Goddess of Scribes...?
Common sense would suggest that a deity whose very name is Scribe, must be the one whom scribes turned to for the blessing of their profession. This has been assumed by Egyptologists up until quite recently, but is probably not the case.

Egypt had large numbers of scribes to support its bureaucracy, and many artifacts of the trade -- palettes, pen cases, etc. -- have been found. Few of these bear the image or name of Seshat, compared to the number of examples which praise Djehuty (Thoth). Most often when Seshat is associated with a particular scribe or his accoutrements, Djehuty is also present.

During the Early Period there were a number of ranking scribes with ties to Seshat. However, during the Old Kingdom, Seshat seems to have been removed somewhat from the daily lives of ordinary people, shifting instead toward the king. The number of her priests dwindled -- we have the names of 11 Hem-Netjer priests of Seshat from the Early Period, 3 from the Old Kingdom and just one from the Middle Kingdom. No people were known to be named after Her between the 6th Dynasty and modern Kemetic Orthodoxy, and she became less associated with the scribe.

What Does She Write?
Seshat is depicted writing only in about 10% of pictorial scenes including Her. It is more common to see Her performing the "Stretching the Cord" ceremony with the king, or to stand holding the festooned palm branch.

Whereas Djehuty is more of a patron of scribes in general -- using writing as a tool of communication and administration -- Seshat uses writing as a tool of preservation. Not just knowledge and history, but the memory (and thus the existence) of those who have gone before, are preserved in writing.

Consider how effective this is: practically everything we know about ancient Egypt before the Greco/Roman period, we know because of their writings.

Seshat writes the names of kings upon temple walls, making them virtually permanent. She is said to record, or assist Djehuty in recording, the names and lives of people on the leaves of the ished tree in the court of Ra. She records the spoils of war, including prisoners and booty -- both historical record and testament to the greatness of king and country.

Lady of Builders
One of Seshat's more common titles throughout the span of Egyptian history is "Lady of Builders." In this aspect, She assists the King in the Stretching of the Cord ceremony, which measures and marks the foundations of temples. She blesses the construction and declare that the building would stand for eternity (or at least some very great number of years). She was said to have done the same for buildings in the Unseen World as well.

Such construction is another means of preservation. Temple and tomb walls covered in the hieroglyphic stories of the builders and their gods are another kind of library.

A few high ranking architects and construction supervisors were "trained by" or compared to Seshat, but everyday laborers and craftsmen were not. The only reference to Seshat actually performing construction Herself is funerary: "My mouth and my nose are open in Busiris, I leave myself down in Heliopolis in the house that Seshat built for me." (from the Book of Coming Forth by Day).

Raising the King
Seshat is closely linked with the king through many stages of his life -- birth, education, coronation, assignment of years of lifetime and reign, sed festivals, dedication of temples.

Since the New Kingdom, Seshat was considered to be a mother to the king. Ptolemy IV, for example, was "earthly deputy of the Lords of Ma'at, born of Seshat, raised by Sefkhet-Abwy." Others were said to be "raised by Seshat in the library." However, the king was never depicted in mother-and-child scenes with Seshat as he was with Aset (Isis) or Meret; the nurturing was a mental one, not physical.

At recordings of the king's name, coronations, presentations of regalia, sed festivals (anniversaries of the king's reign) and related occasions, Seshat would grant the king some span of existence -- usually eternal or nearly eternal. Some examples:

"I determine the lifetime for you according to the reigns of Ra."

"I arrange that your name is great, by being engraved on the temple walls."

"I make your names permanent, like the heavens are enduring. As long as forever exists, you will eternally exist."

"I make your names permanently as a king of Upper and Lower Egypt for eternity with the writing of my own fingers."

"I gave you millions of years as well as Eternity and Forever as a living person like your father Ra, o king of Upper and Lower Egypt Ramses II, presented with life."

"I give you forever as King and all the lifetime of Tem as well as the strength of the Two Lords (Heru & Set), permanent like the heavens."

"I give you millions of all life, prosperity and health, and hundreds of thousands of years in peace."

"My hand writes the length of his reign as it comes out from the mouth of Ra. My pen is Eternity, my ink is Forever, and the palette is millions of extremely numerous sed-festivals for the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Seti I."

The Dead
The leopard skin Seshat wears is a symbol of the blessed dead and badge of the funerary priest. A passage in the Chapters of Coming Forth By Day (aka "The Book of the Dead") names Her as the builder of the tomb. The Coffin Texts refer to Her as being pregnant with the deceased, or say that the deceased was "born of Seshat."

Seshat is not primarily a goddess of death, but Nebt-Het (Nephthys) is -- and on several occasions Seshat is linked to Her. In reference to Wesir (Osiris): "Nebt-Het collects all your members for you in Her name of Seshat, Lady of Builders." In a coronation scene She is "Seshat-Nedjset, Nebt-Het, sister of the god, princess of all gods."

It seems likely that Seshat's own connection with the dead is primarily through Her preservation of their existence in writing and building. We might say a departed loved one is "gone but not forgotten" today, but to an ancient Egyptian, the remembered are not gone.