There were many different occupations in Ancient Egypt including physicians, farmers and priests. Even though these people were important to the society, scribes had the most important occupation because they provided a way for us to know about ancient Egypt.
The scribes kept detailed and important records about ancient Egyptian life with the use of ancient writing techniques. Hieroglyphs is the writing of ancient Egypt that scribes learned and used in their daily communication. Many types of records were kept such as legal documents, stock, court and tax records, magic spells and details about the life happenings of Pharaoh. Scribes used the language of hieroglyphics and so they were considered experts. With this skill they were able to develop and protect the history of Egypt. Having the knowledge to do so they were like the thought organizers throughout the documentation process. This also helped to ensure that the government managed the affairs of the land smoothly and through daily recordings this was achieved. The scribes created new written information and also edited existing writings. The scribes kept records for all of the other social levels and was also hired to monitor these records.
The scribes were special people who had to be well trained and educated to meet the needs of the Egyptian society. They were the only persons who learned how to read and write in ancient Egypt. Studying to become a scribe was not easy because they had to attend a special school to learn the art of writing hieroglyphic and hieratic scripts. There were many signs to learn and these scripts were complicated. The persons with higher positions in the Egyptian government would be trained by scribes. Most people could read and write such as the members of the government and royal court but they would hire scribes to do their writing for them if they could not. The scribes studied three types of writings which were hieroglyphics, hieratic and demotic.
The job of a scribe provided opportunities to work with the Pharaoh and hold high positions in society. Thus an extremely good career was to become a scribe. Once they had the right education and training anyone could undertake the profession to become a scribe. To rise through the ranks and become a royal scribe would result in the scribe gaining wealth, land and power and the ancient Egyptian scribe had the opportunity to achieve this.
The contributions scribes made have led to discoveries that have provided a way to understand what the life of Egyptians was like and about the contributions they made to the world.
