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622 OVERSEER OF PRIESTS
..
Ritual Objects. Actual ritual or devotional objects areoccasionally preserved on ostraca, particularly on largerlimestone chips. These include crude dedicatory stelae,letters to the dead, and offering lists or prayers. Thesemay not be preparatory studies or drafts for a more fin-ished or complete object but, rather, evidence of a piousact or wish of a draftsman or other craftsman. They arefinished in ink and rarely calV'eci, and are meant to becomplete in themselves.Figural Ostraca. The abundant figural ostraca found
at Deir el-Medina and in the Valley of the Kings give con-siderable insight into the working methods of the artist-craftsmen employed in the preparation of tomb deco-ratiOD. Often a single piece may have the same designelement repeated several times, suggesting an attempt toperfect the rendering of a hierQglyph or part of a figure.This is particularly true of eleme~ts considered difficultto draw, such as the quail chick with its subtle contour orthe owl with its frontal face, both complex hieroglyphs tocapture accurately. Some drawings have a squared gridimposed on the design, indicating that they were meantto be enlarged as a part of a wall decoration. Others in-clude some standard element, such as the open hand orclosed fist, to indicate the standard measurement of apart. Still others suggest a kind of aide-memoire for thedelineation of an element that would have been repeatedin a wall decoration, such as the ruler's profile, the ar-rangement of the signs in a cartouche, or some decora-tive device.The training of the artist is presumed to have been
based on a workshop and apprenticeship system. Nomanuals or books of instruction have been preserved,probably because it was not considered necessary to com-mit to writing the information that was passed on orallyfrom master to student. Because of the relatively inde-structible nature of the material, many ostraca preserveimportant evidence for the understanding of artistic train-ing and methods that would otherwise be unknown to us.These include examples of trials, sketches, and practicepieces, as well as layout drawings that were meant to beexpanded and duplicated on a larger scale. From an ex-amination of a number of the figured ostraca, it can bedemonstrated that the beginning draftsman studied andcopied the ,"vork of a master. Annotations or correctionscan be seen to have been made at times by a more experi-enced hand, probably in the process of teaching, just asinstructors in draftsmanship have always corrected thework of students through history.Architectural elevations and plans are not preserved in
great number, but some exist on ostraca to supplementthe few that have been found on papyrus. One large stonechip in the Cairo Museum bears the layout of an identifi-able royal tomb. Other architectural drawings are of de-
tails, such as single columns or the fayade of a shrine; inone instance, an arch with written measurements of itsarc attests to the calculation involved. Some layout draw-ings for the ground plans of houses and gardens have alsobeen preserved. As sketchy as some of these appear, thedra\vings, \.vith occasional notations of measurement, stillgive some indication of the working methods of Egyptianarchitects and builders.A distinct class of figural ostraca illustrates fable-like
situations in which unlikely combinations of humans andanimals appear in curious contexts. The cat may act asthe herdsman for geese, or as nursemaid for a babymouse, or human children may be punished by animalswho conduct themselves as overseers. These so-called sa-tirical drawings are in all probability the illustrations formoral tales, either totally lost to history or never commit-ted to writing and transmitted by the Egyptians orally.There are also a limited number of caricatures and eroticillustrations, but these are very much in the minority .probably because they were less often preserved.To the casual modern viewer who has experienced only
the most formal of Egyptian art forms, Egyptian art mayseem a static and lifeless artistic expression. The immedi-acy of the ancient drawings preserved on ostraca exerts atremendous appeal on the viewer who is given, throughthis medium, a brief glimpse into the creative act that wasa part of an otherwise highly stylized and proscribedstructure. Since all fonns of Egyptian art were based inlinear abstraction, the insights to be gained through astudy of the art of dra\ving are even more valuable be-cause they provide us with many of the preparatory stagesin the development of finished objects in every medium.
BIBLIOGRAPHYBarnes, J. W. The Ashmolean Os/raca of Sinuhe. Oxford, 1952.Brunner-Traut. E. Egyptian Artists' Sketches: Figured Ostraca From the
Gayer-Anderson Collection at the Fitzwilliam Museum. Cambridge,1979.
Carter, H. and A. H. Gardiner. "The Tomb of Ramesses IV and lheTurin Plan of a Royal Tomb." Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 4
(1917),130-158.Cerny, Jaroslav. Catalogue des ostraca hieratiques non litteraires de Deir
el-Medineh. 7 vols. Cairo, 1935-1970.Daressy, G. Ostraca, Catalogue general des antiquites egyptielwes du
musee du Caire: no. 25001-25385. Cairo, ]901.Peck, W. H. Drawings from Ancient Egypt. London, 1978.Posener, G. Catalogue des ostraca hieratiques liueraires de Deir el-
Medineh. Cairo, 1972.Vandier d'Abbadie, J. Catalogue des ostraca figures de Deir el-Medineh.
4 vols. Cairo, 1937-1946.
WILLIAM H. PECK
OVERSEER OF PRIESTS. See Administration,ar-ticle on Temple Administration ..
