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- AboutWhy ‘count’ art? Because all cultures, from the most ancient all the way to your own community, utilize symbols and repetitive elements in art. By tracking the use and context of these symbols and elements, we gain insight into the meanings behind them. This is particularly important when we study ancient cultures or those that are considered ‘lost’, but even well known artists often had their own hidden agendas. Michelangelo, for instance, hid precise anatomical drawings in his Sistine Chapel, but these were only recently recognized. How much more is hidden in plain sight? Any image of any kind in any media from any period can be counted. This is true whether it is a relief image on an ancient Egyptian temple wall, a Rembrandt painting, an Etruscan sculpture, or a modern mixed media work. Below is a concise introduction to the Art of Counting, followed by a complete transcript. Transcript: Why ‘count’ art? Because all cultures, from the most ancient all the way to your own community, utilize symbols and repetitive elements in art. By tracking the use and context of these symbols and elements, we gain insight into the meanings behind them. This is particularly important when we…
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- Tacky TouristsThis is the gallery for our ongoing series of tourists wearing or doing, shall we say…interesting things. Tourists seem to have an amazingly oblivious quality about them, regardless of the attraction they are visiting. In my early 20′s, I worked at Walt Disney World in Orlando for several years and saw some intensely bizarre behavior from our guests. These people were from all countries and walks of life; it didn’t really seem to matter–tackiness comes in many, many flavors. We’d joke that there was a cast member (aka employee) and storage unit at every entrance to the property, greeting each guest with a chipper “Welcome to Walt Disney World! Please leave your brain in the locker and gather it upon exit–you won’t need it here!” Getting punched in the face by a 65 year-old woman, angry that her wailing granddaughter had been unable to gather signatures from all four of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles due to the crowd at their popular ‘Meet and Greet’ appearance, was one of my more surreal experiences to date. In traveling to historic landmarks in Europe, I was often disturbed by the utter lack of knowledge of some visitors. One woman I encountered in…
- SupportCollaborate with the Art of Counting Team: If you are a subject matter expert in any area of art history (a graduate degree or higher is preferred, but not always a requirement), you can help Art of Counting by adding the images from your area of expertise into the database. This includes the creation of variable lists and data entry. I am currently working on a few non-Egyptian variable lists, including a list designed to record information about Etruscan art, one for Ancient Near Eastern material, a list for Rembrandt portraiture, and another to record Salvador Dali’s paintings. Leave a comment below if you are interested in collaboration. Help Fund the Art of Counting: Let’s face it, there are costs to this kind of endeavor. Just maintaining the website costs $15 per month, we need to purchase new software to build the next iteration of the database, and all of it requires a lot of time. Any support you feel like giving would be sincerely appreciated and put to extremely good use in this pursuit! Thank you for your interest in this project.
- ProductsCan’t get enough of ancient Egypt? Need some unique gifts? Want to support ground-breaking research? Get it all by visiting the new Art of Counting store! A wide selection of calenders, note cards, coffee mugs, water bottles, and more, all embellished with unique images recorded during my research seasons in Egypt. Something in this growing collection of products is sure to please even the most discerning Egyptophiles! Professional Egyptologists, infamous for filling their offices with Egyptian imagery, will delight in the Seth mouse pad, feluca clock, and excellent views from the Qurn in our ‘Hiking the Theban Hills’ calender. And you will love knowing that a portion of the proceeds go directly to funding the Art of Counting project, a collaborative effort dedicated to bringing quantifiable statistical analyses to the investigation of our visual record. Happy shopping!
Variable of the Day, Ancient Egypt: Sash skirt
0Temple of Seti I at Abydos NOTE: This general term is used to record instances of skirts that include a sash tie at the front of the waist. There are several different configurations, including examples that have long sashes that hang down the sides and …
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Variable of the Day, Ancient Egypt: Cloth offering
Temple of Seti I at Abydos NOTE: Cloth offerings were presented as part of the Daily Cultic Ritual sequence. Texts often describe the king as ‘dressing’ the image of the deity with these textiles. Fabrics of different colors were featured, including white, green, and red, …
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Variable of the Day, Ancient Egypt: Pinky gesture
Temple of Seti I at Abydos NOTE: This gesture, where the king extends his pinky finger, is used to apply ointment to a deity. In his other hand, the king holds the jar of ointment. Usually, the ointment is actually shown as being applied to …
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Variable of the Day, Ancient Egypt: Bound foes
Temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu NOTE: Bound prisoners, particularly foreign foes, are a common sight in Egyptian temples. They usually appear in the lower courses of the relief or in scenes depicting the successful result of battle. Ethnically distinct groups–Nubian, Libyan, or Asiatic–are …
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Variable of the Day, Ancient Egypt: Personified emblems
Tomb of Ramses III (KV 11) NOTE: Personified emblems, often the ankh, djed pillar, and was scepter, appear first in the Predynastic period (such as on labels of king Narmer) and continue to be used throughout Egyptian history. Usually, these emblems with arms follow the …
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Variable of the Day, Ancient Egypt: Tail
Tomb of Ramses VI (KV 9) NOTE: The tail worn by the king is one of the oldest elements of royal regalia. It appears on the Narmer Palette as well as on numerous other Early Dynastic objects (such as this ivory label of Den from …
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Variable of the Day, Ancient Egypt: Bouquet offering
Temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu NOTE: These offerings depict the king before a deity presenting various types of bouquets. They imply regeneration and and fecundity. According to the analysis of offering scenes at Medinet Habu, they tend to be presented to ithyphallic or …
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Variable of the Day, Ancient Egypt: Falcon hovering overhead
Tomb of Ramses VI (KV 9) NOTE: Falcons, like discs and vultures, are often depicted hovering over the kin’g head. They shield pharaoh from harm and also bestow various gifts. In the above instance, the unidentified falcon extends to the king a shen sign (representative …
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Variable of the Day, Ancient Egypt: Sunshade
Tomb of Khaemwaset (QV 44) NOTE: The sunshade, unlike the khu fan, appeared early in Egypt’s history. They appear on both the Narmer macehead and that of King ‘Scorpion’ (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum E 3631 and 3632). This emblem is generally seen as signifying a divine …
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Variable of the Day, Ancient Egypt: Khu fan
Tomb of Khaemwaset (QV 44) NOTE: The khu-fan does not appear until the middle of the Eighteenth Dynasty, during the reign of Amenhotep II. It is described as a ceremonial fan and was often carried by high-status officials who bore the title ‘fanbearers on the …
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