Ready for Work

Ready for Work

A person who could read and write in ancient Egypt was
called a scribe. And a scribe’s job was one of the very best!
The skills required to become a scribe took years of training.
But successful scribes never had to do manual labor and
they were highly respected in society.

Scribes and supervisor

Scribe ready for work

 A Practical Plant

A Practical Plant
What did scribes write and draw
on way back then? Papyrus!
This handy plant grew along the
banks of the Nile River. Ancient
Egyptians used it to make many
things from boats and baskets to
sandals and "paper."
Papyrus plant

Papyrus calendar
 Processing Papyrus

Processing Papyrus
Papyrus “paper” was made from the stem of the papyrus
plant. The outer fibers were peeled away. Then the inner Alternate layers
fibers were cut into strips. These strips were placed
together going one way. Then another layer of strips was
arranged on top of the first layer going the opposite way.

Heavy pressure was applied with a stone or mallet.

Eventually, the remaining sugar in the plant would meld
the strips together into one sheet. After it dried, the
papyrus was polished and ready for writing or drawing!

Inner pitch
Outer rind cut into
peeled away strings
Stone

Mallet
Artwork of papyrus making
 Two Scripts

Two Scripts
Scribes were experts in a form of picture-writing called hieroglyphics.
(It was hard to learn, so not many people could do it.) Scribes also used
a faster form of script writing called hieratic. You can see examples of
both styles here.
Hieratic script (the faster form)

Hieroglyphics
(the picture form)

Two scripts hieroglyphics Royal door plate

 Practice Makes Perfect

Practice Makes Perfect

Hieroglyphics took practice!
There were more than 700
symbols to learn. This
drawing shows a student’s
work. The lion turned out
pretty well. But the scribe
was obviously practicing
how to draw a duck—
which was the symbol for
“prime minister.”

Drawings from a scribe’s notebook

 Deciphering the Stone

Hieroglyphic
Deciphering the Stone s
The skill of reading hieroglyphics was lost
until this ancient stone was discovered in
1799. Known as the Rosetta Stone, it
helped crack the hieroglyphic code.
How? The stone says the same
thing in several different ways—
including Greek! So archaeologists
who knew Greek could compare
the hieroglyphic symbols to
familiar Greek words in order to
crack the code.

The Rosetta Stone

Greek