Who are scribes? Let's try to find the answer to this question together. A clerk was a person who professionally handwritten documents and books.
Each scribe had an ancient scribe. It was the representatives of this profession who conducted royal affairs, compiled chronicles in cities and churches.
Interesting Facts
Speaking about who these scribes are, we note that it was these people who copied various texts, including the scriptures. However, after the advent of printing, this profession has lost its relevance. She transformed into jurisprudence, accounting, journalism.
The development of this profession took place in the Middle Ages, when Christianity spread in Europe, and Islam was emerging in Asia. Its formation was particularly promoted by the appearance of trade, banking, and usury. In Europe, monks were invited to the post of scribe. The first scriptoriums that appeared here are dated to the 6th-7th centuries; they were discovered in Spain, France, and Ireland.
Ancient times
Scribes in ancient Egypt were chosen from among men who belonged to the prosperous middle class. This was a man specially trained in the art of hieroglyphic writing, who also knew the basics of arithmetic.
The Egyptian scribe conducted business in temples and in the army, worked at the court of the pharaoh. This work was inherited. Boys were brought up so that they could, after special training, take the place of their father.
The statue of the scribe, presented in the photo, is a confirmation of the significance of this profession in those ancient times.
Most of the information about Ancient Egypt, which has come down to our time, was the result of the work of numerous scribes.
It was under their close control that the construction of various monuments took place. The sculpture of the scribe, preserved as a monument to this unique profession, is a living proof of its importance and significance. It was scribes who carefully wrote down various decrees and rewrote numerous economic documents.
Part of the historical information that was presented orally among the lower classes of Egyptian society, as well as numerous stories of foreigners, wanderers, became the property of history thanks to the dedicated work of scribes.
Semantic feature
“Explain the meaning of the word scribe,” the schoolchildren ask their history teacher when he talks about Ancient Egypt. To cope with this difficult task, we turn to the explanatory dictionary. Ozhegov speaks of a scribe as a scribe of manuscript books.
In that historical period, this profession was considered quite prestigious, scribes were considered representatives of the court of the pharaoh, they were exempted from military service, did not pay taxes.
What else stood out scribe? The definition of boys in this profession was hereditary, as was handicraft. Art scribes were involved in the artistic painting of the tombs of the pharaohs; they painted furniture and statues with hieroglyphs.
Surviving facts
In order to understand who the scribes of Ancient Egypt are, we note that the papyri indicated that "there is no other position than a clerk when a person is the boss." Historians have discovered ancient "advertising posters." They called on papyri to be clerks, because this position "is not subject to taxes, protects from hard work."
The challenges of the profession
Who are scribes? How could you get this profession? Together we will seek answers to these questions. Historians are convinced that it was very difficult to get an education in ancient times. At school, classes were held from early morning until late evening. Naughty students were often subjected to severe corporal punishment. In order to succeed in science, schoolchildren were forced to sacrifice worldly joys and pleasures.
On a piece of papyrus that has survived to our time, it is written about how teachers instructed their pupils: “Stand in place! Books are already in front of the comrades. Hate dancing and love scripture. Write all day with your fingers and read. Do not spend the day idly. Always ask someone who is smarter than you for advice. ” The teacher promised to tie negligent students, to teach with a whip.
Sculpture of a scribe
During the excavation of the ancient Egyptian tomb, a portrait of the scribe Kai was discovered. The sculptures of Ancient Egypt are characterized by strict rules by which people were portrayed. The back of the seated statues was supposed to be straight, the pose was motionless. Hands were located on the knees or one hand was pressed to the chest. Eyes were portrayed wide open, and the gaze of a man gazed into the distance. When a ray of light penetrated the tomb, two “living” eyes lit up from there. Scientists were able to establish that they were made of rock crystal, glossy black wood, as well as white alabaster. Such eyes "set" the statue only during the process of "revitalization". The Egyptians sincerely believed that the eyes were the receptacle of the human soul. Inserting eyes into the statue, they sincerely believed that they "returned to her the soul" of a living person.
The statue of the scribe Kai, painted with limestone, dates from 2490 BC. It was installed in a burial chamber near the sarcophagus, as this profession was highly respected and respected.
Where did you learn the art of clerk?
Special schools appeared in the palaces of nobles and kings, existed at large temples. They trained children from the age of five. First, children were taught the correct reading, beautiful writing of letters. Only after that they selected those students who have beautiful handwriting, are diligent and accurate, taught them to draw up various business papers, observing the rules of the ancient business style.
In order to master literacy, the student had to learn about 700 complex hieroglyphs, own a simplified, fluent, and also classical writing.
Professional skills
After training, the future clerk possessed the skills of a business style, intended for the compilation of statutory religious texts, secular orders and orders. Schoolchildren and scribes owned a peculiar set of special writing instruments:
- a cup for cold water;
- wooden plank with special recesses for ocher and soot;
- cane for calligraphy.
Most of the text was painted in black. Red color was used only to highlight important semantic phrases, as well as to indicate punctuation in texts.
Kudos to the profession
In ancient times, the profession of a scribe was considered revered and privileged. The scribes were called the intellectual elite that controlled the economic and administrative activities of ancient Egypt. Representatives of this profession were also librarians, it was they who preserved the literary heritage of their own people.
The keeper of the library fund of the pharaoh at that time was considered the teacher of the heir to the throne of Ancient Egypt.
Scribes in Russia
In the XIII-XV centuries, representatives of this profession were engaged in rewriting books in Russia. They served at princely and bishop's houses. The duties of the scribe included clerical work. In addition to the main master, who was called a dobroopist in Russia, he had one or more assistants. Diligent and neat young men who had a beautiful handwriting were chosen by the students of the master.
In 1284, at the personal request of Bishop Joseph, the Pilot Book was delivered from Kiev to Ryazan. Five masters took part in its rewriting, as evidenced by five different handwritings established by historians. Facts have also been preserved that confirm the information that many clergy learned literacy from secular scribes. Worldly clerks were engaged in rewriting books not only for wealthy socialites, they often worked for monasteries.
In the process of working on church books, they often supplemented the monastery writings. Gradually, in Russia, the profession of a scribe began to be inherited. One of the old illustrations shows the work of masters on the creation of a book. An engraved plate with a holy crucifix is located in the center of the basmen salary; evangelists are represented in the corners of the composition. They are shown at work on writing the holy book. One deals with the lining of parchment, the second works on the text. The third master sprinkles the notes with sand, drying the ink, and the fourth scribe adds the texts. These processes involved time-consuming, demanded a hard hand from the scribe, special attention.
There were certain requirements for the handwriting of the master. The letters were depicted distinctly, accurately, so writing a text took a huge amount of time.
Conclusion
In order to create one manuscript, it took several months of continuous and hard work. After the work on the manuscript was completed, the master took a short break to give free rein to his moods and feelings. Then he embarked on a new job, concentrating on a beautiful and high-quality record of the information that was provided to him.
Detailed information on what the scribe's pay was was not preserved. Only in some historical documents are there references to the fact that the master, who rewrote books, wrote documents, received a good fee for his work. For example, in Izbornik 1403 it was reported that the scribe received about three rubles for his labor. In addition to the text, the clerk created unpretentious decorations in the form of capital letters in the books. Some masters specifically indicated their initials so that they could recognize the author.
If the manuscript was intended for solemn reading during the service, it was created for a special occasion, for example, by order of the bishop, gold painters participated in its creation. These masters performed complex ornaments, made initials, created small miniatures.
As a good example of a magnificent historical manuscript, for the creation of which artists were involved, we can distinguish the Chronicle of the Byzantine historical figure of the ninth century George Amartola. Its writing involved high-class scribes of the time.
Of course, it is thanks to the quality work of numerous masters of writing that unique historical information about the life and work of the church elite, the scientific works of ancient scientists and philosophers have come down to our time.