The Occupations of Old Egypt: Be a Scribe- Reflection

Out of all the passages I read about first civilizations, the "Be a Scribe" section interested me and related to me the most. The introductory questions that resonated with me was "What does learning to write offer to a young Egyptian? What advantages of a scribal position are suggested in the document?"     

In the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, a social hierarchy did exist, especially when it came to someone's job occupation. At the time, being a scribe in the palace of an Egyptian king was a highly praised career. It was probably the equivalent of being a politician or doctor in today's society. Students interested in being a scribe will go to school and would have to copy texts in order to train for administrative positions. At the beginning of "Be a Scribe" I'm inferring that an instructor is saying this," Apply yourself to [this] noble profession.... You will find it useful.... You will be advanced by your superiors." The instructors also says to focus on your studies more and "shun dancing" which I think means spends your days having less leisure time and maybe even partying. The teacher additionally says "... By day write with your fingers; recite by night". I can very much relate to this statement because I believe it means to not only to work in the classroom, but to definitely spend time outside to focus on your studies. Both my parents and instructors that I've had in the past both emphasized this so I, along with the rest of the students in my class, can excel.

During the time of the Middle Kingdom, other jobs people had were being a washerman, making pottery, a cobbler, soldier for Egypt and merchants. Every job that I listed beside merchants was very hard on the person doing it physically, difficult and not very rewarding. However if someone became a scribe, that person has access to treasury and granary which is a storehouse for grain. Scribes even own horses, extravagant clothing, given a mansion, invited to grand feasts, have servants, get a "powerful" office, and lastly a boat full of workers. Whereas, most other jobs available in Egypt but much stress on the people who perform them, and their well-being and health is at risk because of it. I think that this excerpt is so important relates so much to today because it has the message of working hard in school and to study hard and well so later on in life you have a great job that allows you to live comfortably, and not to have stress about surviving everyday. Another reason that being a scribe was a highly praised job was that the Egyptians were obsessed with the after life, so if someone who was a scribe, their writings would live on after they have passed.

First Civilizations

There were many intricate first civilizations that emerged into the world. We have all have heard of Sumer or Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indus Valley. But other civilizations that appeared were Nubia that was just south of Egypt, Norte Chico located on the central coast of Peru, early Chinese dynasties, and the Oxus  that was located nearby a river valley in the Middle East thrived during some of the earliest times of history. Scholars typically use the word civilization to represent a new and specific type of human society which was made possible by tremendous productivity of the Agricultural Revolution.

Notre Chico appeared in 3000 BCE was actually a desert region that received little rainfall that has many snowmelt rivers from the Andes that led to the Pacific Ocean. I'm sure the people that inhabited this area used the rivers to travel to other city-states. There were 25 urban centers that sprang up and the largest one was Caral in the Supe River valley. Unlike Mesopotamia, Notre Chico's cities were much smaller and evidence shows they didn't have much of economic specialization. Knowing that now, it makes me believe that there weren't much people that lived in Notre Chico and there wasn't much need for the people to have money or trade. One of the things that made this civilization unique is that they relied heavily on their fishing industry that exchanged anchovies and sardines for cotton, squash, beans, and guava.

Another group of early civilized people were the first Chinese dynasties: the first were the Xia that appeared in 2070 BCE, Shang in 1600 BCE, and Zhou 1046 BCE. Just like the Egyptians, the Chinese built elaborated tombs for their rulers and even buried thousands of human sacrifice victims to accompany them in their next life. I thought this was very extreme. The only other early civilization that I'm aware that did human sacrifices in the past were the Mayans. The thing that fascinated me the most about the Chinese is that a ruler known as the Son of Heaven and he served as the intermediary between heaven and earth, ruled by the Mandate of Heaven who's job was to keep social harmony between the people.

An additional "first" civilization that existed were the Oxus in Central Asia which I have never heard before. These people lived also lived by desert oases. I think that is remarkable since living in the desert, especially before a lot of modern technology, is very difficult because it is heard to find water and come up with ways to store it without it evaporating. It is also hard to grow crops since the soil in the desert is very tough and not fertile. The Oxus civilization was actually constructed very quickly and very distinct. In 200 years they built many fortified centers, temples, and artist compounds that were surrounded by intricate walls and gates. The Oxus culture had specific that is shown in their architecture, ceramics, burial techniques and seals along with an aristocratical hierarchy. Their economic system was also based on irrigation and stock raising, which is different from a lot of other civilizations at this time who relied on agriculture for their economy.

Claudius of Rome and Xinchen of China

I think that Claudius and Xinchen were both decent leaders. They both pushed for and executed building water canals to better their communities. The people in both their nations asked for a water system and they gave it to them, which I think is commendable. It is crucial for people in power should to listen to people and give them something that can benefit everyone.

After reading the stories of the two leaders, I strongly believe that Xinchen was the better leader. From his actions, it's no question that he wanted the best for his people and their well being. Even in Xinchen's position of power, he still worked alongside the people in his community to help build canals, ditches and water gates. These new additions where in several places in his kingdom to expand irrigated land. Because of this, people had a surplus of crops that they can possibly later sell or trade. Xinchen also regulated equitable distribution of water in his community to prevent disputes between the people. Claudius wasn't as involved and didn't prioritize the people of his community like Xinchen. At one point he had put off the people requests for water systems before he finally did it. Although he lacked multiple water systems, his kingdom had canals, drainage channels, fountains and a lake and the quality of them were "great and essential". But he created a lake in order to gain glory, not only for the sole purpose of  bettering his community.

Evidence of the Pre-Literate Past and Nisa's Story

During the Paleolithic period, early people didn't have journals to document what they did or saw at that time. So in order to know what they did in the past, today researchers study artifacts such as pottery and clothing, cave drawings, and remains of people such as bones, corpses and burial grounds to understand more what was going on back then. After reading Nisa's story, I can infer things that may have been very common for some Paleolithic people- particularly women. Nisa mentioned that when she was a young girl, her and mother would stay at home while her father went out to hunt for food, whether it was game meat or honey from bees. Nisa said she always looked forward to what her dad brought home. I thought was extremely interesting because when she goes on to talk about her marriage, it seemed she was very apprehensive about her marriage at the beginning, but her family told her that a man " kills animals and gives you things to eat" she felt better about the situation. This makes me believe that women at this time are taught at a young age to always be excited when their brothers, fathers, or possibly any other male in their family brings home food or goods while they're gone. Nisa mourned her first husband's death just like people do today when a loved one dies. She was distraught and upset exactly like people are today. One thing that I thought was really interesting was that Nisa had 3 other husbands as well as lovers after Tashay's death, which makes me believe that during this era, it was perfectly okay to have intimate relationships over the course of one's lifetime. Nisa stated that "having affairs is a gift God gave us. Women didn't leave their huts often back in those times, so when they had multiple suitors, they can receive all kinds of gifts from them such as meant, jewelry, and money that they can look forward to at the end of the day.

Introduction to the World's First People

After reading the sections Out of Africa and The Ways We Were, I thought it was very interesting to learn how hominids and early homo sapiens were able to travel to different places all over the world. It's amazing how far homo sapiens were able to travel without modern technology: no maps, compass, or ships. Traveling across large land masses and oceans was impressive, but the fact that these early people adapted and thrived in different types of places for quite some time is mind-blowing as well. The world's first people inhabited any climate that they discovered. Starting from the continent of Africa, they migrated into the Middle East, Eurasia, Australia and islands in the Pacific. Knowing this, I can assume humans even back then were highly intelligent. I was surprised to learn that early people gathered food much more than they hunted. "Gender roles" were pretty much non-existent back then as well. It was also interesting that scholars and historians were able to learn so much from early homo sapiens from interpreting caves, cave drawings, their bones, and artifacts like clothing, pottery, statues and tools. Being in school when I was younger, I was taught that the first people ever to grace our planet were not very intelligent. Even though these human are no where near as advanced as today's humans, they were pretty smart in their own right with all that they had accomplished. Today we depend on so much technology in order to survive, and before early homo sapiens were able to survive without it. We can learn a thing or a two from them.

First Post!

I was able to create my first post! Yay!