Zinn, Katharina

Katharina Zinn

Crossref

Education, Pharaonic Egypt

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Education, PharaonicEgyptKATHARINA ZINNUnlike modern societies, in ancient Egypt thechild’s world was not separated from that ofthe adult. Once having survived infant mortal-ity and well before the commencement ofmaturity, children increasingly adopted adultbehavior, maybe even from as early as age fiveonwards (Strouhal and Forman 1992: 28):obtaining practical skills took the place ofplaying and sporting, and knowledge wasgained from mimicking parents or otheradult relatives. Education comprised generalupbringing and training for a particular pro-fession. On the other hand, education in writ-ing and reading could overcome social barriersand was prerequisite for ancient Egyptiansentering into a high ranking profession. It isinteresting to note that there were no classrestrictions on who could be educated asa scribe (Szpakowska 2008: 104). Educatedpeople could rise socially, as seen with AMENHO-TEP, SON OF HAPU, serving under Amenhotep III.He came from the Delta, born into a low rank-ing family and became the king’s favorite(Janssen 2007: 57).At home boys learned mainly from theirfathers, girls from their mothers. It is thoughtthey taught the children the basics of MAAT,including the right behavior within their envi-ronment, religious belief, rites, and perfor-mance, as well as ethical principles. Afterabout the age of five, boys and girls were sep-arated in their learning experiences, in thesense that girls often stayed with their mothers.In tomb scenes, they are often shown playingseparately, as in the Saqqara tomb of Mererukafrom the 6th Dynasty (chamber A13, eastwall). In scenes of daily life, girls are usuallyshown with their mothers rather than theirfathers, while the sons are depicted standingnext to their fathers. Boys from the elitebecame “schoolboys” and received a formaleducation (Janssen 2007: 60).There was no formal school system for allchildren, so the majority of people stayed illit-erate. Peasant children probably never hada proper education. It is likely they receivedbasic education and vocational training – allthat they needed to know for being farmers –staying within their family (Feucht 1995:307–36). This knowledge was handed downfrom generation to generation. Boys frompoor families began helping with the men’sjobs in the occupation their father held, oftenseen as an apprenticeship. This was called afather-son-relationship, but also could betaken on by non-blood-related boys. However,male children of higher classes and fromscribal families started early with their schoolcareer.A boy’s education started between the agesof five and ten and lasted until he was betweentwelve and sixteen, which would also havebeen the time of circumcision as transition toadulthood (Janssen 2007: 60–79; Strouhaland Forman 1992: 35). At this time theywere considered adults and could begin towork for themselves. This would be the earliestage for men to marry, but normally they werebetween sixteen and twenty years of age whenthey took their first wife (Strouhal andForman 1992: 51–2; Brewer and Teeter 2007:110). Education took a large amount of theaverage life span.Girl’s lives were different, more centered onthe home and family. At an early age, girlswould begin to learn from their mothers howto keep house and maintain the fields, to sew,and to prepare food (Janssen 2007: 42; Feucht1995: 315, 336–9), which took more time thanthe educational hours of boys. Girls wereexpected to marry after they began menstruat-ing around the age of twelve or thirteen, asindicated in Ptolemaic marriage contracts,although there is evidence of girls marryingearlier (Feucht 1995: 32–3; Strouhal andForman 1992: 51–2; Brewer and Teeter 2007:110). The famous scribe Qenherkhepeshefof DEIR EL-MEDINA married the twelve-year-oldgirl Nanakht when he was fifty-four (StrouhalThe Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 2318–2323.© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah151221and Forman 1992: 51). Taimhotep mentionedon her private funerary stela (BritishMuseum EA147), from the late Ptolemaicperiod, that she married the high priest ofPtah in Memphis when she was still thirteenand gave birth to four children within thenext thirteen years, before she died four yearslater, aged thirty (Lichtheim 1980: 59–65).Most newlywed women had a child withinthe first year of marriage, as mentioned in thedemotic story of Setne Khamwas andNaneferkaptah (Setne I, Lichtheim 1980: 128).The school texts refer to students being boys, asstated in the Teaching of Khety mentionedbelow and P. Anastasi III 3/13, as well as inThe Instruction of Any, where it is said, that“he understands little when he recites thewords in the books” (Lichtheim 1976: 144).However, texts never particularly refer togirls, suggesting other environments for teach-ing them. The rare exception is Pap. LeidenI370, a late Ramesside letter, where within theusual encouragement to study hard, a daughterof a Khonsu-mes is mentioned. It is also saidthat she actively shall produce a letter toa superior scribe (Toivari-Viitala 2001: 189).Girls from higher rank or elite families nor-mally received training in singing, dancing,and musical instruments (Strouhal andForman 1992: 35).Pap. Anastasi III (3, 7–8) mentions a schoolfor (probably female) singers at Memphis.From the 6th Dynasty we know ofRawer, being a “teacher (seba) of the royalsingers” (Giza, Central Field, Porter and Moss1974: 265; Manniche 1991: 122). We can findreliefs in tombs of musicians and dancers,showing them with their female students(Brunner 1957: 47–9). The best known is inthe Middle Kingdom tomb of the “instructor(sekhedj) of singers” Khesuwer at Kom el-Hisn,showing him giving lessons in sistrum playingand hand clapping (Manniche 1991: 123).These girls could have careers as musicians,but also take part in other musical employ-ment such as “overseer (imi-ra) of femalesingers,” as we know from a woman calledHemetre. She seemed to have been a highranking woman at the end of the 5th or the6th Dynasty, as she was able to usurp her tombSaqqara No. 6 (C 15) from a man named Tywho was wab-priest of Re in the sun temple ofSahure, the second ruler of the 5th Dynasty(Porter and Moss 1978: 450). Furthermore,scenes showing girls or young professional per-formers dancing or doing acrobatics, such asthose seen on the Red Chapel of Hatshepsut inKarnak, are connected with religion, cult, andritual and therefore suggest that these elabo-rate skills were learnt gradually. They areknown as female dancers (khebyt). Professionaltitles as female musicians of a god/goddess(shemayt or khenwt of mostly Amun orHathor) also imply somemethod of education,so that they could follow the required ritual.Women possessing these titles owned theirindividual statues, such as the one belongingto Meryt, the wife of Maya, treasurer ofTutankhamun (18th Dynasty), found inSaqqara (tomb LS 27). She is shown claspinga menat (RMO Leiden AST.2). Since the OldKingdom, female dancers belonged to groupsof male and female musicians delivering funer-ary endowments, who acted for the deceased infront of his tomb chapel. This is made clearfrom an inscription (jba jn khener en per-djet,dancing by the group of musicians of the houseof eternity; i.e., tomb or the endowment forthe tomb) in the tomb of Neb-Kaw-Khor inSakkara from the 6th Dynasty. Acting perfor-mances during funerary rites appear to implymembership of a profession.Swimming may also have been taught togirls. Again, the texts and reliefs only speak ofmale students, as we also know from Min(TT109), the mayor of Tjeny (Thinis), whowas Overseer of the prophets of Onuris andtutor of Amenhotep II, to whom he taughtarchery. Another document, the Autobiographyof Kheti, prince of Siut, speaks of receivingswimming lessons (nebj) together with theroyal children (Decker 1975: 22–3). However,looking at the many spoons with young femaleswimmers as handles, we can assume that girlswere taught swimming as well, even if we takeinto consideration that these spoons had a2primary fertility aspect. The motif of theswimming girl also appears on other objects(Decker 1992: 91–5).The fact that girls were taught reading andwriting in some way is shown by female liter-acy; they were possibly taught by family mem-bers such as fathers or older brothers. Eventhough we know of literate woman, such asfemale scribes in the entourage of a queen ofthe 13th Dynasty or a female official employedby the god’s wife of the 26th Dynasty (Brunner1957: 46), we have no evidence for the school-ing of girls. In lower ranking families, theyseem to have had tuition from – maybefemale – family members, in elite familiesalso by special tutors. One prominent exampleof a royal tutor was Senenmut for princessNefrure, the daughter of Hatshepsut, who wasvery likely appointed by Nefrure’s father Thut-mose II. The title Royal Tutor (mena neswt)only appears in the 18th Dynasty. Little isknown about this office. We only have imagesdepicting the tutors with children, who aresometimes boys, where in one case he isshown teaching archery, and sometimes girls.The tutors seem to have acted as guardiansbefore teaching the children themselves, eitherin physical skills or intellectual ones or oversee-ing their education (Roehrig 2005: 112).Relatively easy access to the career path ofa scribe and the prospect of a high status posi-tion at the end of such a career made thisprofession very attractive to boys and theirparents. In the Teaching of Khety – a so-calledinstruction text compiled in the 12th Dynasty,also called Satire on the trades – being a scribeis seen as being superior to all other profes-sions (Foster 1999). Even though it ismentioned at the beginning of this instructionthat the author sent his son to a central“writing school” as a location for formal edu-cation, we know only a little about theroute and practice of such education andbecoming a scribe.Unfortunately, we have no fully reliableinformation about the sites where schoolsmight have been located or how schools wereorganized before the Middle Kingdom. Duringthe Old Kingdom, students were trained bytheir fathers or officials in the houses of thelatter and took part in a “father-son-relation-ship” (Janssen 2007: 59), even though therewas some organized teaching in the familyresidence, as the Old Kingdom title “Chiefteacher of royal children” suggests. We alsohave references to palace schools from theFirst Intermediate period and the New King-dom (Williams 1972: 215–6). The word forschool (lit.: house of instructions – at-seba orseba) is attested since the 10th Dynasty. At thebeginning of the Middle Kingdom, the admin-istration was reorganized and new bureaucra-cies were formed, which brought about theneed for the training of more scribes with theability to read and write to record transactions,royal events, and new policies. The MiddleKingdom, with its new and extended bureau-cracy, needed more capable administrators.This might be one reason for the creation offormal education outside the family. Schoolsseemed to be attached to administrative units,palaces, or temples. Due to obvious ortho-graphic differences in the Asyut Coffin Textspells and the local type of coffin decorationas well as a specific style of calcite statuettes, wecan assume the existence of a writing schoolduring the Middle Kingdom, as well as an artschool during the First Intermediate periodand the Middle Kingdom in Asyut, whichproduced high-quality texts and art work. Fur-thermore, more than one hundred and fortygraffiti in tomb N13.1 give evidence of schoolteaching during the New Kingdom, mainly the18th Dynasty. Teachers and students seem tohave made excursions to this tomb, quotingliterary texts and drawings on the walls.Ostraca found in tomb 3 are also connectedwith scribal or artistic exercises (Kahl 2007: 15,152–4). During the New Kingdom, we alsohave special evidence from the Ramesseum(mortuary temple of RAMESES II in THEBES-WEST), where there are plenty of inscribedostraca as well as small offices and storagerooms, but where no clearly identifiable classrooms were found (Janssen 2007: 65), andthe Temple of Mut, just outside the Karnak3precinct. Nevertheless, we know that educationin schools was focused on scribal training, asthis was fundamental for administration, eco-nomic organization, and the priesthood. Thereis no school that we know of in Lahun, and theschool of Deir El-Medina seems to have beenlocated outside the village. The students wenthere on their days off (McDowell 1996: 602;contrary to Brunner 1957: 19, who suggests theschool was located in town). Even though wedo not know exactly where the school wassituated, we know of its existence from ostracasuch as O DeM 438, a so-called “Call to les-sons,” where the instructing scribe informshis pupil about the next assignment and thestudent promises to do it. Such facts as schoolage, class numbers, and curriculum are onlyknown from the New Kingdom onwards(Janssen 2007: 60).One papyrus from Lahun (Petrie MuseumLondon, UC32196) contains model letters,some with red corrections, suggesting studentsand teachers at work. Similar examples can befound on various ostraca all over the country.There is more evidence from Lahun: writingtablets, ready to use, or a board used to teachcounting (Szpakowska 2008: 106). We knowmore from Deir El-Medina, the Thebanworkmen’s village. Many students’ exerciseson ostraca or writing board, covered withplaster, have survived, some even with the redcorrections carried out by the scribe himself ormore experienced scribes/teachers (McDowell2000). One text group, the so-called Miscella-nies, clearly describes a teacher–student rela-tionship. Some, mainly on ostraca, seem attimes to be in an inexperienced hand, thework of beginners; while the Late EgyptianMiscellanies look as if they have been writtenin a later stage of education such as an appren-ticeship (khery-a). They are longer, mostlywell written on papyrus, and sometimes dedi-cated by a student/assistant to his master.Evidence for further education is also foundin colophons on ostraca, stating that this textwas copied for a more senior scribe (McDowell1996). The scribal education started with pen-manship (cursive hieroglyphs and hieratic),rather than with the monumental hieroglyphictexts (Williams 1972: 219). These monumentalsigns were the domain of the draftsman(sesh-kedu) and stonemason; we do not haveevidence for their use by scribes in education.However, students learned writing while copy-ing these texts again and again from a mastercopy or by dictation, starting with completewords, later analyzing the individual inherentsigns (Janssen 2007: 66). This was based onthe method of memorization: the learnerswould have known a set of texts by heart,depending on the specific profession to betaken on after their education. There aremistakes in some of the texts, which can beonly explained as mnemonic lapses (Brunner1957: 72). Knowing the right texts showed thestudents the correct form of letter writing,with all the important formulas as well as theright grammar and orthography. However, ifwe look at the poor quality of some schooltexts, we have to admit that grammar didnot seem to have the highest priority. Theexercises were written on very cheap and read-ily available ostraca: stone flakes or potsherds.More experienced students used writingboards: small wooden plaster-covered planks,sometimes with a hole in one corner for bind-ing together with the writing equipment(Brunner 1957: 73–4). Expensive papyrus wasonly used by advanced students for final doc-uments. Rhetoric was always valued, and goodexamples were given in the chosen manu-scripts as instructions, teachings, religioustexts, or the classical canon of Egyptian litera-ture, which also supplied the proper moralqualities and ethics. Subjects taught alsoincluded mathematics, needed for bookkeep-ing, and geography, knowledge of which mighthave been handy for dealing with foreignaffairs (Szpakowska 2008: 107). We have noevidence for teaching foreign languages, butat the very least scribes in Amarna must havebeen able to read and write in cuneiform andpresumably must have learned this skill ina formal setting. Students were “encouraged”by punishment (Brunner 1957: 56–9), as it iswritten in P. Anastasi III 3/13: “the ears of a boy4are on his back,” or as in the above-mentionedSatire on the trades, which makes propagandafor the scribal profession: “I have seen manybeatings –/ Set your heart on books!” (Stanza 2;Foster 1999: 121).A very popular school text in DeirEl-Medina was the Kemyt (“the compilation”),which is even quoted in the aforesaid Satireon the trades. These New Kingdom examplesof a Middle Egyptian composition, copying ahieratic used at the beginning of the MiddleKingdom, were designed to introduce anapprentice to idioms, forms of writings, letterformulae and word spellings (Wente 1990:15–17, Williams 1972: 217).SEE ALSO: Childhood, Egypt; Literacy, PharaonicEgypt; Literature and poetry, Pharaonic Egypt;Rameses I–XI; Scribes, Egypt; Women,Pharaonic Egypt.REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGSBaines, J. (2007) Visual and written culture inAncient Egypt. Oxford.Brewer, D. J. and Teeter, E. (2007) Egypt and theEgyptians. Cambridge.Brunner, H. (1957) Alta¨gyptische Erziehung.Wiesbaden.Decker, W. (1975) Quellentexte zu Sportund Ko¨rperkultur im alten A¨gypten. SanktAugustin.Decker, W. (1992) Sports and games of AncientEgypt. New Haven.Feucht, E. (1995) Das Kind im Alten A¨gypten: dieStellung des Kindes in der Familie und Gesellschaftnach alta¨gyptischen Texten und Darstellungen.Frankfurt.Foster, J. L. (1999) “Some comments on Khety’sinstruction for little Pepi on his way to school:Satire on the trades.” In E. Teeter and J. A. Larson,eds., Gold of praise: studies on Ancient Egypt inhonor of Edward F. Wente: 121–9. Chicago.Janssen, R. M. (2007) Growing up and getting oldin Ancient Egypt: 57–75. London.Kahl, J. (2007) Ancient Asyut: the first synthesisafter 300 years of research. Wiesbaden.Lichtheim, M. (1976) Ancient Egyptianliterature II: the New Kingdom. Berkeley.Lichtheim, M. (1980) Ancient Egyptianliterature III: the Late period. Berkeley.Manniche, L. (1991) Music and musicians inAncient Egypt. London.McDowell, A. (1996) “Student exercises from Deirel-Medina: the dates.” In P. Der Manuelian, ed.,Studies in honor of William Kelly Simpson,vol. 2: 601–8. Boston.McDowell, A. (2000) “Teachers and students atDeir el-Medina.” In R. J. Demare´e and A. Egberts,eds., Deir el-Medina in the third millennium AD:217–33. Leiden.Morenz, L. D. (1996) Beitra¨ge zurSchriftlichkeitskultur im Mittleren Reich und inder 2. Zwischenzeit. Wiesbaden.Porter, B. and Moss, R. (1974) Topographicalbibliography of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphictexts, reliefs, and paintings III, 1: Memphis: AbuˆRawaˆsh to Abuˆsir, 2nd ed. Oxford.Porter, B. and Moss, R. (1978) Topographicalbibliography of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphictexts, reliefs, and paintings III, 2: Memphis:Saqqaˆra to Dahshuˆr, 2nd ed. Oxford.Roehrig, C. H. (2005) “Senenmut, royal tutor toPrincess Nefrure.” In C. H. Roehrig, ed.,Hatshepsut: from Queen to Pharaoh: 112–6.New York.Strouhal, E. and Forman, W. (1992) Life of theAncient Egyptians: 21–38. London.Szpakowska, K. (2008) Daily life in Ancient Egypt:102–21. Oxford.Toivari-Viitala, J. (2001) Women at Deir el-Medina:a study of the status and roles of the femaleinhabitants in the workmen’s community duringthe Ramesside period. Leiden.Wente, E. F. (1990) Letters from Ancient Egypt.Atlanta.Williams, R. J. (1972) “Scribal training inAncient Egypt.” Journal of the American OrientalSociety 92: 214–21.5

http://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/566/1/Education%2C%20Pharaonic%20Egypt.pdf

Education, Pharaonic Egypt

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Crossref

University of Wales Trinity Saint David