The profession of the scribe, a ‘technê’ devoid of gender connotation

IV Reed pens, paintbrushes and women

Since the emergence of writing in Mesopotamia, women have learned to write, but they have also been involved in the professional and artistic use of ink and paint. Testimonies about ancient female scribes, calligraphers and painters show that this field was not the exclusive domain of men, nor was it only the province of female authors of literature. This sometimes challenges modern perceptions about the ancient world.

The existence of a historical bias is evident, for example, in relation to Ancient Egypt. In this context, administrative positions attributed to women, as opposed to religious ones, have been systematically interpreted as ‘honorific’ and explained by their role as consorts of elite men. A case in point is that of Iretrau (Dynasty XXVI), a woman whose tomb describes her as «scribe» and «Chief Attendant of the Wife of the God Amun». While the latter title is not disputed, her professional practice as a scribe has been the subject of debate. That of scribe was one of the most prestigious professions in Ancient Egypt due to the privileged access it afforded to texts and the crucial role it played in the preservation of written culture. Although it is reasonable that a figure such as the Wife of the God Amun—the highest title a woman could hold in Egypt, often held by the wives and daughters of the pharaoh—would have a woman of high social status, educated and highly skilled like Iretrau as her personal assistant and scribe, her scribal title has been considered honorific. The reasons given are the absence of both direct evidence of her work and of writing tools in her tomb, and the fact that she was wife and mother of viziers. However, we have neither written testimonies nor the intact tombs of all known male scribes.