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Writing and Education

aaravg417 4 Comments

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
ca. 1490-1436 B.C. --- Hieratic script from the Tomb of Thutmose III. The tomb is located in the Valley of the Kings, Thebes, Egypt and dates from the Eighteenth Dynasty. | Located in: Tomb of Thutmose III. --- Image by © Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis
ca. 1490-1436 B.C. — Hieratic script from the Tomb of Thutmose III. The tomb is located in the Valley of the Kings, Thebes, Egypt and dates from the Eighteenth Dynasty. | Located in: Tomb of Thutmose III. — Image by © Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis

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]

Nileometer pic

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.

 

Seedfolks- Favorite Character

aaravg417 Leave a comment

Tío Juan is my favorite character so far. He keeps trying to communicate even when nobody understands him. He was trying to talk to Wendell but it must have sounded like gibberish to Wendell. He came from somewhere in Central America maybe, and before that, maybe from a First Nation tribe or another place like Brazil! Tio Juan is different from everyone else, because of origin, language, and maybe skin color. He keeps on trying and when he found the farming lot, he was back. He had a purpose and he was going to use it. I can relate to him in a way because we both know a language not commonly known in our area. That is why he is my favorite character.