The scribe is depicted sitting cross-legged on the ground. On his knees is an unrolled papyrus scroll; he holds the rest of the scroll in his left hand. The right hand once held a reed kalam. Papyrus scrolls were usually 1.5 to 2 m long and about 20 cm wide. They were made from the peeled core of a papyrus stem of a certain thickness, cut into strips, which were then folded in a certain order and placed under a press. Most often, the Egyptians wrote out signs in columns, from right to left.
Many statues of this type have survived; The bodies of the scribes are rendered more or less similarly, but the heads are portraits, individual and often very expressive. This scribe has an attentive gaze. Pursed lips convey readiness to write down what they hear.
Only noble Egyptians sat in armchairs, and employees were often placed directly on the floor. However, in fact, the fact that a particular type of sculptural monument was designed to indicate a certain official status shows how significant and respected it was. The ability to write was the basis for an official career, and officials were the axis of the administrative system. The necessary knowledge was taught in schools, but only a few boys managed to get there. They studied hieroglyphic writing and faster cursive handwriting, the regions and cities of Egypt, the names of plants and animals, the names of the gods and their festival days, the art of properly addressing higher members of the official hierarchy. “Teachings” were used to teach them to behave correctly, to be attentive to their superiors, and fair to subordinates; most of the time was devoted to teaching them self-discipline: “A scribe, refined in heart, patient in judgment, whose words are rejoiced when heard, skilled in hieroglyphs. There's nothing he doesn't know."
The public administration has always been strong in Egypt. Theoretically, the pharaoh owned the entire country and its people; the entire harvest was transferred to his hands, and he redistributed it. In fact, everything was different. The peasants kept a specified amount of food for their own food, and taxes were imposed on the number of bulls and the approximate harvest. The temples had storage facilities, from where the collected provisions went to the priesthood, officials and employees engaged, for example, in the construction of a pyramid or a rock royal tomb. Organizing the provision of everything necessary for the thousands of people who built the pyramids of Giza would have been impossible without highly qualified officials. Without scribes, the annual flood of the Nile would also have led to chaos. Covered with silt, the fertile land was measured again every time the water returned to the river bed. Life on the banks of the Nile was possible only thanks to the flooding of the river; the correct distribution of the newly measured lands was possible only with the help of experienced employees.
In the art of other ancient civilizations, war and combat were revered and extolled much more often than in Egypt. Deserts, naturally isolating the country, made it difficult for external enemies to attack, and the established way of life brought much greater glory to officials. According to the royal ideology, the pharaoh himself defended the country from external threats. He himself defeated the enemies of Egypt. At the top of the social pyramid, which he headed, there were officials, priests and military leaders, who often disputed the primacy of their importance for the country.
Buy a marble sculpture possible in our company -
Immediately upon leaving the department ancient east You can start examining the monuments of Egyptian art, which are exhibited separately. Then you need to go through the lower passage or crypt of Saint-Germain d'Auxerrois, named after the church located opposite. Suddenly, a statue appears from the darkness egyptian god Osiris, illuminated by a ghostly light. Its exposition must be considered extremely successful. It is known that Osiris was also worshiped as a god in Ancient Egypt underworld. Therefore, in the dark crypt of the Louvre, masked light creates the illusion of a mysterious glow. You involuntarily remember an ancient legend.
However, if you want to see Egyptian monuments in chronological order, you need to enter the department from the side of the Hall of Aphrodite de Milo. Having climbed a small staircase, you find yourself in front of the tomb of a noble person, the so-called “mastaba” (3rd millennium BC). It consisted of an underground part, where the sarcophagus with the mummy was placed, and an above-ground structure. The ancient Egyptians believed that after death a person continues to lead a life similar to that on earth. The tomb was considered his home. They brought food to the deceased, surrounded him with household items, and scenes of everyday life were depicted on the walls of the tomb. And the Louvre mastaba is covered with paintings: here there is fishing, hunting, navigation, etc. Statues of the dead were usually placed in special niches of tombs. In interpreting the images, the sculptors followed certain canons, sanctified by centuries-old traditions. The figures, painted in various ochres, were turned to the front; legs and arms were located almost symmetrically.
“But life was stronger than the demands of religion...” writes the famous Soviet researcher of Egyptian art M. E. Mathieu. “The best sculptors, having managed to partially overcome traditions, created a number of wonderful works.” These include a statue of the royal scribe Kaya (mid-25th century BC). With his legs crossed, his shoulders straightened and a scroll placed on his knees, Kai sits, ready at any moment to obey the orders of his master. He is not old, but the muscles of his chest and abdomen have already weakened. Tenacious long fingers are accustomed to holding reed pens and papyrus. The wide-cheeked face is slightly raised, thin lips are pursed, and slightly squinting eyes (they are inlaid with pieces of alabaster and rock crystal) are respectfully fixed on the visitor. This is no longer the image of a scribe in general, but a realistic portrait of a person with his own character and characteristics. The statue of Kaya was found in 1850 by the French archaeologist Mariette.
Kai is surrounded by magnificent stone sculptures in the Louvre. Here is one of them. This is a married couple. A woman stands next to her husband and hugs his shoulder. Resisting time and decay, spouses carry their love through millennia. Such groups were also performed in wood. On the second floor of the Louvre, for example, you can see a sculpture made of dark wood. The husband walks in front, and behind him, holding his hand, follows the wife, whose figure is much smaller in size. The famous head from the collection of Salt, who was the Consul General in Egypt, is also exhibited in the same room. In terms of the sharpness of her individual characteristics, she is not inferior to the scribe Kaya. Before us is the image of a strong, slightly ascetic man, with sunken cheeks, a large nose and a somewhat elongated head.
All the sculptures we examined date back to the era of the Old Kingdom (XXXII-XXIV centuries BC), when a powerful slave state arose in the Nile Valley. Along with Mesopotamia, Egypt was the most advanced country in the world at that time. By the end of the 3rd millennium, however, Egypt had split into separate regions, leading to an economic and cultural crisis. A new rise of the country was then observed twice: during the Middle Kingdom (XXI-XVII centuries BC) and the New Kingdom (XVI-XII centuries BC).
The masters of the Middle Kingdom initially followed the models of antiquity. But the repetition of old forms in new conditions led to their schematization. The revival of art began not in the capital, but in local centers. The collection of works from the Middle Kingdom era in the Louvre is inferior to the collection of the Old Kingdom. Of the sculptures of this time, the figurine of a girl (21st century BC) carrying a vessel with sacrificial libations and a box with gifts is especially memorable. The figurine is made of wood and painted. The thin fabric hugs the figure, and a necklace adorns the neck. Vitality and simplicity are combined with the search for grace.
The time of the New Kingdom was a period of further growth Egyptian culture. Grandiose temples are being built in Luxor and Karnak, the colossi of Memnon and Ramses are being created, and amazing paintings of Theban tombs are appearing. In the city of Tel Amarna, refined and refined art is developing, which left descendants with captivating portraits of Nefertiti. The Louvre has first-class monuments of the era. The bas-relief depicting King Seti I in front of the goddess Hathor is full of tenderness and subtle spirituality. The majestic statue of the vizier of Queen Hatshepsut seems to take us back to the era of the Old Kingdom. Several sphinxes placed one after another give an idea of the sculptural alleys that once led to the palaces. But especially interesting are the small plastic works of the New Kingdom, exhibited on the second floor: a wooden spoon 30 centimeters long, a lovely head made of bluish-blue glass, not exceeding 8 centimeters, a wooden head that once adorned a harp. In all these things, different in purpose and material, the monumentality and laconicism of the visual language are striking. Here you really remember the words of the Russian proverb “small is the spool, but dear.” Stretched neck, protruding chin, large lips, straight nose, almond-shaped eyes, low sloping forehead, turning into a black, shiny mass of hair, falling all the way to the neck and, as it were, returning the viewer’s gaze back to the starting point of his “journey” across a person’s face - This is a small (20 cm) wooden head of the Telamarnian school. Only the basics, no details - and what expressiveness of the image, ascetic, painful and at the same time forward-looking! The blue glass head still holds the secrets of the ancient master - how did he manage to combine the bluish skin tone with the intense color of the wig? Is it not the combination of two tones that enhances the feeling of the tenderness of a childishly rounded face, conveyed in the same general way as in a multi-meter statue? The Egyptians were amazingly able to be majestic even in the smallest things!
From the 11th century BC. e. Egypt is entering a period of decline. In conditions of almost continuous wars and internal strife, agriculture and trade are becoming impoverished. Huge architectural complexes are no longer built, reliefs repeat the patterns of the New Kingdom, expensive stone is replaced by cheaper bronze. Masterly rendering of clothing, jewelry, and resort to inlay cannot compensate for the loss of monumentality. This is the statue of the Libyan queen Karomama (circa 860 BC).
slide 1
Anna Andreevna Akhmatova
1889-1966
Slide 2
Glorification of Scribes
Wise scribes of the times of the successors of the gods themselves, who predicted the future, their names will be preserved forever. They left, having completed their time, All their loved ones were forgotten. They did not build themselves pyramids of copper or tombstones of bronze. They did not leave behind heirs, Children who preserved their names. But they left their legacy in the scriptures, in the teachings they made. The scriptures became their priests, And the writing palette became their son. Their pyramids are books of teachings, Their child is a reed pen, Their spouse is the surface of a stone, Both great and small are all their children, Because the scribe is their head.
slide 3
Doors and houses were built, but they collapsed, The funeral priests disappeared, Their monuments were covered with dirt, Their tombs were forgotten. But their names are pronounced when reading these books, Written while they lived, And the memory of the one who wrote them is Eternal. Become a scribe, put it in your heart, So that your name becomes the same. A book is better than a painted tombstone and a solid wall. What is written in the book builds houses and pyramids in the hearts of those who repeat the names of the scribes, so that the truth is on the lips, a man fades away, his body becomes dust, all his loved ones disappear from the earth, but the scriptures make him remember through the lips of those who convey it into the mouth others.. A book is more necessary than a built house, Better than tombs in the West, Better than a luxurious palace, Better than a monument in a temple.
slide 4
Is there anyone like Djedefhor somewhere? Is there anyone like Imhotep? There is no one among us like Nefri And Hetty, the first of all. I will remind you of the name of Ptahemjhuti and Khakheperra-seneb. Is there anyone like Ptahhotep Or Kares? The sages who predicted the future - It turned out as their lips said. It is written in their books, It exists as a saying. Their heirs are the children of different people, As if they were all their own children. They hid their magic from people, But they are read in instructions. They left, Their names disappeared with them, But the scriptures force us to remember them.
The Rise of Art ancient egypt began in 3 thousand BC. e., after the unification of the country. The despot pharaoh became the head of the state and was widely used Slave work. The strengthening of the unlimited power of the ruler and his deification became increasingly widespread. The pharaohs, who combined their powers with the rank of high priest, declared themselves the sons of the sun - Ra. The deceased pharaoh was identified with Osiris, whose veneration was based on the deification of ancient ideas about the annually dying and resurrecting forces of nature. In connection with the deification of the pharaoh, who was considered the patron spirit of the country, the nature of the rituals became more complex.
The ancient funeral cult acquired further development. The Egyptians believed that a person is endowed with several souls. They considered one of the souls to be a double (“ka”), the connection with which meant further life. The statues of the dying person seemed to replace the body, subject to decay, so that the soul could return to be reunited with its double. Therefore, the sculpture of Ancient Egypt, from its very inception associated with the funeral cult, gravitated towards accurate portraiture.
The deceased, placed in the tomb, seemed to move to a new home, continuing to need food and shelter.
Architecture
From 3 thousand to i. e. In connection with the cult of the pharaoh, the construction of the first giant tombs began. They consisted of an underground room where the sarcophagus and all the items considered necessary for the deceased were placed, and a mastaba - an above-ground hill lined with brick or limestone slabs. The growing grandeur of the upward-facing tombs of the pharaohs of the Third Dynasty reflected an unshakable desire to exalt the life of the ruler over the centuries, to contrast the fragility and impermanence of earthly life with the idea of the eternity of the afterlife.
The architecture of tombs and temples occupied a leading position in Egyptian art, and other types of art, complementing it, formed a single and inextricable complex.
The search for the most perfect and grandiose form of a tomb is visible in the tomb-pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser in Saqqara (28th century BC), which reached a height of more than 60 m and consisted of seven powerful steps descending upward, made of stone blocks. The architect Imhotep, the creator of this structure, erected a pyramid in the middle of a complex ensemble of courtyards and temples. He distinguished it from the surrounding buildings, giving it an upward movement. However, here the clarity and simplicity, that unrestrained smooth rise upward, which were expressed in the pyramids of the pharaohs of the subsequent, IV dynasty, had not yet been achieved.
The pyramids of the pharaohs Khufu (Cheops), Khafre (Khefre) and Menkaure (Mykerina, 27th century BC), rising in Giza, were called one of the “seven wonders of the world”.
Pyramids at Giza. Egypt
In the minds of people of subsequent generations, they were identified with all the art of Egypt, with the nature and appearance of this country. Erected from light stone in the middle of the desert, they amaze with their size, severity and severity. Their image embodied the greatness and daring courage of man’s plan to oppose the centuries with the work of his hands and mind. The huge mass of pyramids, built from powerful stone blocks, is subject to an extremely simple and clear idea. Each of the pyramids is a square in plan, and its sides are isosceles triangles. In the dazzling sun, the falling sharp and clear shadows further emphasize the rational clarity of these structures, the simplicity of which is generated not by poverty of imagination, but by the enormous mastery of generalization crystallized over the centuries.
The most grandiose of the three is the Pyramid of Cheops, built under the direction of the architect Hemiun. Its height is about 147 m, the length of the side of the base is 233 m. How much effort, given the primitive technology of that time, was spent on this structure is evidenced by the description of Herodotus, which says that thousands of people spent ten years building a road for transporting stone slabs, and then twenty-five years - a pyramid. It is made up of two million three hundred thousand blocks weighing each from 2.5 to 30 tons. The entire surface of the Cheops pyramid was lined with smooth limestone slabs, giving its appearance a special crystal clarity. Inside there was only a small chamber, covered with granite, which housed a sarcophagus with a mummy, corridors leading to it, and narrow channels for ventilation. Thus, the pyramid was a gigantic stone mass, which had a particularly strong impact with its shape and size from a long distance.
The proud appearance of perfect, clear-cut architectural monuments embodied the idea of immortality, alienation from everything unsteady and fickle, the power and despotism of the unlimited power of the pharaohs.
The pyramids at Giza formed part of a grand ensemble. It included mortuary temples, strict in their layout, clear and calm in their rhythms. The giant figure of the sphinx, standing on a straight axis leading to the Pyramid of Khafre, completes the ensemble. She combines the stern face of a pharaoh with the body of a lion. Carved from a single rock mass, the sphinx with a wide-open gaze directed into space, not seeing anything earthly, seemed to affirm the idea of eternal peace of tombs opposing centuries. An extraordinary sense of stone, its texture and decorative features was also manifested in the decoration of powerful pillars of mortuary temples, in the ability to combine the colorful effects of the surface of diorite and granite, polished to a shine.
Sculpture
The integral purity of the temple and tombs were the statues of pharaohs, nobles, and court scribes. The cult purpose of the statues determined their implementation within the strictest canons. People were depicted in monotonous, calm poses full of motionless grandeur and stability, as if frozen for centuries. In most cases, this is either a standing figure with the left leg extended forward, or a frontally seated figure with hands pressed to the torso. And at the same time, the sculptures of the Ancient Kingdom are distinguished by sharp realism, sometimes endowed with enormous internal energy. According to the ideas of the ancient Egyptians, ritual portrait statues were the personification of a double of the deceased. Therefore, the masters sought to convey maximum similarity in them, and at the same time express their ideas about the ideal image. Vitality and observation are inherent in the individualized faces of those portrayed; bright coloring and inlaid eyes with rock crystal and ebony enlivened these faces even more. The statue of the scribe Kaya sitting with his legs between his legs (mid-3rd millennium BC, Paris, Louvre), made of limestone, with the attentive gaze of large, shiny eyes, as if hungry for an order, and tightly compressed lips, amazes with its sharply expressed portraiture.
Statue of the royal scribe Kaya
The wooden statue of the nobleman Kaaner (mid-3rd millennium BC, Cairo, Egyptian Museum), leaning on a staff and majestically carrying his corpulent body, is distinguished by such truthfulness and individualization that the workers who found it during excavations called the statue “rural headman."
Statue of the nobleman Kaaper
Despite the fact that the canons determined the definite and constrained poses of the portraits, the impassiveness of facial expressions, the masters were able to bring true authenticity of life into these motionless statues. Family portraits are often found in tombs. The simplicity of generalized forms and the noble perfection of execution are inherent in the paired statues of Rahotep and his wife Nofret (first half of the 3rd millennium BC, Cairo, Egyptian Museum). They sit on hard cubic thrones, separated from each other not only by distance, but also by the direction of their gaze, directed straight ahead. According to tradition, the male statue is painted red-brown, the female - yellow, hair - black, clothes - white. The motionless, laconic images are humane, full of charm, purity and enlightened clarity. Portraits of pharaohs standing inside tombs and temples are striking in their vitality and at the same time they convey a sense of the mass of the stone block from which the statues are carved. Their poses are canonical. The left leg is extended forward, as if they are slowly taking their first step into eternity. Seated statues are built according to the principles of symmetry and balance, often they are full of internal tension, like the imperious pharaoh Khafre (first half of the 3rd millennium BC, Cairo, Egyptian Museum), frozen in proud grandeur, guarded by a falcon - Horus, stretched over him their hard wings.
An important role was played by reliefs and paintings made on the walls of tombs and temples and also associated with the funeral cult. Their purpose was determined by the desire to glorify the power of the buried ruler and ensure his prosperity in afterlife. Reliefs and paintings were placed in such a way as to establish the plane of the wall and emphasize the laconicism and severity of the architectural image as a whole. This explains the lack of multifaceted in-depth construction, the unfolding of the narrative with friezes on the wall, and the specific depiction of figures. Pharaoh and the gods were depicted above other people. Conventionality in colors and in the construction of reliefs was associated with a long artistic selection of images, established canons; Egyptian masters chose the most acute and characteristic points of view on the subject, combining them into one. The reliefs themselves are usually flat, they hardly protrude above the surface of the wall. The ancient Egyptians used two relief techniques - bas-relief and incised relief with a deep contour, bringing them closer to paintings. The silhouette of the figures is always clear and graphic, the person is depicted in such a way that the width of the shoulders, shown in front, and the muscular slenderness of the legs, turned in profile, are visible. Thus, in a wooden relief depicting the architect Khesir (beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, Cairo, Egyptian Museum), the entire appearance is powerful shoulders deployed according to the traditional pattern to their full width, narrow hips shown in profile, a thick mane hair, a bold and proud face - enhances the feeling of the extraordinary inner strength of this person, the beauty and rhythm of his elastic movement. Subtle modeling of barely perceptible volumes gives the relief a special completeness and softens the rigidity of the silhouette.
The principle of frieze development of the plot is typical for the reliefs of the Old Kingdom. He helps the artist recreate scene by scene, various everyday episodes unfolding over time. The repetition of identical figures walking in a line in the relief from the mastaba of Ahuthotep, located one under the other, like line after line, makes one feel the slow smoothness and significance of the solemn procession, as if directed into eternity, the rhythmic beauty of the ritual dance.
Painting and art craft
The same purity of lines, the same restraint and calm clarity of rhythms and color scheme as in the reliefs can be traced in the paintings of the Old Kingdom. For example, in the paintings from the tomb of the architect Nefermaat in Medum (27th century BC, Cairo, Egyptian Museum), rich and pure in color combinations. Wall paintings usually used golden, orange-red, green, blue and turquoise paints applied to a dry surface. Often special recesses were filled with colored pastes, similar to inlay. Generalized contour lines emphasized the flatness of the wall and the monumental integrity of the ensemble.
Painting of the tomb at Medum
At this time, artistic crafts and small painted plastic arts became widely developed. Jewelry made of precious stones - malachite, turquoise and carnelian, wooden furniture decorated with gold, combined bright colors with harmony and strict simplicity of form, characteristic of all products of the Ancient Kingdom. The head of a falcon (Cairo, Egyptian Museum) is magnificent in its generality and plasticity, crowned with a regal crown, made of gold and black obsidian, the polished pieces of which give the feeling of living and bright bird eyes. The art of the Ancient Kingdom in each of its manifestations achieved high results. All the features of the figurative worldview characteristic of ancient Egyptian culture were laid down at this time.
The most fruitful period of Egyptian art dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. e. With the first two dynasties given the name Tinitsky(from their capital Tinis), the bureaucratic organization of Egyptian society began to take shape.
In the funerary complex Pharaoh Djoser(2680-2660 BC) at Saqqara, with the so-called step pyramid, for the first time the royal tomb clearly stood out from the host of other tombs. The upper structure in it was formed by several stacked mastaba, this typological predecessor of the pyramid (rectangular burial mounds with walls tapering upward).
IN Memphis period(named after the new capital, Memphis), primarily during the 4th dynasty (2630-2510 BC), the centralized power of the deified pharaoh was reflected in art. A typical monument of the era was pyramid with nearby sphinx: the most famous examples are located in Giza - these are the pyramids of Cheops, Khafre and Mikerin.
Both in the round sculpture and in the relief there is an emphasized severity of style. Statues of rulers and nobles are almost always abstract idealizations rather than portraits in the true sense of the word. During the 5th and 6th dynasties (2510-2195) a more realistic depiction of people was marked by the appearance of a number of sculptural masterpieces, such as Louvre Scribe And Shekh el-Balad, and gave impetus to the design of the interior space of mastabas - tombs of representatives of the nobility - with reliefs with scenes of hunting, fishing, home life, and funeral rites.
Fragment of the statue of nobleman Kaya in the guise of a scribe Limestone. Paris, Louvre. The eye socket is copper. Protein is alabaster. Iris - rock crystal. The pupil is a chiseled cone filled with soot.
In the first transition period (2195-2064), the process of fragmentation of a single state through the efforts of the local nobility reaches the point of crisis.
Fine art responds to this by abandoning a rigid register compositional scheme in favor of a more individualized and instinctive image of space (the interior decor of the tombs of Middle Egypt, in Beni Hasan, and near the southern borders, near Aswan).
The whole history of art. Painting, architecture, sculpture, decorative art / trans. with it. T.M. Kotelnikova. - M.: Astrel: 2007.
Scribe Kaya
Scribe Kai Louvre
With his legs crossed, his shoulders straightened and a scroll placed on his knees, Kai sits, ready at any moment to obey the orders of his master. He is not old, but the muscles of his chest and abdomen have already weakened. Tenacious long fingers are accustomed to holding reed pens and papyrus.
The wide-cheeked face is slightly raised, thin lips are pursed, and slightly squinting eyes (they are inlaid with pieces of alabaster and rock crystal) are respectfully fixed on the visitor. This is no longer the image of a scribe in general, but a realistic portrait of a person with his own character and characteristics. The statue of Kaya was found in 1850 by the French archaeologist Mariette.
Statue of the priest Kaaper or "Sheikh el Balad".
Statue of the priest Kaaper or "Sheikh el Balad".
This wooden statue of the priest of Kaaper was found in Saqqara in the mastaba of Kaaper by Auguste Mariet in 1860. The workers who found it unanimously exclaimed that the image looked like their village elder. Therefore, it is also known under another name “Sheikh el Balad” (“Village Headman”)
The statue of Kaaper is made from sycamore. Its height is 112 cm. Mastaba Kaapera dates back to the reign of Pharaoh Userkaf from the Fifth Dynasty. Wooden statues were common in the Old Kingdom. The material is more pliable than stone, but less durable. Therefore, few wooden statues from that time have survived to this day.
Initially, the statue of the priest was covered with a thin layer of plaster. In some places its remains are visible. The eyes are made of alabaster, crystal, black stone with a copper rim that imitates eyeliner. The priest is depicted in a traditional pose. The left leg is extended forward in a step position. In one hand he holds a staff, in the other, it is believed that a cylinder was clutched. Kaaper is dressed in a long loincloth.
