Saturday, July 11, 2020

...forty centuries look down on us


Phrase in the title  is the quotation  from Napoleon Bonaparte. That way he inspired french soldiers  before battle against Mameluke cavalry. (At that time Mameluke army considered to be invincible). It is hard to tell how important  that inspirational speech was  but result is well known: Napoleon army won. 
Sculpture on the image above maybe not so heroic: it is "Seated Scribe" from Paris Louvre museum. But he belongs to  the same place: Egypt and  his age is pretty close to  forty centuries (at least thirty five). I first saw him in the history text book while I was in the middle school . Picture of him stood out  because, unlike all other illustrations in that book, subject of it was neither warrior nor king. Not even hard working slave. He was (as we call such a people nowadays) office worker . And that why I remembered him. 
Many years later during visit to Paris I met the guy again  and I was glad to see him.  The same way I would be glad to meet old buddy after many years of separation.
Louvre rules allow making photos under conditions that no flash will be fired and there will be no commercial use. I had a DSLR camera with me: Pentax K200D with basic kit lens (18-55 mm). The camera (10 MB sensor) was modest  even at that time  (2010). But lighting in the museum was excellent so even hand held I could make a decent photo.

Since I have to work from home now (lucky me to keep the job these days) I wanted to decorate my place with some artifact to keep me focused. And this picture of seated scribe suites me the best. I printed that photo at local Costco and hanged it right in front of my desk. If this guy can keep his focus for > 3500 years I can keep mine for several month. 

If somebody wants to know photo EXIF details, here they are:
  • Camera Model: Pentax K200D
  • Lens: SMC Pentax-DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL II
  • Focal length: 28.1mm (35mm equivalent: 42mm)
  • Exposure Time: 1/50s (0.020)
  • Aperture: F/4.0
  • ISO Equivalent: 200


(I still have the lens but do not have the camera anymore: I gave it as a gift and often miss it.)