Skip Navigation

Djehuti

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

The man portrayed here, a scribe by profession, was appropriately named after the god of writing. The inscriptions on the sculpture, which was placed in a temple or chapel, include an appeal to "all mortuary priests and scribes who see this statue" to recite a standard offering formula for Djehuty. The recitation of the words would help ensure that Djehuty would magically benefit from the offerings described, during his lifetime and in the afterlife.

MEDIUM Limestone
  • Reportedly From: Thebes, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 1539–1390 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY early Dynasty 18
    PERIOD New Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 16 5/8 × 14 3/16 × 12 13/16 in., 100 lb. (42.2 × 36 × 32.5 cm, 45.36kg)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 37.30E
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Limestone statue of Djehuti represented as a scribe, seated with his legs folded under him. Djehuti wears a short kilt and the equipment of a scribe, which is represented in relief as if it were slung over his shoulder. Incised lines indicate the folds of skin on his abdomen. On his lap he holds a partially unrolled papyrus with plain incised and modified sunk relief hieroglyphs. The plinth on which he sits is rounded. Hieroglyphs appear on the top front of the plinth and on the front of the plinth. The hieroglyphs on the front are more crudely done than those on the rest of the figure. Condition: Chipped and scratched; inscription partially preserved.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Djehuti, ca. 1539–1390 B.C.E. Limestone, 16 5/8 × 14 3/16 × 12 13/16 in., 100 lb. (42.2 × 36 × 32.5 cm, 45.36kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.30E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.30E_threequarter_PS1.jpg)
    IMAGE threequarter, 37.30E_threequarter_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2006
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.