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REVUE

D'ÉGYPTOLOGIE
PUBLIÉE PAR

LA SOCIÉTÉ FRANÇAISE D'ÉGYPTOLOGIE

AVEC LE CONCOURS DU CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE

TOME 60

VOLUME
dédié à la mémoire de
PAULE POSENER-KRIÉGER

PARIS

ÉDITIONS PEETERS
2009
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SOMMAIRE DE LA RdE 60 (2009)

H. GABER Deux variantes de la scène de la psychostasie (chapitres

30 et 125 du Livre des Morts)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-16
D. KLOTZ The cult-topographical text of Qasr el-Zayyan  . . . . . . . 17-40
St. PASQUALI Un ou deux taureaux Apis inhumés sous Horemheb∞∞?  . . . 41-46
I. RÉGEN Une brique magique du vice-roi de Nubie Mérymès (Louvre
E 33059)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47-62
P. RIGAULT – É. DELANGE Le lit funéraire de Djéhoutyhotep (Louvre AF 9170) . . . . 63-138
S. ROSMORDUC De quelques passages de la stèle d’Israël  . . . . . . . . . . 139-146
S. ULJAS Adverbial sentence wh-questions in Earlier Egyptian  . . . 147-158
W. WEGNER Ein demotischer Brief aus Tebtynis (P. Yale 4628 Qua)  . . 159-178
G. ZAKI Le dieu Mandoulis de Paptoûlis à Talmis  . . . . . . . . . . 179-194

BRÈVES COMMUNICATIONS

Preziosität und die Kunst, sich kurz zu fassen: zwei Beispiele aus Edfu (A. BLOCK)  . . 195-198
Le jeu de 16∞∞: un discret hommage à Hathor (Ph. DERCHAIN) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199-200
Sceaux-scarabées inédits au nom de deux vizirs d’époque tardive (C. DORION)  . . . . . 201-204
La statue du grand intendant du Ramesseum, Youpa, conservée au musée de la faculté
des lettres à Alexandrie (E. EL-SAID)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205-208
Women and writing in the Middle Kingdom: stela Louvre C 187 (W. GRAJETZKI)  . . . 209-214
Une princesse héracléopolitaine de l’époque libyenne∞∞: Sopdet(em)hââout (R. MEFFRE)  . 215-221
A visitor’s graffito in Dayr Abu Hinnis. Remarks on the source of limestone sed in the
construction of al-Amarna (H. WILLEMS – B. DEMARÉE)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222-226

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WOMEN AND WRITING IN THE MIDDLE KINGDOM: STELA LOUVRE C 187

The ability to read and write was one of the most important features of the ruling class in Ancient
Egypt. It seems that more than in other cultures1 literacy was the entry to high positions in the state
administration and therefore even perhaps to the royal court and to power in general. In this context
and in the context of the question whether women shared political power the question arises
whether woman could write and how many of them were part of the literate ruling class. However,
the evidence for ancient Egyptian women who were able to write is far from abundant. The few data
are open to different interpretations.2

In the Old Kingdom many women with administrative titles are attested, working on the estates
or in the household of important (most often royal) women. They bear titles such as “female stew-
ard” (ímyt-r pr) or “female treasurer” (sÌ∂t Ìtmt).3 In Old and Middle Kingdom tombs male “stew-
ards” are sometimes shown writing or presenting documents.4 From those parallels, it might be
argued that the female “stewards” were also able to write. However, we do not know whether all
“stewards” could write. Therefore, this comparison is not very helpful and remains technically on
the level of speculation.
Administrative titles for women are less frequent in the Middle Kingdom. The most common title
is “lady of the house”, most likely referring to married women.5 However, there is also a title some-
times translated as “female scribe” (zÌt)6. Against that interpretation of the title as “scribe”,
G. Posener pointed out that in at least one instance the zÌt seemed more likely to denote a woman
in charge of make-up, rather than a “scribe”.7 He examines a “female scribe” on the sarcophagus
of the royal lady Aashayt, where there appears a woman with this title carrying a mirror, a jar and
a chest.8 Furthermore he discusses the title “make-up artist” (zÌt nt r=s), known from pBrooklyn
35.1446 and pBoulaq 18. Obviously, G. Posener places the title “female scribe” (zÌt) in the con-
text of traditional, conservative female duties. H.G. Fischer argued against this. He said that the title
zÌt “female scribe” is found on a scarab seal and a scarab seal is a high status object not suitable
for a low rank of a “cosmetician”.9 The occurrence of the title on a seal itself is for him the proof
that “scribe” is indeed a person able to write. However, this argumentation seems weak. There is

1
A. Demsky, “Literacy”, in E.M. Meyers (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East,
Vol. 3, 1997, p. 363-64 (about kings in the Near East): “writing never became prerequisite for kingship or its idealiza-
tion”.
2
B.M. Bryan, “Evidence for female literacy from theban tombs of the New Kingdom”, BES 6 (1984), p. 17-32.
3
H.G. Fischer, Varia (Egyptian Studies 1), 1976, p. 70-72; idem, Egyptian Women of the Old Kingdom and of the
Heracleopolitan Period, 2nd ed. rev. and augm., 2000, p. 19. Compare for these people: V. Vasiljevic, Untersuchungen zum
Gefolge des Grabherrn in den Gräbern des Alten Reiches (ZAU 15), 1995.
4
R. Lepsius, Denkmäler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien, 1849-1858, II, p. 30, 107; G. Steindorff, Das Grab des Ti,
1913, pl. 128; W.C. Hayes, The Scepter of Egypt: a background for the study of the Egyptians antiquities in the Metro-
politan Museum of Art. I, From the Earliest Times to the end of the Middle Kingdom, 1953, fig. 51 on p. 92
5
W.A. Ward, Essays on Feminine Titles of the Middle Kingdom and related Subjects, 1986, p. 8.
6
Idem, Index of Egyptian Administrative and Religious Titles of the Middle Kingdom, 1982, no. 1456.
7
G. Posener, “ ‘Maquilleuse’ en Égyptien”, RdE 21 (1969), p. 150-151.
8
J.J. Clère – J. Vandier, Textes de la Première Période Intermédiaire et de la XIème dynastie (BiAe 10), reed. 1982,
p. 29; also discussed in B.M. Bryan, op. cit., p. 17.
9
H.G. Fischer, op. cit., p. 77-78.

Revue d’Égyptologie 60, 209-214. doi∞∞: 10.2143/RE.60.0.2049284

Tous droits réservés © Revue d’Égyptologie, 2009.
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210 BREVES COMMUNICATIONS

even one scarab seal with the title “hairdresser” (nst)10, clearly a similar position as “cosmetician”.
The “hairdresser” known from the scarab was certainly a person of high standing, perhaps fulfill-
ing her task at the royal court. However, it demonstrates that the scarab seal of the “female scribe”
could also belong to the cosmetician of a “royal wife” or of a high lady, which was certainly not a
low position. There are finally many scarabs of women with the title “lady of the house”.11 They
show that women were involved in sealing goods, but whether they were always able to write
remains unknown. Therefore, the meaning of the title “female scribe” in the context of a scarab seal
remains open for various interpretations.
Furthermore, the title zÌt is also attested in two title combinations. On a coffin found at Lisht there
appears a “(female) scribe of the royal harim” (zÌt ípt níswt).12 Another title is the already men-
tioned “make-up artist” (zÌt nt r=s).13 The latter title is using again the element zÌt, and is not refer-
ring to a scribal position, if the translation of the title is correct. To conclude, it seems doubtful
whether the word zÌt refers to a female scribe. Together, the whole evidence points to “cosmetician”.

Another set of the sources for literate women are documents written by and for women. These
are not numerous for the Middle Kingdom and it is far from certain whether they were written by
the women themselves or whether they employed a scribe or whether a family member did the writ-
ing. In Lahun was found a letter from a “lady of the house” Irer. The letter is written in an unusual
handwriting, perhaps by somebody who did not often write. This might be an argument that this
woman composes the letter herself, but it is not a proof at all.14 Therefore it is also not certain that
she could write herself, as somebody else might have written it for her.
However, for the question of women who could write it might be worth having a look at the sys-
tem how men learned reading and writing and became “scribes” and part of the formal administration.
In general, there is astonishingly little evidence for any kind of school system in the Old Kingdom. It
has been suggested that young boys learned writing in a “famulus”15 system: an official looked after
one or several boys and taught them in writing and other important matters.16 The idea of the famulus
system seems to go back to Helmut Brunner in his study on ancient Egyptian education published in
1957.17 However, the evidence for Brunner were the “Teachings” with an Old Kingdom official as
named author, where such a system may indeed be indicated. At the time that Brunner wrote, these
“Teachings” were dated to the Old Kingdom. Now, there is enough evidence that they were written
and composed basically in the Middle Kingdom, or at least heavily re-written in this period.18 There-
fore, the evidence presented by Brunner points to the famulus system in the Middle Kingdom.

10
G.Th. Martin, Egyptian Administrative and Private-Name Seals, principally of the Middle Kingdom and Second
Intermediate Period, 1971, no. 279.
11
Ibid., p. 180 (index).
12
J.P. Allen, in H. Willems (ed.), The World of the Coffin Texts, Proceedings of the Symposium, Held on the Occasion
of the 100th Birthday of Adriaan de Buck, Leiden, December 17-19, 1992 (EgUit 9), 1996, p. 13, n. 25.
13
W.A. Ward, op. cit., no 1457; compare the comments in H.G. Fischer, Egyptian Titles of the Middle Kingdom, A Sup-
plement to Wm. Ward’s Index, 2nd ed. rev. and augm., 1997, p. 77.
14
M. Collier – St. Quirke, The UCL Lahun Papyri: Letters (BAR International Series 1083), 2002, p. 115.
15
Famulus, Latin: “servant” (boys served their father or an official and while doing it, they learned the profession).
16
E. Feucht, Das Kind im Alten Ägypten, 1995, p. 226.
17
H. Brunner, Altägyptische Erziehung, 1957, p. 10-13.
18
Compare R. Parkinson, in St. Quirke (ed.), Middle Kingdom Studies, 1991, p. 101-104; G. Burkhard – H.-J. Thissen,
Einführung in die altägyptische Literaturgeschichte I, Altes und Mittleres Reich, 2007, p. 74-77.

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The famulus system explains well why there are so many sons following their fathers in their
offices. The father trained his son basically in the same profession. In this system, it seems quite
understandable that there were also many women able to read and write, at least on a low level.
Whereas in a system with formal schools, it seems rather unlikely that girls were sent to school, as
they would be expected to learn other things while growing up (guiding the household, cooking,
weaving), it seems possible that in a system, where a father taught his son, girls joined the learning
at home in the informal domestic setting.
The evidence for “formal” schools in the First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom is
spare. In Asyut (tomb IV)19 there appears for the first time an expression which is translatable as
“school”: ¨t sb – “chamber of teaching”. The tomb and its inscription are datable to the First Inter-
mediate Period. In the Middle Kingdom the expression “school of writing” (¨t sb n zÌw) appears
in the “Teaching of Dua-Khety”.20 At the beginning of the latter composition, it is said that a stu-
dent will come into the residence and will learn together with the children of the “great ones”. Evi-
dently there was some kind of school in the royal residence where the sons of the high officials and
perhaps even members of the royal family were trained.
Besides these two examples, schools are not mentioned in Middle Kingdom texts and there is
also little evidence for titles which could be translated as “teacher”. The “famulus” system was
most likely still the most common way of training young boys. It had been argued that literature
compositions such as the “Satire of Trades” or “Kemit” were composed for school teaching.21
The evidence for that is weak, because it also possible to argue that these works were used in pri-
vate teaching. Furthermore most of the surviving copies of these works belong to the New King-
dom, when there is more evidence for a regular school system.22 However, even Diodorus more
than a thousand years later mentions that in Egypt the sons of priests were trained by their
fathers.23
As already mentioned, in the Middle Kingdom, succession in office from father to son is still
well attested. There are many examples where a son has the same title as his father. An important
observation is the distribution of titles with the element “scribe” on stelae, one of the most impor-
tant types of source for Middle Kingdom families. On Middle Kingdom stelae there is visible in
general the tendency that many people depicted on the same stela bear titles which were related and
belonged to the same branch of administration. On stelae belonging to a military man there are
shown his colleagues, most often also military men or even family members, the latter again most
often also involved in military professions. On a stela of a treasurer are most often shown people
working in the treasury of the palace, certainly because they worked together in life. The male
members of the family often have related functions.24

19
H. Brunner, Die Texte aus den Gräbern der Herakleopolitenzeit von Siut, 1937, l. 66-67.
20
W. Helck, Die Lehre des Dw-Ìtjj (KÄT 3), 1970, p. 15 (Id).
21
G. Posener, Littérature et politique dans l'Égypte de la XIIe Dynastie (BÉPHÉ IV / 307), 1956, p. 4-7 and its review
by J.A. Wilson, JNES 16 (1957), p. 275.
22
E. Feucht, op. cit., p. 227-229.
23
Diodorus, Bibliotheca historica, 1, chap. 81 (I am grateful for this reference to Prof. J. Tait).
24
R.J. Leprohon, “The Personnel of the Middle Kingdom Funerary Stelae”, JARCE 15 (1978), p. 33-38; D. Franke,
SAK 10 (1983), p. 174-175; W. Grajetzki, Die Höchsten Beamten der ägyptischen Zentralverwaltung zur Zeit des Mittleren
Reiches, 2000, p. 72-77.

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In contrast, there are several family stelae with different family members bearing titles incorpo-
rating “scribe”, although these scribes worked in different branches of the administration.25 On Stela
Cairo CG 20056 appears a “scribe of troops” next to a “scribe of a treasury”. The “scribe of
troops” belonged most likely to the military part of administration. The “scribe of a treasury”
belonged under the administration of the “treasurer”. Another example is stela BM EA 209. Here a
“scribe of the vizier” appears next to the “scribe of the treasury”, again two officials belonging to
two different branches of administration.26 This gives the impression that in certain families writing
and reading was for administrative efficiency well trained, on a higher level than in other families.
In a system where a father taught his son this seems to be the easiest way of explaining the data.
From this evidence (stelae and “Teachings”) it seems that the famulus system was still common in
the Middle Kingdom. There were apparently also schools as indicated by the few references men-
tioned above, but perhaps just operating at the royal residence for the highest ruling class. The co-
existence of famulus system and schools at the same time might come as a surprise, but was still
common in many countries even in the nineteenth century. The famulus system was more common
in many cultures around the world, than we might expect now. The famous W.M.Fl. Petrie never
attended a school; he was brought up and educated by his parents. 27 A similar situation is attested
for Egypt, in 1880:
At the moment, how are employees of various government departments recruited? Their offices
are encumbered with a cloud of children whom their parents, themselves functionaries, bring with
them from the time they can walk. These children never set foot in a school; they grow and are
formed little by little, for better or worse, by sheer routine, without having any serious and
methodical instruction. With time they become bureaucrats themselves, and have gotten their foot
in the door of administrative work for good.28
A most interesting ancient Egyptian object for this point is stela Paris Louvre C 187 (fig. 1)
which dates perhaps to the middle of the Twelfth Dynasty.29 It belongs to the family of
the “butler” (wb) “Ukh-hotep begotten of It”. The family of Ukh-hotep is also known
from inscribed stone fragments excavated at Abydos, from where the stela most likely comes
too. From Abydos comes a base of a statue belonging to Ukh-hotep himself and part of

25 E.g. Cairo CG 20084; H.G. Fischer, op. cit., frontispiece; W.M.Fl. Petrie, A Season in Egypt, 1887, no. 86;
G. Andreu, «∞∞La stèle Louvre C 249: un complément à la reconstitution d'une chapelle abydénienne ∞ », BIFAO 80 (1980),
p. 139-147, pl. 38; for a fuller list see: W. Grajetzki, in M. Fitzenreiter (ed.), Genealogie, Realität und Fiktion von Iden-
tität (IBAES 5), 2005, p. 66-67.
26
H.R. Hall, Hieroglyphic Texts from Egyptian Stelae etc. in the British Museum, III, 1912, pl. 45.
27
M.S. Drower, Flinders Petrie, A Life in Archaeology, 1985, p. 14-15.
28
Cited by J.R.I. Cole, Social and Cultural Origins of Egypt’s Urabi Movement, 1993, p. 114 (I am grateful for this
reference to Prof. St. Quirke).
29
P. Vernus, “Quelques exemples du type du ‘parvenu’ dans l’Égypte ancienne”, BSFE 57 (1970), fig. on p. 37.
The name Senusret on the stela indicates a date not before Senusret I. In the filiations ír(t)~n rather than ms(t)~n is
used, pointing to the end of the reign of Senusret I or to the reign of Amenemhat II. See Cl. Obsomer, in Chr. Cannuyer
– J.-M. Kruchten (ed.), Individu, société et spiritualité dans l’Égypte pharaonique et copte. Mélanges égyptolo-
giques offerts au Professeur Aristide Théodoridès, 1993, p. 166-167. In the offering formula, Osiris has a seated god
determinative, more common in early Middle Kingdom writings of his name (C.J.C. Bennett, JEA 27 [1941], p. 78).
Osiris is also called Khenty-Imentyu, also more common in the first half of the Twelfth Dynasty. However, Khenty-
Imentyu does not have the seated god determinative, which is the more common writing for this divine name only later
(ibid.).

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Fig. 1. Redrawing of Stela Louvre C 187 (© W. Grajetzki, after: P. Vernus, BSFE 57 [1970], fig. on p. 37)

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214 BREVES COMMUNICATIONS

a naos inscribed for “Ukh-hotep begotten of Hotep”, who also appears on the Louvre
stela.30
On the Louvre stela family members of Ukh-hotep appear in several registers arranged in one
column on the left side of the monument. For all of them the relation to the stela owner and to oth-
ers are given (“his brother”, “his sister”, “the mother of his mother”, etc.). In the fourth line on
the left side appears “his sister, Henut, begotten of It … [?]”. In the fifth register appears the line
“his (?) father, who taught (sb) her, Imeny begotten of Shepset”. “Her” refers here most likely
to Henut, mentioned one line before. The interpretation of sb is open to several interpretations.
D. Franke translates: “Sein Vater, der sie (fem. Sing.) erzogen hat, Jmnjj, Sohn der Shepset” (“his
father, who brought up her: Imeny son of Shepset”).31 The important point is the translation and
meaning of sb – “teach”. It is not certain whether “teaching” includes the ability to write, but it
should be remembered that the word, normally translated as “school” is {t-sb uses exactly this
word in a context where learning to write is the topic, as in the “Satire of Trades”. There is finally
the stela Cairo CG 20314 where a similar phrase is used, but instead of sb, the word sd (“brought
up”) is employed (the caption to the image of the stela owner’s father reads in translation: “his
father who brought him up, Ity, true of voice”).

Is it possible that sb was used in this case to announce that a girl was taught by her father to read
and write? This would confirm that even in the Middle Kingdom the famulus system was in force;
while parents would bring up their children, and literate fathers would train their sons to write, it
also happened that girls joined the writing lessons. It remains open whether the case mentioned on
the Louvre stela is an exception or the rule.

Wolfram GRAJETZKI
117 Cranworth Gardens
London – SW9 0NU

Résumé / Abstract

Un passage de la stèle Louvre C 187 permet de discuter du système scolaire du Moyen Empire. Dans les formules
d’offrandes adressées à la famille, le nom d’une femme appelée Henout est suivi de la phrase “son père qui l’a ins-
truite, Amény”. Les sources de l’époque indiquent qu’en général le père apprenait à ses fils à lire et à écrire à la mai-
son. Il semble donc possible que, dans ces conditions informelles, les filles aient eu l’opportunité d’assister aux
mêmes leçons et, ainsi, d’apprendre à lire et à écrire.

On the Stela Louvre C 187 appears a short phrase stating that a man called Ameny taught his daughter, a woman
called Henut. The Middle Kingdom school system is discussed. From the evidence it becomes clear that many boys
were taught reading and writing by their fathers at home. It seems likely that in this informal setting sometimes girls
joined in and also learned reading and writing.

30 W.K. Simpson, Inscribed Material from the Pennsylvania-Yale Excavations at Abydos (Publications of the Pennsyl-

vania-Yale Expedition to Egypt 6), 1995, p. 39, no. C6 (part of naos mentioning Ukh-hotep begotten of Hotep who also
appears on Louvre C 187); p. 39-40, no. C7 (statue base of the wb-butler Ukh-hotep begotten of It).
31
D. Franke, Altägyptische Verwandtschaftsbezeichnungen im Mittleren Reich, 1987, 40.

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