An Archaeological Discussion of Writing Practice: Deconstruction of the Ancient Egyptian Scribe: 23 (GHP Egyptology) Paperback – 30 April 2016

This book examines evidence for the existence of the very familiar ancient Egyptian ‘scribe’ – and demonstrates that such a class of person did not actually exist. Based on the author’s Ph.D. dissertation undertaken at UCL, this is a perfect illustration of how misguided Egyptologists can be in their reconstruction of ancient Egypt.After a discussion of the key research questions, the author addresses the colonial context of Egyptology – more familiar territory for UCL scholars than most others – and how nineteenth century expectations of the literate ‘class’ separate from the ignorant masses were neatly mapped onto Pharaonic Egypt. The book is essentially a long-overdue critique of (to use Max’s often sparkling phraseology) “post-Napoleonic pseudo- Victorian elitist utopia.” Pinarello reviews in depth the archaeological context of writing ‘kits’ from UK museum collections – including several important examples in Manchester Museum – to establish that they apparently did not belong to one homogenous ‘scribal class’.The Old Kingdom site of Balat in the Dakhleh Oasis is used to test many of the assumptions built up around the idea of ‘scribes’ in ancient Egypt. As the author cogently argues, literacy is a broad spectrum and writing practice and comprehension can include a wide range of skills throughout society. Writing is likely to have been a performed role as opposed to signifying a distinct bureaucratic class.Many interesting observations are made, not just of application to Egyptology but to archaeological and anthropological case studies around the world. A particularly insightful discussion concerns the so-called ‘scribe statue’ form – which in fact seems first of all to have been a special privilege of royal princes in the Fourth Dynasty, emphasising status and closeness to the king, rather than necessarily showing the ability to read and/or write. As very often in Egyptology, the idea of the ‘scribe’ has become ingrained because it is so convenient. Schools and general interest groups are unlikely to detach from their use of it, but for those interested in the social reality of ancient Egypt this is an excellent survey of evidence.Reviewed by ancientegyptmagazine dot com