Pure Common Sense

“Voices From African History: Be a Scribe” is a primary source document that consists of a written communication from an Ancient Egyptian teacher one of his students.  It is a “primary source” in that it was created directly by someone involved in the time and place depicted.  It is a direct communication from one individual of Ancient Egypt to another.  It is not commentary written by someone studying Ancient Egypt.  Since the source hails from the Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, according to the introductory text in italics, it is probably safe to assume that the document was written between 3,500 and 4,000 years ago.  Since the teacher works as a royal scribe, the document probably came from either Memphis or Thebes, depending upon which was the capital of Egypt at the time.

The one who is speaking in this text is the author, who is a teacher discussing the future of one of his students with that very same student.  I assume that he is a male.  Based on how he appears to be speaking from experience I believe him to be roughly middle-aged.  His ethnicity is clearly Egyptian and his religion would be Ancient Egyptian.  He is even identified as the “chief overseer of the cattle of Amun-Re, King of the Gods.”  So he worships Re, the sun god, like the rest of his nation.  In his writing he reveals some aspects about his ideology or how he thinks things work.  He believes that a scribe is the best and most honorable profession that exists in his time and place.  He is probably of high social status, considering he is a royal scribe.  For a royal scribe the pharaoh would want the very best of all the scribes in Egypt.  Even if he was born into a privileged family he would still have to work very hard and be well-educated in order to become a royal scribe.  I think that this background has affected his point of view in the essay in question.  He has worked hard to achieve his place in life and has received benefits for it.  He now wants his student Wenemdiamun to earn similar success and that is why he is pushing him to do so.  That is the author’s purpose for writing.

The author is undoubtedly trying to persuade his student to work hard and become a scribe.  He may have some bias in his attempting to do this.  He is reacting to his perceptions about his student’s behavior with certain experience and against other types of experience.  He is vigilantly for his student becoming a scribe and against him becoming any other profession.  He is very displeased when Wenemdiamun fails to put as much effort into becoming a scribe as he hoped for.  He makes an argument in his document for the benefits of becoming a scribe.  He lists a handful of professions and describes how they are inferior to a scribe (in his opinion.)  These include the washerman, the maker of pots, the cobbler, the watchman, the merchant, the crewman, the carpenter and the peasant.  Then he says: “the scribe, he alone, records the output of all of them.  Take note of it!”  This phrase was clearly put there to make the scribe sound superior, simply because he “records” all of their output.  Then the author describes some of the benefits that he receives as a royal scribe, as a further incentive to his student.  The royal scribe in the time of the Middle Kingdom was apparently in the Pharaoh’s inner circle and entitled to wealth, fine clothes, lots of horses and many slaves.

As far as strengths in the royal scribe’s writing go, he makes a very articulate argument.  His tone emanates with experience and there is a clear sense of structure.  First, he describes how his student is slacking off.  Then he lists several alternative jobs available and describes how they lead a tough live.  Finally he talks about his position as royal scribe and how he is by far the best.  He is a pretty good writer.

As far as weaknesses go, there were some areas which seemed untouched or unconvincing.  This may be because of the royal scribe’s lack of true hands-on experience, personal preference or some cultural assumption for the time that already addressed such topics.  For instance, when he describes the life of the merchant I was not as impressed with his arguments against it as I was with the other examples.  “The merchants travel downstream and upstream.  They are as busy as can be, carrying goods from one town to another.  They supply him who has wants.  But the tax collectors carry off the gold, that most precious of metals.”  Some might find that life quite enjoyable.  If one has a passion for travel then one would not mind going from place to place.  And, indeed if one sold enough goods to the right trends of demand (supplying him who has wants) then one could probably afford a comfortable lifestyle even after taxes are paid.  I do not have an extensive knowledge of the way taxes worked in Ancient Egypt, but I am sure that it was still possible to make a fortune.  Also, when the author describes the life of the royal scribe, he is describing the very top elite position of the scribe industry and it may not yet be clear if his student will attain the same position.

I do not see any racial or gender issues in this work, since the author and his audience as well as all the hypothetical subjects are men.  And they are all Egyptian (assumed.)  There are a few points that can be made about Egyptian society at the time based on this document alone.  The royal scribe was held in high regard, society was at least moderately hierarchical, there was a sophisticated tax system, there was widespread trade with other nations and Egypt was a fairly specialized society with many members performing very specific duties.  This is far beyond the hunter-gatherer era.  However, this source does not completely dissect into Egyptian society of the time.  More sources would be needed.