Kari, the Artist's Apprentice

Egyptologist, art historian, and historian Militsa Matye wrote an utterly remarkable book about Ancient Egypt from the time of Pharaoh Ramses III.

This is the story of a boy named Kary, a student of a famous artist, who by the will of fate finds himself at the center of an almost detective-like tale involving tomb robbers. Trying to help two stonecutters falsely accused of theft (one of them is Kary’s uncle), he finds new friends willing to sacrifice themselves to save the innocent, meets good and kind people ready to help those in trouble—which was not at all easy within the Egyptian society of that time. And when it seems that everything is almost hopeless, the bees manage to drive away the hyena, and everything ends well. Even though this ending can hardly be called a true triumph of justice—because the main culprit avoids punishment. But that is another detail that characterizes the morals of Egypt’s upper circles.

On the pages of this fairly short book, we meet priests, doctors, mađays (mwdj?), gardeners, stonecutters, musicians, gardeners, artists… We learn a great deal about their life, everyday life, and work; about the decoration of temples, tombs, and the houses of nobles and commoners; and about the secrets of religious rituals. And for that it is valuable. In schools, history has somehow stopped being taught properly. But it is the most interesting subject! And books like “Kary, the Artist’s Student” can help. They explain the important things in a very simple and engaging way—the things that rarely any teacher has the chance to tell in class. It’s also a pity that so few scholars—historical researchers—write about historical topics… If only there were more books like Militsa Edvinovna Matye!