LETTER FROM AN EGYPTIAN SCRIBE
TO HIS STUDENT
The following is a letter written by the Egyptian scribe Nebmare-nakht to his student Wenemdiamum. This letter was originally written in the 12th century B.C.E. (Before Common Era).
NOTE TO STUDENTS: WHILE YOU READ THIS LETTER CONSIDER:
1. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM THE TEACHER IS COMPLAINING ABOUT?
2. WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF THIS PROBLEM?
3. WHAT IS THE LIKELY RESULT (EFFECT) OF THE STUDENT''S ACTIONS?
4. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT THE LIFE OF PEOPLE LIVING IN ANCIENT EGYPT?
5. HOW ARE THE LIVES AND ACTIVITIES OF ANCIENT EGYPTIANS SIMILAR TO OUR LIVE AND ACTIVITIES TODAY?
For FCAT questions to accompany this article click on the link below:
The royal scribe and chief overseer of Amen-Re, King of the Gods, Nebmare-nakht communicates to his apprentice, the scribe Wenemdiamum.
You are busy coming and going and don't even think of writing. You resist listening to me, you neglect my teachings.
You are worse than the goose of the shore, that is busy with mischief. It spends the summer destroying the dates, then winter destroying the seed-gain. It spends the balance of the year in pursuit of the cultivators.
You are worse than the desert antelope that lives by running. It spends no day in plowing. Never does it tread on the threshing floor. It lives on the oxen's labor. But though I spend the day telling you WRITE, it seems to plague you. Writing is pleasant!!
See for yourself what choices are before you. The washerman's day is long and he goes up and down. All his limbs are weak from bending and scrubbing. The maker of pots is smeared with soil, like the grave digger. He hands and feet are stained with clay. The watchman stands up all night and walk his path. He risks danger and fears the things that come from the dark. The merchants travel downstream and upstream. They are busy as can be carrying goods from one town to another. They supply him who has wants. But the tax collectors carry off the gold. The scribe alone gets to work clean and free from abuse and toil.
The peasant labors by day using his farming tools, by night he repairs what has broken during the day. Even his midday hour he spends on farm labor. Comes dawn and he goes to work, comes dusk and he finds himself still working. He must borrow and pay for seed, his wife must labor with the plow, his children must work in the crops. Now the scribe comes and his coming is by transport, for he does not get his feet dirty. He surveys the harvest. Attendants shield him from the sun and the peasant brings him cool drink. He says to the peasant "bring grain". When the peasant says there is not enough, he is beaten. His wife is bound, his children are in fetters. His neighbors flee. If you have any sense you will be a scribe.
Be a scribe! Your body will be sleek, your hands will be soft. You call for one to assist you and a thousand answer. You walk freely on the roads, you are not like the hired ox that labors and is beaten for refusal. You are in front of the others.
I spend the day instructing you and you will not do your practice at night. You follow the path of pleasure. You sit with your friends, you travel and visit with scoundrels and vagabonds. You sit with idlers. Do not do these things. What are they for? You waste your life!
I instruct you to become one whom the Pharaoh trusts; to make you gain the treasury and granary. You will be dressed in fine clothes, you will own horses, your boat will be on the river. A mansion will be built for you. Male and female slaves await you. You visit with vagabonds.
The soldier serves the Pharaoh and is cared for with food, cloths and weapons. He pays Pharaoh with is life. They work as donkeys ordered about to serve. He is dead while he is alive. He is sent far from the land of the Nile. His march is uphill through mountains. He drinks water every third day and it tastes of salt; it is smelly. When victory is won with his blood the spoils are given to the Pharaoh. He dies on the edge of the desert.
Be a scribe and be spared from soldiering. You can be safe from torments. You do not practice at night. You do not prepare your pens for work. You do not listen and wish I would go away. You do not show respect to those who are before you. You speak soft words but your heart is filled with evil. You make Seth proud with your false words.You will be a soldier and curse yourself before all the gods for eternity.