Writing and Education
Aarav Gupta
What functions did scribes fulfill in the Ancient Egyptian society?
- Egypt’s official record keepers
- Performed various governmental and religious rituals
- Administered laws
- Collected taxes
- Traveled with court members to keep an official record of events
How were the writing systems used in Egypt?
- Only men became scribes but women learned to read and write
- Most important part of the scribe school curriculum was reading and writing of
- hieroglyphs
- Egyptians used hieroglyphs to record laws, business contracts, songs, jokes, and tales
- It took Years to master hieroglyphics
- Many students learned a simpler cursive writing system called hieratic script used for everyday tasks like record keeping
What was the school like for scribes?
- School day sometimes lasted from dawn to dusk
- Schoolmasters treated students harshly and if they weren’t willing to learn, they were scolded and physically beaten
- Four years copying hieroglyphs on a slate to be trusted with writing on papyrus. [Papyrus is a plant that Egyptians turned into their version of paper]
What happened to scribes once they finished their training?
- They worked alongside experienced scribes to learn about record keeping
- Kept track of tax records in cities and villages
- Kept track of food and grain supply in cities and villages and to help prevent a famine
- Kept census, measured rise of Nile with Nileometers, traveled with military expeditions. [A Nileometer is a set of stairs, a pillar, or a well that marks the height of the water]
Picture Sources
- [Image]http://www.euratlas.com/Atlas/egypt_nile/aswan_nilometer.html.September 16, 2015.Web.
- [Image] http://www.corbisimages.com/images/Corbis-IH020076.jpg?size=67&uid=72c74a00-0f52-4fe8-adf3-19b9fc11fdc1.September 16, 2015.Web.
I loved your picture at the bottom, it was very helpful! Where did you find it? Is it in a tomb? Your facts are really interesting as well.
Dear Aarav,
I really enjoyed reading your post, I had know idea that the scribes preformed various governmental and religious rituals. Something that also included was the fact about the grain, so there wouldn’t be a famine.
Good Job! Sincerely, your Riptide friend, Cameron
I really like some of your questions. I like the layout. I learned how to describe Nilometer.
NICE JOB! That was very descriptive and I learned that they performed government and religouis rituals