The Seated Scribe and Block Status

 The sculpture of the seated scribe was discovered in Saqqara on 19 November 1850, to the north of the Serapeum's line of sphinxes by French archeologist Auguste Mariette. The precise location remains unknown, as the document describing these excavations was published posthumously and the original excavation journal has been lost.


Detail
The identity of the person represented remains unknown. The semicircular base of the sculpture suggests that it originally fitted in a larger piece of rock which presumably carried its name and title. This somewhat unusual pose was, it seems, reserved for members of the immediate royal family, although not for the king himself. The statue was dated to the period of the 4th Dynasty, 2620–2500 BC, and is usually associated to the person of Pehernefer. Certain stylistic characteristics, unusual thin lips, broad chest and the posture of the torso might support this theory. The dating itself remains uncertain; the period of the 6th dynasty has also been suggested. One additional fact in favor of the earlier date is that the statue is represented in “writing” position while it seems that scribes from the period after the 5th dynasty have been portrayed mainly in “reading” position.

The Seated Scribe was made around 2450–2325 BCE, it was discovered near a tomb made for an official named Kai and is sculpted from limestone.[1] Many pharaohs and high-ranking officials would have their servants depicted in some form of image or sculpture so that when they went to the afterlife they would able to utilize their skills to help them in their second life. The scribes were some of the very few who knew how to read and write, and were highly regarded and well-paid. Most people were peasant farmers who had no need for literacy, and "although some members of the royal family and high status individuals, as well as officials, priests, and army officers were literate, scribes were needed for operations of the state at all levels."[2] Scribes were used for multitude of things involving everyday Egyptian life, they would be used as tax collectors and were in charge of organizing personnel for activities such as mining, trade and war. Scribes were also used to work on projects like pyramid building and helped communicate between the rulers and the Egyptian people.

The block statue is a type of memorial statue that first emerged in the Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt.[1] The block statue grew in popularity in the New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period, and by the Late Period, this type of statue was the most common. These statues were used in temples typically as funerary monuments of non-royal yet important individuals.[2] According to primary sources from the New Kingdom, the posture of the statue was possibly intended to resemble a guardian seated in the gateway of a temple.[3] In addition, their simple shape provided ample flat surfaces for inscriptions of offerings and invocations.

Block statues consist of a man squatting with his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms folded on top his knees. Often, these men are wearing a "wide cloak" that reduces the body of the figure to a simple block-like shape.[4] Most of the detail is reserved for the head of the individual being depicted. In some instances the modeling of the limbs has been retained by the sculptor.[5] There are two basic types of block statues: ones with the feet completely covered by the cloak and ones with the feet uncovered.[6]

In 1903, more than 350 Block statues were discovered by the French archaeologist Georges Legrain as part of the "Karnak cachette"