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The Library in Ancient Egypt

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The Library in Ancient Egypt

When Wessetzky stated in his well known

publication Gedanken über die Bearbeitung der
Altägytische Bibliothek (1977) that Uhlen Dahl ( )
the famous historian of the ancient libraries mentioned in
(932), I quote “We know nothing about libraries in ancient
Egypt before the Hellenistic period”, when mentioning that
he submitted an unrealistic statement which stands against
facts about ancient Egypt. One of these facts is the great
achievement of the ancient Egyptians in various fields, in
science, literature, art, architecture, an achievement which
would never have happened without a great deal of
knowledge, a matter that should have been registered in
documents, on papyri, Ostraca and other writing material
that can be considered as books in our modern
terminology. These documents (mainly papyrus scrolls and
Ostraca) were kept in a safe place equipped to enable
people to go through it.
These places (pr-mDAt) can certainly be referred to
as library according to our understanding of libraries.
Anywhere and in any period, libraries require
classification, presentation, staff (librarians and many
others). This was the case in ancient Egypt.
Whatever the size, facilities and numbers of books kept
in a special building, is considered a library, though it
cannot be compared with a bigger scale library, such as
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that of Alexandria. Going through the Greek resources we

will realize that historic philosophers, thinkers, scientists,
and artists were able, when visiting Egypt, to trace the
achievements of Egypt through the documents in the
libraries spread across the country in temples, palaces,
educational and religious institutions. However, in spite of
this clear fact, the achievements where libraries are one of
its features, the ancient Egyptian texts indicate clearly the
existence of books and libraries.

The vocabulary referring to books, are

numerous among which are:
- art (Wb. I, 208: 17-19),
- mDAt (Wb. II, 187: 5 ff.),
- mDdt (Wb. II, 192: 16),
- snn (Wb. II, 192: 16),
- sS (Wb. III, 476: 16 – 479: 9; cf. 478: 18-19
f.),
- rA-sS,
- Sat (Wb. IV, 418: 10 – 419: 19),
- Sfdw (Wb. IV, 461: 11-17),
- TAw (Wb. V, 349: 16-18),
- sipty (Wb. IV, 36: 5 f.; cf. sipty-wr: 36: 11),
- Tt (cf. Wb. V, 338: 7-8)…etc.
The libraries were referred to by the following
words:
pr-mDAt (the house of book).
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pr-mDAt nTr (the house of book of the god).

pr-mDAt pr-aA (the house of book of the
palace).
Pr sSw (the house of writing).
st sSw (the place of writing).
The term pr-mDAt is known since the 3rd Dynasty
(the 27th century BCE) and continued to be mentioned in
the Egyptian texts tell mid-first century CE.
The pr-mDAt was mentioned in texts from Saqqara,
Giza, Abusir, Memphis, Tell Basta, Assiut, Tanis, Aswan,
El-Bershah, Qeft, Abydos, Meir, El-awawish, Abu Simbel,
Buhen. and in many temples such as Ramesseum, Edfu,
Philae, Denderah, and in palaces, such as the Palace of
Amenophis III.

God and goddess related to the pr-mDAt :

1- %SAt (cf. Wb. V, 338: 7, Seschat: Herrin der
Bücher).
2- +Hwty (Thoth) (cf. Wb. III, 477: 2).
3- @r (Horus).
4- Wcir (Osiris).
5- &m (Atum).
6- Imn (Amun).
7- %tx (Seth).
8- $nmw (Khenum).
9- Ict (Isis).
10- @t-@r (Hathor).
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11- MAat (Ma’at).

12- BAstt .

The main professions in the library (pr-mDAt)

are:
1- sS : Scribe (Wb. III, 479: 14 ff.; cf. 481: 5, woman
as a scribe)1
The person who was authorized to write, copy, and
read manuscripts.
In his advice to one of his pupils, the teacher says: Be
a clever scribe in the House of Books to become a Treasury
of Books.
The scribe in the pr-mDAt was described as rx xt
rx Sfdw m pr-mDAt who knows everything and knows
all papyri in the pr-mDAt.
2- cHD sS : Inspector of scribes
According to his title, he was an elemental person as
his title was, the judge and the chief of the province. He is
described as more learned and clever compared to other
scribes.
He supervised the work of the scribe and cared about
their training, how to write, register, and retain
manuscripts.
3- cHd pr-mDAt : The inspector of the pr-mDAt2

1
Cf. sS mDA.t StA(.t) n wD(.t)-mdw n(.t) wr-xrp(w)-
Hm.t : Dilwyn Jones, An Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and Phrases
of the Old Kingdom, 2 vols., BAR International Series 866 (I & II), Archaeopress,
Publishers of British Archaeological Reports (Oxford-England, 2000)., vol. 2, 859-
60 (no 3140).
2
Cf. cHD irj(.w) mDA.t PtH : D. Jones, An Index, vol. 2, 914 (no
3357).
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Supervising the libraries, checking registration,

preservation, and daily work of the officials, they had some
high titles.
4- cHd xtm pr-mDAt : The inspector of the seals
of the pr-mDAt
He supervised sealing the papyri to guarantee that the
contents were safe.
5- Hm-nTr pr-mDAt : The priest of the library
He was supposed to be well-learned, with religious
aspects, especially myths. He supervised the religious
texts.
6- Hry-tp m pr-mDAt : The chief of the library
A very high personality with numerous titles, such as,
cm-priest in the temple of mummification, the royal scribe,
the bearer of the king' s seal and the chief of the palace
staff.
7- Hry-sStA m pr-mDAt : The supervisor of the
secrets in pr-mDAt
The religious, medical, and scientific secrets.
8- iry mDAt: The librarian responsible for the
classification of the books
9- sDm-aS m pr-mDAt: The attendant in pr-
mDAt
The location of the pr-mDAt
As I mentioned, it was in temples, palaces and public
educational and religious institutions.
An example of a library in temples is that of
Ramesseum (the mortuary temple of Rameses II). It is a
relatively big hall with 8 columns following the colonnade.
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Its ceiling is full of astronomical scenes, and on both sides

of the entrance are representations of goddess %SAt and
god +Hwty with Rameses II, bearing the similar writing
articles, but sometimes in smaller size, are found in Edfu,
Philae, and El-Tod.
It is clear from the texts that the temple was the main
shelter of the library.
The king paid attention to the libraries of the temples,
and while visiting he says “my heart is eager to the books
of god in the library.”

The role of the library

1- Keeping books and documents.
2- Spreading different aspects of culture, inside and
outside, to reach the community.
3- Educational role by teaching certain topics through
teachers to young promising researchers.
4- Informing the concerned people with the recent
aspects in various topics, such as in medicine,
pharmacology, etc.
Thus, the library had, in such ancient times, a
comprehensive role, it was just not a place to keep books
and permit visitors to browse through them, but it was a
place for research as we know from a text that King
Neferhetep of the 13th Dynasty wanted to check information
about the ancient writing of god Atum to be more
acquainted with the information of Ennead of Heliopolis.
He was received by the chief of the library who told
the king: “You are welcome to the library to check
whatever you want”
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The science and knowledge included in the

library
Through documents we know: Geography, astronomy,
astrology, medicine, pharmacology, mathematics, history,
art mummification, religion, restoration, and military
aspects.

What did some Greek sources say?

The Odysseus ( ) mentioned that Egypt was
home to the best physicians. Soloun, Talis, Betagors, and
Plate, they learned much about Egypt through the Egyptian
libraries in law, astronomy, and engineering. Heliopolis
and Memphis were two important cultural and educational
centers.

What occurred in the ancient Egyptian literature

about libraries and educations?
A wise man told his son "a single book is more
valuable than a house or a sanctuary in the west. It (the
book) is more precious than a palace and a memorial
temple".

The relation between pr-mDAt and pr-anx

pr-anx is the house of life referring to an institution
dealing with documents and educations. It is connected
with the pr-mDAt, but apparently playing a limited role in
retaining the divine documents.
The goddess %SAt joined the two titles, the mistress
of the pr-mDAt and pr-anx.
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It was mentioned about goddess Isis "Your secrets are

in the pr-mDAt and your unique beauty is in the pr-
anx".
We may conclude that pr-mDAt is the actual library
and pr-anx is a special place for retaining special
religious documents, as in the case of Edfu temple.
More than 220 documents have provided us with quite
a lot of information about libraries in Ancient Egypt.
The name, location, the contents, the officials, the
gods and goddesses related, and I would like to remind you
in this respect that %SAt was referred to as %SAt xntt
pr-mDAt who presides over the library.
Every now and then it was mentioned in the texts that
these writings were found in the pr-mDAt in the temple.
In one of the Turin papyri, the owner of the papyrus
states "I live in the pr-mDAt which contains millions of
books".
Do we still search for more evidence before the
Hellenistic period to prove that the library was an
important fact in Ancient Egypt?!
To realize the appreciation of the king, the royal
family, and the high officials to Hry-tp pr-mDAt, the
chief of the library, was allowed to meet the king as one of
the high officials.
As the Egyptians were leaders in restoration and
conservation a text, says "The pr-mDAt of the king was
demolished, it evil be rebuilt".
The pr-mDAt is one of the facts of the glory of Egypt,
a glory that was achieved through science and learning.
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Further Readings

- Patrick Boylan, Thoth, The Hermes of Egypt, A Study

of Some Aspects of Theological Thought in Ancient
Egypt (Oxford, 1922; Ares Publishers, Inc., Chicago,
1979).

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- C. J. Bleeker, in: Hathor and Thoth, E. J. Brill
(Leiden, 1973), 106-160.
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- Herbert Spieß, Der Aufstieg eines Gottes,
Untersuchungen zum Gott Thot bis zum Beginn des
Neuen Reiches, Dissertation zur Erlangung der Würde
des Doktors der Philosophie der Universität Hamburg,
Gutachter: Prof. Dr. H. Altenmüller & Prof. Dr. D.
Kurth, Disputation: 24. April 1991, 9.30 Uhr
(Hamburg, 1991).
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- Jaylan Said Abd El-Hakeem, Thoth, The Master of El-
Ashmunein, A Comparative Study with the god
Hermes, M.A. Thesis under supervision of Prof. Dr.
Mohamed Abdelhalim Nureldin and Prof. Dr. Enayat
Mohamed Ahmed, Guiding Department, Faculty of
Tourism and Hotels, Alexandria University
(Alexandria, 2004).
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