Articule - Crystal Eyes in Ancient Egypt - Allan Diane

8/13/2019 Articule - Crystal Eyes in Ancient Egypt - Allan Diane

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Crystal Eyes in AE

During the Old Kingdom particularly, although also seen in the 12th and 13th dynasties, therehave been several instances of crystal lenses being used for statues of the deceased. Thefollowing comprise the majority of these human statues, as well as the figurine of a cat.

Rahotep and Nofret

Cairo Museum CG3 and CG4

The painted limestone statues of Rahotep and Nofret were found at Meidum in the mastabaof Rahotep during A Mariettes excavations of 1871. They are dated to the 4th Dynasty,during the reign of King Sneferu (ca. 2575-2551 BCE)

Rahotep (CG3) Height: 121cmPhotograph Jon Bodsworth


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Crystal Eyes in AE________________________

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Detail of Rahoteps eyes

The large eyes are inlaid with quartz and rock crystal and are outlined with heavy blackeye-paint 1

Nofret (CG4) Height: 122cmPhotograph Jon Bodsworth

Detail of Nofrets eyes. The eyes in Nofrets statue have a quartz orb and are inset with irismade of amethyst.

The inset eyes are slightly narrower than those of Rahotep.2

1Tiradritti, p.62

2Tiradritti, p.77


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Seated male figure Cairo

Cairo Museum, JE 30273 (CG 35)

This painted limestone statue portrays a male figure seated on a cube-shaped throne with aprojecting front step on which the feet rest. It was found at Saqqara during the EgyptianAntiquities Service excavations of 1893, and dated to c. 2450 BCE.

The mans rounded face is tilted slightly upwards and possesses a great and intenseluminosity. The large inset eyes are outlined with rims of copper representing the lines ofeye-paint and topped by relief eyebrows The sculpture was discovered at Saqqara, notfar from the statue of a scribe (CG 36)3

Detail of eyes

3Tiradritti, p.77


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Seated scribe Cairo

Cairo Museum JE3072 (CG 36)Photograph Jon Bodsworth

Height: 51cm, width: 41cm, depth: 31cm

This painted limestone statue, on a black-painted rectangular base, represents a scribeseated on the ground with his legs crossed. A partially unrolled papyrus scroll, held in his left

hand, rests on his crossed legs. The right hand, intended to grip a stylus, is poised over theopen papyrus in the act of writing.


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The statue was found in the Saqqara necropolis by the Antiquities Service excavations in1893 and is dated to ca. 2450 BCE.

The man is wearing a black flaring wig that leaves the lobes of his ears exposed andelegantly frames his strong facial features. His countenance is rather rounded and he has abroad forehead. Two large, inset eyes are outlined by a thick rim of copper representing

eye-paint and are surmounted by eyebrows in relief..4

Detail of the Scribes eyes

Ka-aper

Cairo Museum, CG 34

Height: 112cm

Ka-aper was a high-ranking official during thereign of King Userkaf. His statue, made fromsycamore wood, was found at Saqqara, inMastaba C8, during A Mariettes excavationsin 1860. The statue is dated to the FifthDynasty, ca. 2465-2458 BCE).

The high, smooth forehead is interruptedby eyebrows in slight relief that arch overstriking eyes. These are outlined in copper

to imitate the lines of eye-paint and are inlaidwith rock crystal. 5

It is said that the eyes are inlaid withalabaster, with perfectly ground and polishedplano-convex rock crystal lenses in thecentre forming the irises. The pupils areblack dots painted behind the lenses.

4Tiradritti, p.77

5Tiradritti, p.74


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Photograph Jon Bodsworth

A side view of Ka-aper's face, showing the convexity of the crystal lens


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Kaemked

Cairo Museum, CG1196Height: 43cm

This kneeling statue of Statue of Kaemked, apriest of the Treasurer (Werime) is ofplastered and painted limestone. It was

found in the necropolis of Saqqara in thetomb of the Treasurer (No. 62), during AMariettes excavations in 1860. The statuehas been dated to the second half of the 5thDynasty.

His thin face has rather prominentfeatures: inset eyes decorated with eye-paintrepresented by a thick copper outline7

Detail of one of the eyes of Kaemked

6Note: this is not a true crystal lens example; however, it is included to show the intricate obsidian insets and the

copper outline of the eyes7Tiradritti, page 80


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Kapunisut Kai

Cairo Museum

Photograph Jon Bodsworth


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Seated statue of a scribe found in the Western cemetery at Giza and dated to the 5thDynasty. On display during the Hidden Treasures exhibition, Cairo Museum, 2003. Thescribe is seated with his son (hand to mouth) and a female which could either be hisdaughter or wife.

Detail of the inlaid (crystal) eyes with copper surroundsPhotograph Jon Bodsworth

"The Kapunisut Kai statue was discovered by [Zahi] Hawass in 1992 in the Worker'sCemetery at Giza. It is illustrated in the Exhibition catalogue but there is no description of thepiece and no mention of the eyes (Hidden Treasures of the Egyptian Museum - OneHundred Masterpieces from the Centennial Exhibition (p.13). It is also illustrated in Hawass's"The Treasures from the Pyramids" (p.223). But again without any discussion of the pieceitself or the eyes."8

8Personal correspondence from Jon Bodsworth, 8 Jan 2004


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Louvre scribe

Muse National du Louvre, Paris E3023Photograph Jon Bodsworth

The Seated Scribe is considered one of the masterpieces of Egyptian art. Of paintedlimestone, this statue was found in a tomb at Saqqara, dating to the 5th Dynasty (ca. 2563-2423 BCE). He is thought to have been a governor of a province. The statue is verygeometric but at the same time very realistic, especially in the gaze of the eyes, which areopaque white with quartz cornea, rock crystal iris, and ebony pupils; the eyes are set in

bronze.


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Mitri

Cairo Museum, JE93165

The statue of Mitri, as a scribe, is of stucco and painted wood. It was found at Saqqara, inthe mastaba of Mitri, during the Antiquities Service Excavations (1925-1926). The mastabahas been dated to the late 5th Dynasty or the early 6th Dynasty.

The splendid eyes are outlined with thin copper rims, the white is made of limestone whilethe iris is a dark stone9

9Tiradritti, p.84


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Detail of the eyes and copper outlinePhotograph Jon Bodsworth, November 2003

Cat with crystal eyes

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Dated to 1991-1783 BCE, Dynasty 12.Egyptian alabaster (calcite)

Height: 11.4cm Close-up

The cat first appears in paintings and reliefs at the end of the Old Kingdom, and this cosmeticjar is the earliest-known three-dimensional representation of the animal in Egyptian art. Thesculptor demonstrates a keen understanding of the creature's physical traits, giving theanimal the alert, tense look of a hunter rather than the elegant aloofness seen in laterrepresentations. The rock-crystal eyes, lined with copper, enhance the impression ofreadiness.10

10Text from the website of the Metropolitan Museum of Art


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King Awibre Hor

Cairo Museum, JE30948 (CG 259)Photograph Jon Bodsworth

Height of statue: 170cm, height of shrine: 207cm

Wooden statue with traces of gold leaf of the ka of King Awibre Hor within a shrine. Thestatue was found at Dahshur, in the vicinity of the pyramid of Amenemhat III, during the J deMorgans excavations of 1894. It is dated to ca. 1700 BCE.

The kings oval face is particularly refined, with inlaid eyes outlined with bronze11

11Tiradritti, p.135


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It has been stated that the irises of his eyes are perfectly ground and polished piano-convexrock crystal lenses. This would appear to be the last time12[that has been found] that crystallenses were used for statues and perhaps the knowledge was lost during and/or after theinvasion of the Hyksos in 1648 BCE.13

Detail of the eyes

Much has been made of the different colouring of the eyes, which may be the by-product ofeither the photographic technique or the lighting in the Museum. However, in most of thecrystal eyes, there does not appear to be a separate iris, but the effect of the iris isproduced by a disc of resin placed behind the cornea and dimly seen through the surface ofthe back of the disk. Although sometimes the iris appears grey or blue or pale brown, it isoften an optical effect caused when the resin detaches (due to shrinkage) from the crystal.When the resin is in complete contact with the quartz, the eyes appear brown.

12Perhaps with the possible exception of the eyes of the cheetah found in the tomb of Tutankhamun

13Temple, Robert, The Crystal Sun


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References

Temple, Robert, The Crystal Sun, Century/Random House, London, 2000

Tiradritti, Francesco (ed.), The Cairo Museum Masterpieces of Egyptian Art, Thames &Hudson, London, 1999

Jon Bodsworthhttp://www.egyptarchive.co.uk

Egyptian Museum, Cairohttp://www.egyptianmuseum.gov.eg/

Muse National du Louvre, Parishttp://www.louvre.fr/louvrea.htm

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

http://www.metmuseum.org/

Note: For further (technical) information, the following two articles are suggested:

Enoch, Jay M., First known lenses originating in Egypt about 4600 years ago, DocumentaOphthalmologica, Volume 99, Issue 3, pp. 303-314, 1999

Enoch, J.M., and Lakshminarayanan, V.: Duplication of Unique Optical Effects of AncientEgyptian Lenses from the IV/V Dynasties: Lenses Fabricated ca. 2620-2400 BCE or ca.4500 BP, Ophthalmic Physiol. Optics 20(2): pp. 126-130, 2000

Compiled by Diane AllanMay 2005
http://www.egyptarchive.co.uk/http://www.egyptianmuseum.gov.eg/http://www.louvre.fr/louvrea.htmhttp://www.metmuseum.org/http://www.metmuseum.org/http://www.louvre.fr/louvrea.htmhttp://www.egyptianmuseum.gov.eg/http://www.egyptarchive.co.uk/

Articule - Crystal Eyes in Ancient Egypt - Allan Diane

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