Thursday, April 16, 2009
"Small Mysteries Revealed"
5:16am
I've solved a small mystery. I'd found the following image at touregypt.net,
no attribution given:
With no info, I thought it was from a mummy, as the shape behind the Was-scepter suggested mummy wrappings.
Last night, I noticed a large book on our shelves, to which I hadn't paid much attention. I vaguely recall getting Tutankhamun, text T. G. James, photos A. DeLuca, at Barnes and Noble, perhaps from their sale shelves. But I'd had no idea what magnificent photos of Tut's treasures were in it. While examining its pages, I found the source of the mystery Was. It is natural that it should held by a mummi-form god, for it is Ptah who is wielding the Was:
Gilded wood statue of Ptah, with bronze Was scepter, inlaid with gold.
The base titles him, Ptah, Lord of Ma'at, and also names Tutankhamun
That base is also shaped like the hieroglyph for Ma'at (truth, balance, connective justice.)
Carter 291 A, J.d'E 60739 (Cairo Museum), Height 60.2 cm (almost 24 inches)
Having found and photographed this in the evening sunlight, I then put bookmarkers at several other pages, mostly having to do with images of Weret-Hekau and other serpent goddesses. (A little teaser of a winged Wadjet is under the link). I will photograph the rest tonight during that brief span of time when the light is just right, from 5:30pm to 6:30pm. I open the front screen so the shadow from its bars isn't there, place the book on the carpet most sun-illuminated, get the viewfinder positioned just right, and click the little button.
This is preferable to scanning such a huge book, for the scanner captures all the dye dots and the image isn't as smooth.
(I added this to my page on Was scepters. Not only that, I've also added new photos to Set and Thutmoses III at Karnak, Set with Seti I at Karnak and Set with one of the later Ramesses at Medinet Habu. I thank the Finnish photographers who recently went to Egypt for their permission to share the photos.)
Saturday, April 18, 2009 A
"Evolution of a Small Drawing"
12:41pm
I'd been thinking about an Egyptian hieroglyph, meaning literally "House of Set", and wondering how it would make up into a simple design. I didn't want to stray too far from the original hieroglyph, so the improbable occurrence of a time travelling ancient would recognize its meaning. I noted in the glyph made on the ivory wand, just Set's head is used. For his face, I drew from an earlier artwork, changing the ears to look more furry.
The initial drawing is a bit clumsy:
I worked with it in Photoshop, and then took it to Illustrator and vectorized it. I brought the resultant .pdf up and enlarged it, examining for spots I didn't like. I then went back to the Photoshop version, tweaked it a bit in those spots, saved, called it up into Illustrator again and vectorized. I repeated those steps a few steps until I was content. Maybe the hair strands could be smoother, but basically I'm content:
It's a good design to say anywhere you please (providing Set is pleased! :), "Set dwells here!"
Saturday, April 18, 2009 B
"Further Evolution of a Small Drawing"
12:41pm
Of course I was not content to leave my drawing in only linear form. I colored it:
Then I made an animation of it:
9:30pm
"Still More Evolutions..."
I was thinking I should see if my old Cafe Press shop is still open, and go make a tile with this design. Meanwhile, I've made a version suitable to fit a 5x7 frame:
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