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Menches's application for the post of scribe

Menches was the village scribe of Kerkeosiris in Ptolemaic Egypt. He was appointed scribe sometime before 119 BC, and was responsible for assessing taxes and land on behalf of the pharaoh. Menches was acquitted of attempted murder in 118 BC, after which he requested royal protection from harassment. He continued to serve as scribe until 110 BC, although labor strikes made it difficult for him to perform his duties. Papyri from his office (example pictured) were used to wrap crocodile mummies at a temple in Tebtunis in the 1st century BC. In 1900, English archaeologists Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt discovered the papyri at the temple. Known as the "archive of Menches", the papyri are the only known evidence for Menches's life, and are an important source for daily life and government in ancient Egypt. The archive is held at the Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. (Full article...)