EDF 1005 Reflection Paper #7

Jackie Lawrence
EDF 1005
Reflection Paper #7

In Ancient Egypt, children were mainly educated by their families at home. Little girls were taught how to manage household chores, and boys learned the family trade through apprenticeship to become journeymen. Once the young boys were old enough, they went out with their fathers and imitated the craft they were expected to learn, also called formal vocational training. Only the King’s children had private tutors and enjoyed the benefits of learning about math, literature, and writing. Children from poor families were only taught their father’s trade, while those studying to become artists, draftsmen, and sculptors learned how to read and write. It was actually against the rules to teach children foreign languages and physical education, but most parents passed down their religious beliefs through folk rituals. In the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, children were also taught how to behave and practice religion in Temple Schools. The senior officials compiled the Books of Instruction, which contained rules on the values and behaviors children were expected to instill.
The Ancient Mesopotamians also practiced the threefold approach to education. Children learned to write and practice arithmetic using clay tablets. Future scribes and priests were taught by formal education, in which they learned reading, writing, math, astrology, and so on. Priests were taught in Temples, and the center of their education was in the library, where they strenuously, patiently copied scripts in order to learn them by heart. To the Sumerians, the Code of Hammurabi, the earliest laws, taught how significant apprenticeship was. Temple worship was extremely important in the Mesopotamian culture. Most temples had stairways symbolizing the ascent to Heaven. According to the Sumerians, the gods visited their temples from time to time on the platforms, or ziggurats. The Sumerian’s main temple, in Babylon, had seven spiral walkways with ziggurats leading to the top.
As you can see, education, formal training, and religion were extremely important practices to the Ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians. Their rituals and inventions have been passed down for thousands of years and formed the basis of today’s contemporary societies.