Egyptian era was a sculpture that was important to the people of that time period as well as modern people. It was not significant in politics or religion; however, it was significant due to the fact that it was a sculpture resembled real people of that time period. It is important to remember that sculptures of people during this time period were exaggerated. Emperors were portrayed using unrealistic body features (broad shoulders, 6-pack of abs) instead of having a more natural look similar to the Seated Scribe. I understand the sculptures were made that way to usher in a feeling of power when they were looked upon, but why weren’t there more art work being made that was showing off the natural look of most Egyptians
Choose a work of art from the reading in Chapter 1. Discuss how the work is a reflection of the ancient culture that created it. Also, did anything particularly surprise or impress
In the late 19th century, the Seated Statue of Ramesses II was uncovered in the Temple of Harsaphes, Heracleopolis, by Sir William Flinders Petrie (Horne 1985, 22). Currently, it rests in the Mummies Gallery in the Egyptian section of the Penn Museum. The king sits heroically with his hands resting on his lap and wears the nemes headdress on his head. Made of quartzite sandstone, the statue sits at an impressive height of 226 cm, with a width of 74 cm and length of 149 cm. On his arms, there are faint traces of red and the nemes headdress has touches of blue and yellow. When it was originally crafted, the statue’s colors would have been more prominent than they currently are; there also would have been a false beard inset that has been lost to history.
In Ancient Egypt, the position of the scribe was an incredibly valuable and sought-after profession. While it took years of education to become a scribe, it was one of the best jobs to have. In the document, the author explains why one should want to be a scribe instead of something else. First, the author speaks of the advantages of being a scribe compared to those of being a cobbler, a carpenter, or similar professions. He or she speaks of all of the physical struggles of having a profession such as that of the washerman. In the document, he or she states, “The washerman’s day is going up, going down. All his limbs are weak, (from) whitening his neighbors’ clothes every day, from washing their linen.” The author explains that while
At the request of Napoleon Bonaparte in the early 1800’s Dominique Vivant Baron Denon French artist and diplomat was to record the exploits and accomplishments of Bonaparte’s Egyptian campaign. In 1802, he published his travels. “The perfection given by the Egyptians to the representations of their animals proves that they were not without an idea of that bold style which expresses much character in a few lines, and their execution tended to the grave, and to ideal perfection, as we have already remarked in instance of the Sphinx.” The generally accepted date of the great Sphinx of Giza is 2500BC attributed to Pharaoh Khafre of the fourth dynasty. If this is the
I find this piece to be very mysterious. Why does the head become narrow at the top? The face seems to be of an older woman, as shown by the wrinkles indented within the sides of the nose and the mouth, although they are not as prevalent as the one of NYC. There’s a soft jaw line of a woman. What is interesting to me is the indented/concave region of the eyes. Instead of forming an extruding eye with a pupil, the sculptor chose to extract the material to form the eye, unlike the piece we saw of Abu, with eyes stamped with bitumen tar. The lips are very well sculpted, and textured well. It seems like it would mean a lot to a Pharaoh who has lost his mother, or who hopes to forever remember his family. To see the portrait of his family along with himself would’ve made him feel happy and in the presence of his family. I feel this way much of the time when seeing photos of lost family members with me beside them within the photos. It’s like an everlasting memory of that person and being with them in the memory.
Just from looking at a few pieces of the art of the ancient Egyptians, you begin to notice many defining characteristics about it that make it unique and different from other styles of art. There are an ample amount of recurring features in the art, so this must mean that these traits and aspects are noteworthy. This next section of the essay will go into detail about a few of the many types of art and the stylistic elements that define ancient Egyptian art and make it special and distinguishable from other types of art, and why some particular aspects of the art are important.
During early dynasty Egypt period, Egypt’s kings were reverted as gods in human form. So, Egyptian sculptor created statues of their kings and queens. After creating the statue
Egyptians are famous for their giant works of sculptures. Some examples of this include the Great Sphinx of Giza and the statues of Ramses II at the Abu Simbel temples. (Duckster, 2014) The Great Sphinx was made out of limestone and is located by the Nile River and has a face of a man and the body of a lion which pertains to their mythology of human head on an animal’s body and vice versa. The ancient Egyptians also built pyramids. The pyramids are triangle because it was in correlation to the sun rays and a way for their souls to ascend to heaven. They buried the pharaohs in the tombs of the pyramids. Pyramids contained false chambers to trick thieves and were often looted for valuables from the deceased. The pyramid of Giza is