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seated scribe
©2003 Nile Muse

Seated Scribe at the Egyptian Museum

Seated Scribe of painted limestone, 5th Dynasty, 24th century BCE Egypt at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

• This photo depicts the statue in the drawing from Maspero's 1912 Art in Egypt Vol. V on the previous page.


• The unknown scribe shows remarkable vitality. Found in a tomb at Sakkara, the sculpture is 20 inches high. A black sculpted wig stands out from the head and shoulders. The photo confirms details of the flaked off collar and the scribe's broken left foot which are clearly illustrated in the hundred year old drawing. The white skirt stretches tight to serve as a platform for the scroll, held by the left hand.


• If you could see a closeup you would see that the right hand shows detailed fingernails. It used to hold the scribe's pen, a reed fanned into a brush by chewing. Absent is the paint pallet with the red and black ink, illustrated in the hieroglyph above.


• The scribe is displayed at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, where French Egyptologist Gaston Maspero was the first director, succeeding Mariette as Director of Antiquities.

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