Sculpted between 2700 and 2200 BC, the Seated Scribe is one of the most famous unknown figures from ancient Egypt. It was found in the Saqqara necropolis. The statue is interesting as the scribe is in the writing pose as opposed to the reading pose, which was common in later Egyptian statuary. It is possible the statue may have served as a Ka statue for some significant individual. Unfortunately, nothing else is known about the statue or who it portrays because the excavation site was ransacked and further information about the figure could not be gathered. Unusual in Egyptian statuary, the scribe is portrayed at work. A theory exists that perhaps the statue was used by the king’s sons or grandsons because no king would never appear in that pose.
