"Seated Scribe"

Title: "Seated Scribe"
Artist: Unknown
Medium: Painted limestone sculpture, rock crystals, magnesite, copper-arsenic alloy, wood
Era: Old Kingdom Egypt
2620-2500 BCE
Location: Saqqara, Egypt

This sculpture was discovered in 1850 CE by French archaeologist Auguste Mariette. One of the pharaoh's scribes is depicted here, although generally sculptures depicted the royal family. An interesting thing to know about the scribe is that his hands and his face are the most detailed part of the sculpture. This is because the scribe uses his face, with his eyes and mouth, and his hands the most in his line of work. The eyes of this sculpture are shown with slightly off-centered pupils, to create the illusion that his eyes are moving. The scribe's hands are shown in the writing position, and it appears that his right hand originally held a brush.

The sculpture's semicircular base indicates that it originally fit into a larger piece of rock, which likely carried its title and name.

This sculpture is unusually realistic for its time, with a less than ideal figure and without an idealized face. This may be partly because it is not a royal figure depicted, but a worker.

"Snake Goddess"

Title: "Snake Goddess"
Artist: Unknown
Medium: faïence sculpture
Era: 1600 BCE
Aegean Art
Location: Knossos, Crete

This figurine, believed to depict a goddess, was discovered in the early 1900s by famed archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans. The figurine was found in the Temple Repositories in the Palace of Knossos on the Aegean Island of Crete. The figure was originally missing its head, hat, the majority of its right arm, part of the snake, and large parts of the skirt. The figure was originally thought to be a votary of a figure Evans proclaimed to be the real "Snake Goddess". However, today art historians recognize the figure above to be the Minoan "Snake Goddess".

The original reconstruction of the figure did not include the cat perched atop the headdress. This cat, identified as a lioness or a spotted pard, was placed atop the figure as both contained rivet holes suggesting a connection between the two.

The fact that Evans made this leap of faith has been a subject of argument among historians. Evans is well-known for taking liberation with his discoveries. For example, in his excavation of the Palace of Knossos Evans had the columns repainted red and black with little regard for preserving the state of the excavation.

The "Snake Goddess" wears a typical Minoan flounced skirt: made of Minoan wool while the skirt flared out from the hips to the ground. The figure's skirt and apron are held at the waist by what is believed to be either a belt or a girdle. The girdle may have been of religious importance to the Minoans, as a few faience double girdles were discovered at the site. The girdle may be related to Aphrodite's charmed girdle which she lent to Hera when she wanted to seduce Zeus and thus distract his attention from the Trojan war. This seduction was said to have taken place on Crete's Mount Ida. The "Snake Goddess" is said to be related not only to the Greek Goddess Aphrodite, but to the Egyptian Goddess Wadjyt.

Overall, this figure typifies Aegean artwork style through its use of faience, its size, and its religious subject. This figure is also useful in examining how the female figure is depicted throughout the history of art. In this particular case, the woman is partly nude and depicted in a religious light. She appears powerful with her raised arms and her menacing appearance, yet is a beautiful woman.

You can learn more about "Snake Goddess" at this site: http://witcombe.sbc.edu/snakegoddess