Scribes have a long history of recording human accounts and history by hand. They were paid to keep accounts, take notes on legal proceedings, and document court decisions. Scribes also acted as secretaries and wrote letters for those who could not read or write. In the Jewish tradition, a scribe is a scholar and a teacher who produces handwritten Torahs. Scribes have helped archaeologists and historians learn about previous human societies.
A scribe is simply someone who writes, classically by hand. Given the long tradition that accompanies the written word, it should come as no surprise to learn that scribes have their own complex history. Scribes have recorded human accounts and history for thousands of years, in every imaginable language and using different tools such as styluses and ballpoint pens. The work of scribes can be seen in museums around the world, along with depictions of scribes in action.
The word comes from the Latin scribere, which means “to write”. Classically, scribes were paid to keep accounts, especially financial ones. They also took notes on legal proceedings and documented court decisions. In times when the ability to write and read was not widespread, a scribe could help connect a community and ensure that information was preserved in a way that was accessible, even if only to a few.
In the 15th century, the only way to record something in writing was to write it down physically. Scribes acted as secretaries, taking dictation, keeping records, and keeping track of ledgers. They also worked in the markets; those who could neither read nor write could go to a scribe, also called a scribe, and dictate a letter that could be read to the addressee by another scribe. The business of writing for a living was quite a lucrative one for many scribes, especially when they had to handle sensitive and confidential information such as legal documents.
In the Jewish tradition, a scribe is a scholar and a teacher. Sofers, Jewish calligraphers, continue to produce handwritten Torahs and other Jewish ephemera today. Calligraphers also work on other sacred texts such as the Koran and the Bible, although the days of monk scribes writing Bibles by hand are long gone. The term “scribe” is also sometimes used to refer more generally to people who write for a living; it’s especially common to refer to reporters as “scribes,” referring to their scribbled notes taken in the field.
Thanks to a long tradition of recording with scribes, archaeologists and historians can learn much about previous human societies. Early human communities in the Fertile Crescent, for example, conveniently left behind cuneiform tablets; although the contents of these tablets are not particularly interesting, they do paint a picture of the Mesopotamian trading system. The Egyptians also famously kept scribes; alas, many of the papyrus scrolls they made were burned as fuel to power the first steam trains in Egypt, but some still survive.
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