Scribal Intent: Scribes and Agency in Ancient Egypt

From the venue:

Even to the trained eye, Egyptian texts can appear highly conventionalized. Sir Alan Gardiner famously complained that the ancient Egyptian scribe "could not have given written expression even to his aesthetic emotions without a complete surrender to the conventional phraseology." Setting aside questions of capability, Gardiner's remark raises deeper issues about the flexibility of the writing system and our ability to detect variation as evidence of intent. In this lecture, Niv Allon, curator of Egyptian Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, explores these questions through three case studies that move from individual signs, to writing practices and finally to choices of script. Together, these examples suggest a greater degree of agency in scribal decision-making than is often acknowledged.

This program is free and open to the public, and registration is required.