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Seated Scribe

الكاتب الجالس
4th–5th Dynasty · Old Kingdom · c. 2480–2350 BCE
Seated Scribe
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Details
In Egypt
Where to see it
Louvre Museum, Paris (inventory E 3023). Original find at Saqqara. Featured on the Egyptian 200 EGP banknote.
Found at
Saqqara
Type
statue
Material
painted limestone
About this object

One of the most famous Old Kingdom Egyptian statues — a painted limestone figure of an unnamed scribe, cross-legged with a papyrus on his lap, with strikingly lifelike inlaid eyes of rock crystal in copper rims. Featured on the Egyptian 200 EGP banknote.

Current location
Louvre Museum, Paris (inventory E 3023). Original find at Saqqara. Featured on the Egyptian 200 EGP banknote.
In the site
(loaned abroad — currently Louvre, Sully wing, room 22)
Materials
painted limestone, rock crystal (eyes), copper (eye rims), magnesite, polished wood (eye sockets)
Dimensions
H 53.7 cm × W 44 cm × D 35 cm
Provenance
Discovered in 1850 by Auguste Mariette in a tomb at Saqqara, the cemetery of Egypt's Old Kingdom capital Memphis. Acquired by the Louvre in 1854 along with the bulk of Mariette's first Egyptian excavation.
Sourcing
Phase 0 hand-curated — pending Egyptologist review
Citations
  • · Ziegler, C. (1997). Les statues égyptiennes de l'Ancien Empire. Louvre.
  • · Mariette, A. (1856). Lettre à M. le vicomte de Rougé sur les fouilles de Saqqara.
  • · Stevenson Smith, W. (1949). A History of Egyptian Sculpture and Painting in the Old Kingdom.
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