Scribes

Ancient Egypt

What is a Scribe?
Scribes were the few Egyptians who knew how to read and write. Being a scribe was an extremely difficult job because in total, there were hundreds of different hieroglyphs to remember. A scribe's job was highly regarded in Ancient Egypt. Although highly regarded, it took as long as twelve years to train as a scribe.

Many scribes worked in the government, copying out accounts, taxes, orders, and laws. They were like our civil servants.
Scribes recorded the size of the grain harvest. The farmer would then give a proportion of the grain to the pharaoh as a tax.

A scribes pen case contained reed pens and an inkwell. The ink was made of charcoal or soot mixed with water. Scribes carried a grinder for crushing the pigments first. Often the scribes name and the name of his employer or the pharaoh would be carved into the case.

Being a scribe often meant traveling on business to record official documents. Most had a portable palette for when they went away. Scribes often carried a briefcase or document carrier, too, to protect the information they had recorded.

Being able to read and write was essential for a career in the Egyptian civil service. Not much is known about Egyptian schools. Some temples ran schools but many boys seem to have studied with local scribes.

Reading, writing, and mathematics were the basic subjects. Pupils learned by copying out texts in the two main scripts, hieroglyphic and hieratic. They wrote with pens made from reeds on wooden tablets, pieces of pottery, or scraps of papyrus. Surviving school texts show pupils spelling mistakes and teachers corrections. Discipline was strict: A boys ear is in his back, he listens when he is beaten.

Papyrus
What did the Scribes write on? The scribes used a kind of paper called papyrus, which was made from reeds otherwise known as the papyrus plant. Papyrus is a triangular stemmed reed that grows to a height of about 3 metres. Part of this plant was stripped out, laid down in rows and squashed together and then dried. These papyrus sheets could then be written and drawn on.

Ancient Egyptian Scribe