Education In Mesopotamia Essay
Education in Mesopotamia
In Mesopotamia there were 4 classes of people. The Kings and Priests were at the top of the class. The Upper Class was the wealthy. The Lower Class was salaried for their work. The slaves were at the foot system. The kings and priests were very influential. The priests controlled the society because they owned most of the land, and a lot of. The Priests were over the schools and the libraries in their temples.
In southern Mesopotamia the first schools were created by the Sumerians. The discovery of writing in the mid 4th millennium B.C. made kings and priests realize the need for education. At first, the writing was simple pictograms, but it progressively developed into cuneiform, wedge-shaped marks inscribed on …show more content…
Learning scribal skills was tough work. Girls did not learn to read or write unless they were daughters of kings or were training as priestesses. Teachers, mostly former scribes or priests, were harsh disciplinarians, students were often punished by beating. Teachers punished students who spoke out of turn, spoke without permission, dressed inappropriately, or got up and left without approval. They expected students to be obedient as well as hard working. Teachers educated the boys reading, writing, math and history. Depending on their future employment, students not only had to learn literacy and numeracy, but to be familiar with a wide selection of subjects. The schools were reserved only for the students who were privileged and wealthy. Students had to work hard to learn the skills of a scribe. Students learned the complicated cuneiform script by constant practice on their clay tablets. Teacher aids or big brother (mentors) would help students with their work. Repeated practice, performance, reading a mixture of texts and constant copying step by step taught the students the thousands of groups of cuneiform marks they needed to know. Teachers found many clay tablets covered with a student’s hard work, often corrected by a teacher. Once the students graduated, a new scribe could become a priest with more training, or he could work as a scribe for the military, palace, temple or an array of
In Mesopotamia there were 4 classes of people. The Kings and Priests were at the top of the class. The Upper Class was the wealthy. The Lower Class was salaried for their work. The slaves were at the foot system. The kings and priests were very influential. The priests controlled the society because they owned most of the land, and a lot of. The Priests were over the schools and the libraries in their temples.
In southern Mesopotamia the first schools were created by the Sumerians. The discovery of writing in the mid 4th millennium B.C. made kings and priests realize the need for education. At first, the writing was simple pictograms, but it progressively developed into cuneiform, wedge-shaped marks inscribed on …show more content…
Learning scribal skills was tough work. Girls did not learn to read or write unless they were daughters of kings or were training as priestesses. Teachers, mostly former scribes or priests, were harsh disciplinarians, students were often punished by beating. Teachers punished students who spoke out of turn, spoke without permission, dressed inappropriately, or got up and left without approval. They expected students to be obedient as well as hard working. Teachers educated the boys reading, writing, math and history. Depending on their future employment, students not only had to learn literacy and numeracy, but to be familiar with a wide selection of subjects. The schools were reserved only for the students who were privileged and wealthy. Students had to work hard to learn the skills of a scribe. Students learned the complicated cuneiform script by constant practice on their clay tablets. Teacher aids or big brother (mentors) would help students with their work. Repeated practice, performance, reading a mixture of texts and constant copying step by step taught the students the thousands of groups of cuneiform marks they needed to know. Teachers found many clay tablets covered with a student’s hard work, often corrected by a teacher. Once the students graduated, a new scribe could become a priest with more training, or he could work as a scribe for the military, palace, temple or an array of