Gr 3 Scribes - G06: Ancient Egypt - Social Stability and Change - ASD Libraries at American School of Dubai

Main Topics

Hieroglyphics!
Scribe school (movin on up!)
Fascinating ancient Egyptian polytheistic mythology - the mother Nile and crocodile gods (and much more!)
The Book of the Dead - spooky!
Types of work the scribes may do, for:
- the pharaoh
- the vizier
- merchants
- nobles
Papyrus
Imhotep - human? a god? Definitely a scribe and vizier!
Writing tools and objects
Important locations of hieroglyphics
Famous stories and legends
Egypt’s History - how do we know it? How did they record it?

Try these online sources

Ancient Egyptian Writing
Ancient Egyptian writing is known as hieroglyphics ('sacred carvings') and developed at some point prior to the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150 -2613 BCE). According to some scholars, the concept of the written word was first developed in Mesopotamia and came to Egypt through trade.
Britannica: hieroglyphics
Ancient Egyptians had three different writing systems. The oldest, best known, and most difficult to read is called hieroglyphics. The word, which means “sacred carving,” was used by Greeks who saw the script on temple walls and public monuments. The Greeks were somewhat mistaken in their terminology because hieroglyphs were used on gravestones, statues, coffins, vessels, implements, and for all sorts of nonreligious texts—songs, legal documents, and historical inscriptions.
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"Hieroglyphics." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 9 Jul. 2022. school.eb.com/levels/middle/article/hieroglyphics/274878. Accessed 19 Oct. 2022.
Scribes
It is no exaggeration to say that we owe most of our knowledge of ancient Egypt to the work of her scribes. The ancient Egyptians covered their temples and tombs with hieroglyphs, but they also employed scribes to record everything from the stocks held in the stores for workers to court proceedings. Scribes recorded magic spells, wills and other legal contracts, medical procedures, tax records, and genealogies.
Scribe Like an Egyptian
Ancient Egypt’s bureaucratic society depended on an army of scribes. To get ahead, you had to be able to write – but that didn’t necessarily mean mastering hieroglyphs.
The Scribe and Hieroglyphs
Scribes, slong with the foremen, were captains over workers in a village and were the liaison between the community and the higher authorities. Their duties included recording the activities of the village, overseeing the use of material from the royal storehouses, receiving and distributing wages, recommending candidates for vacancies in the workforce, as well as being chief magistrates in the local court and chief witnesses for any oaths
Imhotep
Imhotep (Greek name, Imouthes, c. 2667-2600 BCE) was an Egyptian polymath (a person expert in many areas of learning) best known as the architect of King Djoser's Step Pyramid at Saqqara. His name means "He Who Comes in Peace" and he is the only Egyptian besides Amenhotep to be fully deified.
In time, he became the god of wisdom and medicine (or, according to some sources, god of science, medicine, and architecture). Imhotep was a priest, vizier to King Djoser (and possibly to the succeeding three kings of the Third Dynasty), a poet, physician, mathematician, astronomer, and architect.