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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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