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Scribes
One concept survived virtually intact from the
Old Kingdom and was emphasized further in the New Kingdom: that the
scribe the educated man held a position in society that no other
profession or trade could equal. The ability to write gave the
scribe (the Egyptian term for scribe means literally “he who
writes”) his rank and power. He had access to all the highest posts
in the bureaucracy and directed and supervised everyone else.
Duties and Privileges The papyri recount his many duties and privileges. In the Satire on Trades (First Intermediate Period) an unusual text has survived that takes the form of instruction from Khety to his son Pepy. Khety is a man of humble origin who conveys the benefit of his experience to Pepy, who has the good fortune to be placed in the Residence School among the sons of the magistrates. Khety instructs his son in the duties and rewards of the scribal profession and is anxious that he should become a scribe and escape the toil associated with all other trades. Describing how all other work is subject to supervision and its own hardships, the excellence and status of the scribe’s profession are extolled in contrast. From this and other sources it is evident that the scribe’s duties included imposition and collection of taxes, keeping accounts, keeping army records, and controlling the law courts. Perhaps most important were the duties associated with composing and copying religious and other texts in the temple scriptoria, because the scribe thus became directly involved with the religious act of creating and reviving life. Scribes received their own instruction in the temples; some held priesthoods and taught students. The scribes were the mainstay of Egyptian society for thousands of years and established and maintained the standards for ordinary people. There were many advantages for a scribe: Often they did not pay taxes; they were not required to undertake heavy labor or agricultural duties; and they were not responsible to a supervisor, since they themselves controlled and supervised the various trades and professions. They were well fed and wore the finest clothes, and wherever they went they were given respect and honor. The profession included not only royal princes whose statues, particularly in the Old Kingdom, represented them as scribes but also minor officials who oversaw many aspects of Egypt’s extensive bureaucracy. The scribe was not expected to be merely a recorder of facts. There emerged the idea that he should be an educated, cultured man who could express himself in writing and speech and who could influence others. He had a love of learning, of books, and of intellectual pursuits, and the scribe’s special training and education separated him at an early age from the rest of the people. Because he enjoyed the benefits of this profession, however, he was also expected to exercise high standards of behavior and to protect the interests of the weak with impartiality. This code of behavior was handed down to future generations through the Instructions in Wisdom (teaching manuals), letters, hymns, and prayers that are preserved in the school exercises. .
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Thoth, the Patron Deity
All scribes had the same patron deity, Thoth. Represented as an ibis, Thoth was the god of wisdom, learning and writing, and magical formulas. He was worshiped throughout Egypt as the lunar god, but Hermopolis was his particular cult center. The Greeks later identified him with their god Hermes, and he was known by the name Trismegistos. At Hermopolis Thoth was the chief deity in a creation myth that featured an ogdoad (group of eight gods). As well as the ibis, he was associated with the baboon and is sometimes shown in this form. Thoth was the divine secretary responsible for inventing writing and recording laws and annals; he also had control over numbers and the divisions of time, and he calculated the years and the calendar. Because of his knowledge of writing he had power over the divine words, and through speech he played an important role in the creative process. Since he knew the formulas for healing the sick, he also acted as patron of magicians, and some of the medical books were attributed to his authorship to give them proper authenticity. He had knowledge of secret wisdom and thus held a position of considerable importance among the gods. He was often shown as an ibis-headed deity standing with his scribal palette and pen; as clerk of the divine court he recorded the outcome of the interrogation faced by the deceased on the occasion of the “Weighing of the Heart.” His many duties and powers reflected the important role that the scribes themselves held in directing and administering Egyptian society. .
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Scribes
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