WARSAW, POLAND—Science Magazine reports that while Anastasiia Stupko-Lubczynska of the University of Warsaw and her colleagues were cleaning and restoring the limestone walls of a room at the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari, they noticed variations in the quality of the workmanship in the 200 carved figures. The images depict men carrying sheaves of wheat, baskets of birds, and other offerings to Hatshepsut, one of Egypt’s few women pharaohs, who ruled from 1478 to 1458 B.C. “Because we have so many figures with repetitive details, we can compare the details and workmanship,” Stupko-Lubczynska explained. “If you look at enough of them, it’s easy to see when someone was doing it properly.” For example, the researchers noticed sloppily chiseled edges on some of the figures; wig curls formed with multiple chisel blows, compared to some formed with just two or three; and places where mistakes had been corrected. Stupko-Lubczynska suggests that the work was done in phases by different artists, including master carvers, trainees, and assistants to hold oil lamps in the windowless hall. “You can feel that they were normal people like us, who could be tired or hungry or ill,” she concluded. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Antiquity. To read about the discovery of a tomb at Deir el-Bahari that archaeologists believed belonged to Thutmose II, go to "Closing in on a Pharaoh's Tomb."
Varying Skill Levels Detected in Artwork at Egyptian Temple
News November 21, 2021
Recommended Articles
Digs & Discoveries July/August 2024
Sticking Their Necks Out
Digs & Discoveries May/June 2024
Ancient Egyptian Caregivers
Digs & Discoveries May/June 2024
Speaking in Golden Tongues
-
Features September/October 2021
Secret Rites of Samothrace
Reimagining the experience of initiation into an ancient Greek mystery cult
(© American Excavations Samothrace) -
Features September/October 2021
Searching for the Fisher Kings
In the waters of southern Florida, the creative Calusa people forged a mighty empire
(Merald Clark) -
Letter From Scotland September/October 2021
Land of the Picts
New excavations reveal the truth behind the legend of these fearsome northern warriors
(Courtesy The Northern Picts Project) -
Artifacts September/October 2021
Late Medieval Ring
(© Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales)