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June 21, 2007
On the Need to Learn From Egyptian Scribes
The other day Egyptology News featured a story on "The School of Scribes at the Ramesseum" Andie quoted from an article in Le Journal de CNRS describing various things of interest uncovered at the Ramesseum. Like Andie, I found the description of the scribal school the most interesting part of the article. The training appears to have taken place outdoors under awnings. The archaeologists found ostraca with student exercises in hieroglyphics. In addition to learning to be copyists, students prepared for administrative positions.
I have long thought that many scholars do not pay enough attention to Egyptian scribal traditions when they considered scribal practices in the Levant. While I am not exactly a scholar, I know that I haven't given Egyptian scribal schools their due. Several differing lines of evidence support the idea that Egyptian traditions are important. A couple of examples must suffice.
As is well known, ancient Hebrew epigraphic texts often use hieratic numerals instead of spelling out cardinal numbers. And one cannot forget that there are a significant number of Egyptian loanwords in the Hebrew of the Hebrew Bible. Oh yeah, quite a few Biblical accounts relate to Egypt in one way or another. And then there is Proverbs 22:17-24:22 and The Instructions of Amenhotep. And then . . . Well you get the idea.
And then there's the larger Near Eastern context. Loren Fisher has written a paper in which he notes an interesting Egyptian scribal convention in an Akkadian tablet from a Pharaoh to the King of Ugarit. Hopefully his paper will be available soon.
Among the reasons that Semitists often don't consider Egyptian traditions is the fact that the Egyptian language is difficult and the literature is immense. Doing much more than dabbling is a full time job. While some Semitists, like Loren Fisher, are trained and experienced in Egyptian language and literature, most are not. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.
PS. Charles at Awilum has an interesting post on whether or not the Kushites had a writing system. An article in the New York Times motivated his thoughts.
Posted by Duane Smith at June 21, 2007 7:44 PM | Read more on Scribal Schools |
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