Children's Education in Ancient Egypt
Children of ancient Egypt were educated in many ways. These ways depended on their class in society, what trade their father followed, and whether they were male or female.
Writing consisted of hieroglyphics, which was used for formal inscriptions. Mathematics consisted of arithmetic, fractions, and geometry. In medicine, you learned internal medicine, surgery, pharmaceutical remedies, dentistry, and veterinary medicine.
Only wealthy children were well educated. Royal children were taught reading, writing, and math in the palace. Many wealthy boys became scribes. These children learned reading and writing in scribe school. Scribe school was very difficult. The boys were beaten if they did anything wrong. Not many finished scribe school, but those who did became almost as important as the pharaohs. If you became a scribe, you would begin training at about the age of four, and you would be assigned a position after ten or twelve years of training. Some wealthy boys became army officers, also.
Poorer families had their boys learn through apprenticeships. They usually followed their father's trade and began to help him at a very young age. They learned basic academic skills in temple schools.
Most girls did not attend school, though some girls may have. Rather, they learned at home and helped their mothers around the house.
The opportunity for education may not have been fair because not everyone received the same education. However, their education system was probably more advanced than other cultures of the time.
I got my information at:
Daily Life. December 4, 2000. <http://www.clpgh.org/cmnh/exhibits/egypt/dailylife.html>
Life in Ancient Egypt. December 4, 2000. <http://www.clpgh.org/cmnh/exhibits/egypt/>
Children... Education... Games... Daily life. December 11, 2000. <http://www.best.com/~swanson/egypt/egypt_2_3.html>
