Women scribes (I): from Mesopotamia to the Middle Ages
Circa 3rd century. Funerary stele of the female 'notary' Hapate, Rome. The text on the stele reads: «'[D(is)] M(anibus) s(acrum). Hapateni, notariae Grece, que vix(it) ann(is) XXV, Pittosusfecitconiugidulcissime'», «To the sacred gods manes. To Hapate, a Greek notary, who lived twenty-five years, the sweetest wife, did (her husband) Pittosus». Stele currently preserved in S. Lorenzo fuori le mura (Rome). Photograph from the Archivio di Epigrafia Latina Silvio Panciera © EDR (Epigraphic Database Roma)

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Women scribes (I): from Mesopotamia to the Middle Ages

IV Reed pens, paintbrushes and women

The earliest evidence of female scribes in the historical record can be found in Mesopotamia. An example is Amat-Mamu (circa 1764 B.C.E. – 1711 B.C.E.), a Babylonian priestess of the nadītu priestly caste. These women resided separately from and were not in contact with men. Consequently, some learnt to read and write to work as scribes. Like their male counterparts, these women signed the tablets they wrote. As a result, we know the names of fourteen female scribes, and we know that Amat-Mamu worked for at least 40 years.

Greco-Roman sources, especially funeral epitaphs, attest to the involvement of women—free, slave and freedwomen—in a range of activities related to writing. We find stenographers, such as Hapate (notaria, CIL VI 33892), who transcribed speeches as they were pronounced, and personal secretaries (amanuenses, a manu) such as Tyche, Herma and Pletoria (CIL VI 9541, 7373 and 9542 respectively). However, the most attested profession is that of libraria, a term used to describe professional scribes engaged in the production of texts, whether literary or otherwise. Some of these women, such as Corinna (cellaria libraria, CIL VI 3979), already belonged to the Christian monastic world. In the cultural context of Christianity, the testimony of Eusebius of Caesarea is noteworthy. He reports that the theologian Origen of Alexandria (ca. 184-ca. 253) «[…] when [he] dictated, he had ready and at hand more than seven stenographers, who relieved each other at fixed times, and many scribes, as well as female calligraphers — kóraisepìtòkalligrapheīn» (Ecclesiastical History 6, 23).

It is difficult to determine whether Eusebius is referring simply to female scribes, or to female artisans specialising in specific forms of writing distinguished by the aesthetic appeal of their designs.