Ancient Egypt Jobs Pictures

By N.S. Gill, About.com Guide

Not everyone could write in ancient Egypt, but with the availability of paper from the papyrus plant, sending letters and petitions was a normal part of life. Paper from papyrus was retrieved from the ancient rubbish dumps found at Oxyrrhynchus that provide many insights into daily life. Before the Greeks and Romans took over Egypt, ancient scribes were trained and hired to learn the fancy pictographic writing known as hieroglyphs.

The Horizon: Studies in Egyptology in Honour of M.A. Nur El-Din, edited by Basem El-Sharkaway, mentions that sticking the pen behind the ear -- as shown in the picture -- was an ancient Egyptian custom.

The Instructions of Khety has this to say about the life of a scribe in ancient Egypt:

"Behold, there is nothing that surpasses writings! They are a boat upon the water. Read then at the end of the Book of Kemyet this statement in it saying:

As for a scribe in any office in the Residence, he will not suffer want in it. When he fulfills the bidding of another, he does not come forth satisfied. I do not see an office to be compared with it, to which this maxim could relate. I shall make you love books more than your mother, and I shall place their excellence before you. It is greater than any office. There is nothing like it on earth. When he began to become sturdy but was still a child, he was greeted (respectfully). When he was sent to carry out a task, before he returned he was dressed in adult garments."

_{Picture: Image ID: 410916 Ancient Egypt. [Scribe]. (ca. 1924-1933) NYPL Digital Gallery}

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