In service to the god Thoth, the patron god of writing, an Egyptian scribe sits in a traditional pose with papyrus at the ready on his lap. This greywacke figurine was probably part of a votive offering to Thoth. Dating from the reign of Amenhotep III (1391–1353 B.C.), this 2.5-by-2.5-inch figurine depicts a fortunate and highly valued person in Egyptian history. Scribes were exempt from manual labor and they received a rigorous education few Egyptians experienced. The hieroglyphs they were taught to write were divine (the Egyptian phrase for hieroglyph translates “Divine Word”), and their job was to record […]