Passage Excerpt from “Scribe Like an Egyptian”
Excerpt from “Scribe Like an Egyptian”
by Hilary Wilson
In ancient Egypt, literacy was the key to success. However, contrary to popular belief, not all Egyptian scribes understood hieroglyphs. Many relied instead on the simpler hieratic script for the multitude of everyday documents generated by the Egyptian bureaucracy.
Hieroglyphs—“the Words of God”—compose a writing system with more than 1,000 distinct characters, the meanings of which were lost for 1,500 years before they were deciphered by Jean-François Champollion in 1822. Including both ideograms (which convey a whole word or idea, either concrete or abstract, in a single sign) and phonograms (representing either an alphabetic sound or a group of consonants), [the writing system] was used in formal inscriptions on tomb and temple walls as well as on elaborate funerary papyri. For everyday purposes, however, scribes used a shorthand version of the hieroglyphic script known as hieratic, which was quicker to write and more economical of space. The two writings existed side by side for at least 2,500 years.
Scraps of ancient hieratic writing, mostly penned by student scribes on limestone flakes called ostraca, suggest that no matter how humble his origins, an educated Egyptian could achieve almost anything. Horemheb (d.1292 B.C.) is a good example. Born of middle-ranking parents, his scribal training led to an army career. From Scribe of Recruits, during the reign of Akhenaten (1353–1336 B.C.), Horemheb rose through the military ranks and, by the rule of Tutankhamun (1332–1323 B.C.), he was commander in chief of the Egyptian forces. As a close adviser of the young Pharaoh, Horemheb was appointed “Deputy of the King throughout the Two Lands,” and might have expected to succeed to the throne should the king die childless. He had to wait a few years, but eventually Horemheb achieved the pinnacle of his career by becoming the last king of the 18th Dynasty, making his mark by instituting dramatic reforms to the organisation of the army, the judiciary and administration in general. The lasting success of these changes owed much to his scribal background. . . .
But education was not available to all. Government departments and major temples supported schools, where boys commenced their training at six or seven, sometimes earlier. To these boarding establishments . . . family or household servants delivered the students’ food and drink rations daily for several years, during which time the student was not contributing to the family’s income. Boys from poorer families could only hope to be educated with support from a wealthier relative or patron, or through apprenticeship to an older scribe, perhaps the local clerk or land agent, who would teach them the basics of the scribe’s craft. This limited the scope for employment but such “on the job” training allowed apprentices to help out at home while learning. . . .
Scribal education began with the elementary principles of the hieratic script. The lowliest scribes, who trained for just five or six years, probably learned only the rudiments of the hieroglyphic script. Students were set exemplar documents and extracts from popular texts to copy, to practice their hieratic handwriting on basic-format letters, reports and contracts, while absorbing the good advice contained in the texts. Surviving examples of copy-work sometimes include tutors’ corrections added in red. Some significant Egyptian literary works survive almost exclusively from student copies.
A schoolboy “dictionary” of hieroglyphs with their hieratic equivalents shows that a knowledge of more than 450 signs was required for everyday writing purposes. Lessons in record-keeping and filing and labelling enabled any half-competent scribe to perform that most essential of all scribal functions: the making and updating of lists. For professions such as those of government official, priest or lawyer, a scribe would train for several more years, increasing his vocabulary to perhaps a thousand or more signs. Those with the best handwriting or drawing skills might follow the craft of creating beautifully illustrated copies of funerary texts, commonly called Books of the Dead. Others could become draughtsmen, artists or architects. Doctors compiled their own collections of medication recipes, treatments and associated incantations, many copied from texts found in the House of Life, the temple library. Lawyers had to be familiar with the corpus of civil and religious laws and precedents found in the official records, which were administered by archivists. Egypt’s bureaucratic society depended on the skills of an army of scribes of all ranks from filing clerk to tax assessor. For young Egyptians, “be a scribe” was the best of career advice.
From “Scribe Like an Egyptian” by Hilary Wilson from HISTORY TODAY, August 8, 2019. Copyright © 2019 by History Today Ltd. Company.
Question
Which statement summarizes the process that schools used to train scribes?
- ABoys had to memorize around 450 hieratic signs. Once they had learned these, they were expected to copy literary texts that contained valuable lessons.
- BBoys spent at least five years learning hieratic signs, which they practiced by copying texts. During this period, they were also introduced to basic hieroglyphs.
- CBoys spent five or six years learning the basics of hieratic script. After this period, they could become apprentices and begin learning hieroglyphics.
- DBoys were taught two different scripts. They practiced both types by copying lists and eventually progressed to writing letters, reports, and contracts.
Show the answer
Correct answer: B
The question asks for the best summary of the process that schools used to train scribes.
A. Incorrect. This summary incorrectly explains that scribes were expected to learn 450 hieratic signs instead of 450 hieroglyphs along with their hieratic versions as explained in paragraph 6. In paragraph 5, the author explains that scribes copied texts as part of the process of learning the scripts rather than as practice after the signs had already been memorized.
B. CORRECT. Paragraph 5 explains that students began by learning hieratic script and studied for about five or six years by using “exemplar documents and extracts from popular texts to copy, to practice their hieratic handwriting.” The paragraph also explains that during this time, they learned only the basics of hieroglyphic script.
C. Incorrect. Although paragraph 5 does explain that the scribes spent five or six years learning hieratic script, it does not suggest that hieroglyphs were learned only during apprenticeships.
D. Incorrect. This summary correctly explains that scribes learned two types of scripts, but the second sentence of the summary is incorrect. In paragraph 5, the author explains that the students copied from exemplar texts, but the author clearly states that the purpose of this copy work was “to practice their hieratic handwriting” and does not suggest that the copy work was used to practice hieroglyphs. Paragraph 6 explains that scribes could make lists as part of their professional skills but does not suggest that copy work was used to help them learn this task. Paragraph 5 mentions letters, reports, and contracts as the formats students practiced on while copying, not as a later stage of their training.
Question analysis
This summary question on “Scribe Like an Egyptian” asks which statement sums up how ancient Egyptian schools trained young scribes. Each choice is a two-sentence summary that combines years of study, kinds of script and copying practice, so students must check every detail against what the article says about scribal education.
- Grade level
- Grade 8 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- Above grade 7 Summarizing a process is a grade 7 standard, but these four summaries are long, two-part and mostly accurate, and the details they mix up come from three different paragraphs, so judging them asks more than typical grade 7 work.
- Estimated difficulty
- Hard: combines ideas, needs a plan, and has more than one tempting wrong answer.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly understand
- What makes it hard
- A very close wrong answer moderate
- Evidence in several places moderate
- The right answer is reworded minor
- Evidence
- Answered from several paragraphs or stanzas
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 12, 755 words; question and choices: about grade 7, 104 words.
- Corrected from the DOE handbook
- A detail in the explanation that misdescribes the excerpt was corrected.
- Students, last 30 days
- Not enough answers yet to show (it takes 10).
Why it is hard, traps and wrong answers (shows the answer)
Why it is hard
Every wrong summary opens with something true or nearly true, so a quick reading of first sentences cannot separate them. Most of the errors concern order: one makes copying follow memorizing, one turns apprenticeship into a later stage where hieroglyphs begin, and one makes the copied letters, reports and contracts a later step. Students who check the order of training against paragraph 5, not just the facts, find the only summary with nothing out of place.
A very close wrong answer moderate Choosing the answer
The apprenticeship summary repeats the right one’s opening, years of hieratic study, and parts from it on one phrase: hieroglyphs come “After this period” instead of “During this period.” (Embretson & Wetzel, 1987; Gorin & Embretson, 2006; Ascalon et al., 2007)
Evidence in several places moderate Working it out
The details sit in three paragraphs: the five or six years, the copying and the hieroglyph basics in paragraph 5, apprenticeship in paragraph 4, and the 450-sign dictionary and list-making in paragraph 6. (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990; Gorin & Embretson, 2006)
The right answer is reworded minor Choosing the answer
The right summary puts the text in new words, “at least five years” and “basic hieroglyphs,” while wrong ones repeat its own details: “five or six years,” the “450” signs, “letters, reports, and contracts.” (Freedle & Kostin, 1993; Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Strategy: Note what the article says students learned, for how long and by what method, then check both sentences of each summary against those notes; one wrong detail rules a summary out.
Traps
- Half right: One half of a two-part choice is right and the other is not.
- Twists what the text says: Uses the text's topic and ideas but changes what it says: who did it, how much, when, or why.
The wrong answers, classified
A Twists what the text says (King et al., 2004)
Takes paragraph 6’s 450 signs, hieroglyphs listed with their hieratic forms, as hieratic signs to memorize first, and makes copying come afterward, though copying was how students learned.
C Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Gets the five or six years of hieratic right, then makes apprenticeship, the other route paragraph 4 offers poorer boys, a later stage where hieroglyphs are first taught.
D Half right (King et al., 2004; Thissen, Steinberg & Fitzpatrick, 1989)
Rightly says two scripts were taught, then claims students copied lists for both and only later wrote letters, reports and contracts, though paragraph 5 ties copying to hieratic and to those very formats.
What was corrected from the DOE handbook, and why
- Explanation: The DOE’s explanation of Option D ends: “Paragraph 6 explains that scribes could make lists and write letters as part of their professional skills but does not suggest that copy work was used to help them learn these tasks.” Paragraph 6 mentions the making and updating of lists, but not letters. Letters come up in paragraph 5, where students copy texts “to practice their hieratic handwriting” on basic-format letters, reports and contracts, so the excerpt does tie the copy work to letters. The site now says that paragraph 6 explains that scribes could make lists as part of their professional skills but does not suggest that copy work was used to help them learn this task, and that paragraph 5 mentions letters, reports, and contracts as the formats students practiced on while copying, not as a later stage of their training. Option D is still wrong, and the answer, B, is unchanged.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
This asks for the best summary of how schools trained scribes. A summary retells the main steps in a few words. Each choice has two sentences. Both must match the article, including the order of the steps. One wrong detail rules a choice out.
Find the training in paragraph 5
Paragraph 5 says training began with the basics of hieratic script. The lowest scribes studied for five or six years, and others studied longer. In that time they learned only the basics of hieroglyphs. Students were given “exemplar documents and extracts from popular texts to copy, to practice their hieratic handwriting.” Exemplar means model. Extracts are short pieces. So they learned by copying good examples.
Sort out paragraphs 4 and 6
Two other paragraphs hold details that look alike. Paragraph 4 describes apprenticeship. An apprentice learns on the job from a skilled worker. It was another way in for boys from poorer families, not a step after school. Paragraph 6 mentions a list of hieroglyphs with their hieratic forms. It says more than 450 signs were needed for everyday writing. It never says students memorized them before copying.
Check each choice
- A does not fit. The 450 signs were hieroglyphs paired with their hieratic forms. And copying was how students learned, not a step after memorizing.
- B fits. Students spent at least five years on hieratic, practiced by copying, and learned basic hieroglyphs along the way.
- C does not fit. Apprenticeship was a different route, not a later stage. Hieroglyphs were not saved for apprentices.
- D does not fit. The copying was to practice hieratic. Lists come up in paragraph 6 as a job skill, not as practice. Letters, reports and contracts were what students copied, not a later stage.
Choose the answer
Watch out: C starts out right, with five or six years of hieratic. Then it says hieroglyphs came “After this period” instead of during it. That one change makes it wrong.
Only B gets every detail and the order right. So the answer is B.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
C is the closest wrong choice. It gets the five or six years of hieratic right. But it says hieroglyphs came afterward, through apprenticeship. Paragraph 5 says students learned the basics of hieroglyphs during their schooling. Apprenticeship was a separate path for poorer boys. B says “During this period,” which matches.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “Excerpt from “Scribe Like an Egyptian”” as shown on the test
