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Advice to Ambitious Young
Egyptians: Rise Above the Masses, Become a Scribe!
(ca. 1350-1200 B.C.) 1. Title [Beginning of the instruction in
letter-writing made by the royal scribe and chief overseer of the cattle of
Amen-Re, King of Gods, Nebmare-nakht] for his
apprentice, the scribe Wenemdiamun. 2. Praise of the Scribe' s
Profession [The royal scribe] and chief overseer
of the cattle of Amen-[Re, King of Gods, Nebmare-nakht
speaks to the scribe Wenemdiamun]. [Apply yourself
to this] noble profession. "Follower of Thoth"
is the good name of him who exercises it. -----. He makes friends with those
greater than he. Joyful ----. Write with your hand, read with your mouth. Act
according to my words.-----, my heart is not
disgusted. -----. ----- to my instructing you. You
will find it useful. ----- [with bread and] beer. You will be advanced by
your superiors. You will be sent on a mission -----. Love writing, shun
dancing; then you become a worthy official. Do not long for the marsh ticket.
Turn your back on throw stick and chase. By day write with your fingers;
recite by night. Befriend the scroll, the palette. It pleases more than wine.
Writing for him who knows it is better than all other professions. It pleases
more than bread and beer, more than clothing and ointment. It is worth more
than an inheritance in 3. Advice to the Unwilling Pupil Young fellow, how conceited you are! You
do not listen when I speak. Your heart is denser than a great obelisk, a
hundred cubits high, ten cubits thick. When it is
finished and ready for loading, many work gangs draw it. It hears the words
of men; it is loaded on a barge. Departing from Yebu
it is conveyed, until it comes to rest on its place in So also a cow is bought this year, and
it plows the following year. It learns to listen to the herdsman; it only
lacks words. Horses brought from the field, they forget their mothers. Yoked
they go up and down on all his majesty's errands. They become like those that
bore them, that stand in the stable. They do their utmost for fear of a
beating. But though I beat you with every kind
of stick, you do not listen. If I knew another way of doing it, I would do it
for you, that you might listen. You are a person fit for writing, though you
have not yet known a woman. Your heart discerns, your fingers are skilled, your mouth is apt for reciting. Writing is more enjoyable than enjoying
a basket of -- and beans; more enjoyable than a mother's giving birth, when
her heart knows no distaste. She is constant in nursing her son; her breast
is in his mouth every day. Happy is the heart (of) him who writes; he is
young each day. ... 5. All Occupations Are Bad Except
That of the Scribe See for yourself with your own eye. The
occupations lie before you. The washerman's
day is going up, going down. All his limbs are weak, (from) whitening his
neighbors' clothes every day, from washing their linen. The maker of pots is smeared with soil,
like one whose relations have died. His hands, his feet are full of clay; he
is like one who lives in the bog. The cobbler mingles with vats. His odor
is penetrating. His hands are red with madder, like one who is smeared with
blood. He looks behind him for the kite, like one whose flesh is exposed. The watchman prepares garlands and
polishes vasestands. He spends a night of toil just
as one on whom the sun shines. The merchants travel downstream and
upstream. They are as 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, that most precious of metals. The ships' crews from every house (of
commerce), they receive their loads. They depart from The carpenter who is in the shipyard
carries the timber and stacks it. If he gives today the output of yesterday,
woe to his limbs! The shipwright stands behind him to tell him evil things. His outworker who is in the fields, his
is the toughest of all the jobs. He spends the day loaded with his tools,
tied to his tool-box. When he returns home at night, he is loaded with the
tool-box and the timbers, his drinking mug, and his whetstones. The scribe, he alone, records the
output of all of them. Take note of it! 6. The Misfortunes of the Peasant Let me also expound to you the
situation of the peasant, that other tough occupation. [Comes] the inundation
and soaks him --, he attends to his equipment. By day he cuts his farming
tools; by night he twists rope. Even his When he reaches his field he finds (it)
[broken up]. He spends time cultivating, and the snake is after him. It
finishes off the seed as it is cast to the ground. He does not see a green
blade. He does three plowings with borrowed grain. His wife has gone down to
the merchants and found nothing for [barter.] Now the scribe lands on the
shore. He surveys the harvests. Attendants are behind him with staffs,
Nubians with clubs. One says (to him): "Give grain." "There is
none." He is beaten savagely. He is bound, thrown in the well, submerged
head down. His wife is bound in his presence. His children are in fetters.
His neighbors abandon them and flee. When it's over, there's no grain. If you have any sense, be a scribe. If
you have learned about the peasant, you will not be able to be one. Take note
of it! ... 8. The Scribe Does Not Suffer Like
the Soldier Furthermore. Look, I instruct you to
make you sound; to make you hold the palette freely. To make you become one whom the king trusts; to make you gain entrance to
treasury and granary. To make you receive the ship-load at the gate of the
granary. To make you issue the offerings on feast days. You are dressed in
fine clothes; you own horses. Your boat is on the river; you are supplied
with attendants. You stride about inspecting. A mansion is built in your
town. You have a powerful office, given you by the king. Male and female slaves
are about you. Those who are in the fields grasp your hand, on plots that you
have made. Look, I make you into a staff of life! Put the writings in your
heart, and you will be protected from all kinds of toil. You will become a
worthy official. Do you not recall the (fate of) the
unskilled man? His name is not known. He is ever burdened (like an ass
carrying) in front of the scribe who knows what he is about. Come, (let me tell) you the woes of the
soldier, and how many are his superiors: the general, the troopcommander,
the officer who leads, the standard-bearer, the lieutenant, the scribe, the
commander of fifty, and the garrison-captain. They go in and out in the halls
of the palace, saying: "Get laborers!" He is awakened at any hour.
One is after him as (after) a donkey. He toils until the Aten
sets in his darkness of night. He is hungry, his belly hurts; he is dead
while yet alive. When he receives the grain-ration, having been released from
duty, it is not good for grinding. He is called up for Be a scribe, and be spared from
soldiering! You call and one says: "Here I am." You are safe from
torments. Every man seeks to raise himself up. Take note of it! Credits: Miriam Lichtheim, trans. and
ed.,Ancient Egyptian
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