Hilary Wilson on… Hands

This article is from Ancient Egypt issue 150

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The artists appear to have shown the hands attached to the wrong arms in their pursuit of maat or true depiction.

In ancient Egyptian artwork, the human form is shown in an aesthetically pleasing manner, with every part of the body depicted at its most recognisable angle. Detailing of the hands and feet was carefully marked out, but – if you take a closer look – you will see that not everything is as you would expect.

Statues and wall paintings

Comparison of an Egyptian statue with a wall painting depicting a similar figure suggests that the artist working in two dimensions followed subtly different rules from those applied by the sculptor. It was not that artists were unable to accurately reproduce what they saw; rather they chose to represent solid objects according to a particular set of conventions that had been established in the earliest periods of Egyptian history.

The conventions for representation on a flat surface were closely related to those applied to writing. Hieroglyphs were written to be read in the direction determined by the animal, bird, and human figures, which always faced the start of the line. This preference for right-orientation was also observed in art. The principal figures in a scene will most often be shown facing right: the god receiving offerings, the king hearing petitioners, the tomb owner reviewing the harvest.

The artist’s solution to rendering the human form in two dimensions was a combination of plan and elevation, profile and front view. The shoulders are shown from the front, while the chest and torso down to the waist are given in profile, as are the arms and hands, hips, legs and feet.

Commonly, an open hand was shown with four fingers of equal length and a long, arched thumb, as in the hieroglyphs for ‘arm’ and ‘hand’, and the closed fist was usually shown with the back of the hand towards the observer.

Left orientation

In a competently drawn right-orientated figure, the artist carefully distinguished between right and left hands, but composition demanded that left-orientation of figures must be possible as well. For the same relative position of arms and legs to be achieved, the body would be shown with the back to the observer, a most undesirable situation. The simplest solution was to ignore the problem and produce a mirror-image of the right-orientated figure, or to show both hands the same. A closer examination of the best of Egyptian art as represented by the tombs of Thebes, reveals that even kings and queens were commonly shown with two left or two right hands, with all fingers the same length.

The very best artists tried to maintain maat by continuing to distinguish between left and right arms, even if the results made them look as if they were attached to the wrong shoulders. In the classic right-orientated figure, the walking staff in the left hand is held out in front of the body, while the right arm hangs down behind, carrying a sceptre or baton of office, which is held horizontally. When turned around, the same positioning is maintained by showing the sceptre apparently passing behind the body as it would be seen if held in the right hand. In Nebamun’s hunting scene, the principal figure is left-orientated, and his throw-stick is held, as are all such weapons, in his right hand, although it appears to be in his left.

Hand gestures

Hand gestures added expression to figures, defining and emphasising their actions, and providing a visual reference to the accompanying texts. Raised hands with fingers upwards represented prayer, praise or worship if the palms were forward; if the palms were held to the face or placed on the head this signified sorrow or mourning. An outstretched hand, palm upwards, accompanied a speech or the presentation of a gift, while palm downwards it could indicate a blessing. Union or equality was indicated by clasped hands or the mutually encircling arms with hands resting on shoulder or waist, as in the case of a married couple. An arm crossed over the chest with an open-palmed hand, represented an attitude of respect, while a fist holding a sceptre or fold of linen was a mark of authority.

The hands of servants, peasants, and enemies

While the images of important people had a certain formality, artists had more freedom when dealing with anonymous servants, peasants, or enemies. The dexterity of hair-dressers, jewellers and other crafts-people was depicted with varying degrees of realism.

Scribes were always depicted as right-handed, even in left-orientation, which resulted in some realistic images of secretaries bending over their writing boards or scrolls. The pose of the writing hand shows that the pen was held like a calligraphy brush, sometimes with the lesser fingers providing support to prevent smudging the writing surface.

Some of the most expressive gestures are seen among the musicians entertaining guests at a funeral banquet or performing for the gods in a temple ritual. They are shown plucking the strings of a harp or lute, fingering the notes on a flute, and clapping or tapping the beat on a tambour.

A performer may hold one hand to an ear while marking time by clicking the fingers of the other hand in the age-old pose of the folk singer.

Amarna Period

During that most-innovative era for Egyptian art, the Amarna Period, artists experimented with naturalistic poses, following Akhenaten’s injunction to represent the truth or rightness of maat. However, for all the emphasis on realism, traditions were not completely set aside. Bathed in the light of the Aten sun-disc, whose rays end in human hands, Akhenaten and Nefertiti hold up their hands in adoration or to present offerings. The hands shown on the depiction of Akhenaten as a sphinx (in Boston Museum) are very different in style from the king’s hands holding the sacrificial bird (New York). Nefertiti holds a bouquet (Brooklyn) in a more rigidly formal pose than Akhenaten’s presentation of an olive branch (Berlin). The clasped hands of the young royal couple in the standing statue (Paris) are stiff and flat compared with the naturalism of the pair of hands from a composite statue (Berlin) – see first photo above.

By the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties, the stunning painted tombs of the Valley of the Queens show that the influence of Amarna art was short-lived, at least in terms of the depiction of hands.

All images: Hilary Wilson, unless otherwise stated