<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (March 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (March 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing . </P> <P> The profession, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its prominence and status with the advent of the printing press . The work of scribes can involve copying manuscripts and other texts as well as secretarial and administrative duties such as the taking of dictation and keeping of business, judicial, and historical records for kings, nobles, temples, and cities . The profession has developed into public servants, journalists, accountants, typists, and lawyers . In societies with low literacy rates, street - corner letter - writers (and readers) may still be found providing scribe service . </P>

What was the role of a scribe in ancient egypt