Importance of Scribes in Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was a captivating and intricate civilization. Over the years, historians have found it easier to study this civilization, rather than other historical civilizations, because the Egyptians went through great lengths to record their history. Besides being decent record keepers, they were very religious, and “ahead of their time,” due to their technological and economic breakthroughs. Because of the aspects of this culture, it has to be one of the greatest civilizations of the world.

This document makes it apparent that becoming a scribe is a huge honor and that they should be lucky to be learning how to write because it is going to make their life much easier. They go through multiple occupations that show all the hardships of that carrier. An example of this was the job of a washer man and how “all his limbs are weak, (from) whitening his neighbor’s cloths every day, from washing their linens.” They continue to go on about how the cobbler “mingles with vats” as well as to say “his odor is penetrating” and his hands are described as His hands “red with madder.” In the document Advice to the Young "Be a Scribe” it also discusses jobs such as watchman, merchants, carpenters, and out workers that worked out in the

The Egyptians also worried very much about the after life and made many preparations before the afterlife. There graves were very important to them, and they also did much to keep them from decaying after they passed. That is why they had the idea of mummification to allow them to not decay long after they passed. We also pay a lot of money to allow us to keep from decaying on our burials and the coffins.

Ancient Egyptians believed that if they lived a good life that they would be allowed to live in a paradise in death. When an Egyptian would die, they would be mummified. Properly burying and preserving the body was very important because they believed that the soul would not actually disconnect from the body. Organs deemed important were put in jars and buried with the body. The heart was left inside the body. Once the body was cured in preserving solutions, it was then wrapped in linen cloths. Rich individuals were buried in temples with their most prized possessions. A priest would pray to Anubis for the dead to help them on their journey.

The seated scribe is a sculpture made in 2500 B.C.E in Saqqara, Egypt fourth dynasty. This piece of artwork can explain a lot about the society it came from which makes it significant. In the following paragraphs I will address; what makes it unique? Who it was found by? The impact this had on our understanding of the piece, and modern interpretations of Egyptian art. First here’s a description:

Regardless of social strata, death and the afterlife were almost always valued by the living in ancient Egypt. The afterlife was birthed and designed for great societal rulers but eventually trickled down and was adopted by other levels of society (Murnane in Obayashi, 1992, p. 42). Death was interpreted as “new life in another state” by ancient Egypt, and the ultimate goal of immortality could be attained if specific burial arrangements were made for the dead. This was to avoid a final death of the soul known as the “second death,” and measures such as burial with food, drink, and personal possessions, were taken to aid the soul on its journey into immortality (Murnane in Obayashi, 1992, p. 36).

It is hard to become a scribe. In “Advice for Egyptian Students”,”Write with your hand and read with your mouth… Be not slack and spend not a day in idleness, or woe”. The scribe had to go to school for long hours, be beaten, and sometimes not have lunch. Also, some rooms didn’t have windows. Some advantages are being free from labor and protected from doing work.

The Seated Scribe from the Egyptian era was a sculpture that was important to the people of that time period as well as modern people. It was not significant in politics or religion; however, it was significant due to the fact that it was a sculpture resembled real people of that time period. It is important to remember that sculptures of people during this time period were exaggerated. Emperors were portrayed using unrealistic body features (broad shoulders, 6-pack of abs) instead of having a more natural look similar to the Seated Scribe. I understand the sculptures were made that way to usher in a feeling of power when they were looked upon, but why weren’t there more art work being made that was showing off the natural look of most Egyptians

Advances in architecture and record keeping occurred during the Egypt civilization. In the old kingdom of Egypt, huge structures of stone called pyramids. Those who worked on the structures had to be skilled in mathematics, geometry, and architecture. The building of the pyramids required a ton of mental thinking and planning, and was a huge success for architecture advancement. Today we know much about ancient pharaohs of Egypt because of written records that were left. These records were kept in hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics were a new form of writing invented by the Egyptians that were based on pictures. Since they were invented, we know a good deal as to what happened during the Egyptian time

a. Keeping composed records. Egyptians built up numerous written work frameworks. The first was hieroglyphics, it was an arrangement of images or pictures which spoke of items, ideas or sounds. At that point, recorders created hieratic written work, which was a less difficult script for regular use. Composing was utilized to record data. Clerics and copyists would cut writing in

Exemplary Original Post 24 points: This is a wonderful post. Not only did you address all the discussion prompt questions but the Original Post was well organized and had rich detail. I especially liked "Its known that many pharaohs and high ranking officials would sometime have their servants depicted in some form of image or sculpture so that when they went to the afterlife they would able to utilize their skills to help them in their second life". This post shows that you understand the material and can synthesize the information well. I will caution against something like "the Seated Scribe was royal" as this might be a bit of a stretch. He would most certainly be part of the government working under the king or visar of Egypt, but be a scribe would not be a typical job for a royal. There could be many reasons he was shown in this position. Also, given that there is a lot more information to confirm he was indeed a script and, therefore, an important part of the government over being a royal. Also, I would like to see more of the post in your words instead of quotes, since I want to see how you would state something and your thoughts.

Egyptians not only contributed to future society through the invention of their language, giving them the ability to record their history for future generations, but they also were the first people to create a sensible medium upon which to inscribe their language: paper. “Taken from the fibers of the papyrus plant, Egyptian paper was the first of its kind” (“Ancient” 1). This invention would come to change everything about written language, but not only did Egyptians create the first paper, they also were skilled at creating ink. “The process and depth of color utilized in the Egyptian invention of ink and dye was so marvelous that these brilliant hued colors can still be seen today, thousands of years later” (“Ancirnt” 1).

They would bury their loved ones in the ground, pray for their journey to the afterlife, and move along with their day. However, as time went on the rich became unsatisfied. They wanted their life after death to be as great as there life on Earth. So, they came up with the ideas of tombs. This small idea eventually expanded to the burial of Pharaohs in the pyramids. Some Pharaohs also requested that all their slaves be put to death along with them, so that they can be of use to them in the afterlife. Along with riches, foods, and servants these kings would be prepped and shined for the burial process. All of this prayer and sacrifice would, in hopes, lead to a successful afterlife. The significance displayed in these burials is the repeating theme of human life. The selfishness displayed in killing all of ones servants just so that they continue serving him in the afterlife is pure

The ancient Egyptians utilized many basic methods of science and technology over the course of their culture’s era. You can find examples of these marvels in practically any aspect of their workings. From architecture to agriculture, medicinal practices and time keeping, one thing is for sure, they set a tone for the progression of technology over the centuries. Without these basic beginnings, we would not have what we have today.

It is difficult to fully understand the role of women in ancient Egyptian society because the understandings of the society and government are still incomplete. There are also two other major problems, those being that there is very little source material on women, and the material that has been found was biased by the ideas and minds of previous Egyptologists. The only source material that has survived from great kingdoms of Egypt is material that has been either found in tombs on the walls and sarcophaguses, or carved on major government and religious document. None of the writings on papyrus and other delicate materials survived. This material, which has survived, is the writings of the Egyptian literate male elite. In their