READ: For any Americentric haters, this was typed with the U.S. in mind, as this was a final paper of mine at my U.S. college. My question and point are directed to the rest of the world, regardless.

In Ancient Egypt there was an emphasis on education, one that can be compared to education in Western societies, even in times and places as modern as colonial North America and in the United States today. There were various schools for the children from richer upbringings, with classrooms reminiscent of modern schools, especially in the U.S. For those of poorer classes, the children were educated by their parents and other family members. The similarities are also cemented by writings which are similar to Biblical lessons, and handbooks seen in early New England. Through archeological finds, an educational philosophy similar to Essentialism can be assumed. The values of Ancient Egyptians are surprisingly open-minded for the oldest civilization ruled by a king, and can be compared, again, to the U.S. In regards to my intended major of History and current outlook on my future classroom, the philosophies found in Ancient Egypt mostly coincide with my own, which, coupled with the similarity of schooling and values between Egypt and my country, makes this an important topic for me.

Not all children received a proper schooling education in Ancient Egypt; far from it. In fact, only those who would become scribes or priests were able to go to school, joined by royals and the wealthy. On top of that limitation, only the boys were allowed schooling. All girls, and all boys who did not fit into the prior options (which were most) stayed at home (Alchin). That doesn’t mean, however, that they were not educated. Children would typically take on the occupation of their parents when they came of age, so the parents and family would teach the children what they needed to inherit the respective line of work. For instance, a girl would learn from her mother about keeping a stable household, or even an artisan trade (depending on a family’s class). The boys would, once they were deemed old enough, start to follow their fathers and learn in the field, as a hands-on learning. Butchering and shoemaking are examples (Carr). Both girls and boys were taught the social values of Ancient Egypt by their families, including everything from how to act in public to religious rituals (The Life of Ancient Egyptians). This type of education is strikingly similar to how it was in the British Southern Colonies. Due to the spaced out population, the children of the early South didn’t tend to go to schools, instead being taught at home, with the poorer ones having their parents, and the wealthier ones having tutors (Ryan 309).

As stated, the wealthy and well-off children in Egypt were the ones to go to school, and we see more in common between our country’s education system and Egypt’s there, as well. Schools in Ancient Egypt resemble schools seen throughout the history of the U.S. To begin with, the classrooms from both ages look alike. In Ancient Egyptian schools there were desks or tables for students lined up in rows all facing the front of the classroom, where the teacher would be. The teacher’s chair would be big, and very distinguishable from the seats of the students (Carr). This is found in a great amount of classrooms, not just specific to the U.S. It is then seen that Ancient Egyptian schools were teacher-oriented sources of education, with the teacher being a professionally educated man (since women’s roles were limited, albeit not harshly for this time period) who passes on his knowledge and the wisdom of their society to the students attending.

What is especially intriguing about how an Egyptian class was conducted happens to be what was used to teach, and the subjects that were taught in a school. For teaching social customs and bits of wisdom or life lessons, there were recordings of knowledge we call “Books of Instruction.” These books were passed down from father to son, king to heir, and collected by scribes. They were also used in class to teach both moral lessons and memorization of written characters (The Life of Ancient Egyptians). Archeological digs at a certain site have discovered a wall from one such an ancient classroom. On this wall was painted a small passage from Homer’s Odyssey (Carr). This hinted at schools covering literature. Taking the Books and the quote on the wall, we see that the Ancient Egyptian classroom had at least three objects to take knowledge from: The teacher, their society, and the literature of those from the past. There was a fairly broad area of knowledge taught at these schools, from Reading and Writing, to Arithmetic and Geometry, from History and Geography, to Astronomy and other sciences. Students were even taught in music and medicines (Alchin).

Edited 7/3/2017 17:04:16

Looking at classes today in the U.S. there really isn’t much difference seen between ours and the classes of Ancient Egypt. Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies are all core classes in our school system. We read what our society upholds as classic works of literature and study to find the messages behind them; in fact, I, personally, read a portion of the Odyssey in a middle school English class. Our students are taught the values of society with a school’s hidden curriculum and by the culture they live in. The Books of Instruction are similar to the New England Primer, a Christian-based book used in the New England colonies to teach their young children spelling, grammar, and values (Ryan 308). Even with the Primer gone, though, we can still compare the Books of Instruction to the Bible and lessons preached in it, which have influenced this historically Christian country immensely. For instance, the following two phrases from Books of Instruction are peculiarly similar to the Commandments regarding jealousy:

“Do not move the boundary-stone in the field nor shift the surveyor's rope; do not covet a cubit of your neighbor's land nor tamper with the widow's land-bounds.
“Covet not the poor farmer's property nor hunger after his bread; the peasant's morsel will surely gag in the throat and revolt the gullet” (The Life of Ancient Egyptians).

The quoting of the Odyssey on a classroom wall is also something that happens in our classes. A good class atmosphere can be achieved in no small part by decorating the walls, usually with material dealing with a class’s content, and I see it in every class I have had so far, myself.
The similarities between Ancient Egypt and the current U.S. don’t just stop at how schooling is done, but flows into the question of why it is done. Essentialism is the educational philosophy which believes students should be brought up learning what is needed for them to become functional members of society and have a sufficient life at the same time. There is less time for music and the arts and more time for Math, Science, and English. This “back to basics” philosophy was, and still (to some degree) is, unique to the U.S. (Ryan 286) What is interesting is that the education in Ancient Egypt seems a bit like the basics the U.S. was going back to. Scribes, priests, royals, and the wealthy were the only ones to go to a school. While they were taught music in some cases (which would not be seen much in Essentialist classes), reading and writing were essential for scribes, and Astronomy for priests, additionally. The cream of the crop and the royals should know how to count and calculate if they wish to keep their position. A pharaoh, who would be taught from a very young age to lead a people, would need all information he or she could take in; on top of being rulers of a nation, they were synonymous to a god, in the earlier years of Egypt, especially. Those who did not go to school were educated on how to fulfill the job occupation of their parents (Alchin). This cycle of learning what one needs to have his or her place in society quite possibly built Egypt up to its greatness, and we see that cycle in American Essentialism.

Educational philosophy and execution are still not the only things the ancient civilization shares with our nation. In comparison to other nations of its own time, it can be said that Egypt was very egalitarian. Women still could not carry out some jobs and privileges that men could, like going to school, but they certainly were seen as people. They could properly tend to a farm, make jewelry and baskets as artisans and merchants, they could even own land and be a pharaoh (Cleopatra being the most famous example) (Carr). Rome and Greece are always the two civilizations that are pointed to when one ponders what our nation was shaped by. True Democracy comes straight from Athens and a Democratic Republic government hails from Rome, but Egypt, while it did have a god-king as its ruler, had an “equality” mindset to it. Two phrases from Books of Instruction can show such:

“Do not boast of your knowledge, but seek the advice of the untutored as much as the well-educated.
“Wise words are rarer than precious stones and may come even from slave-girls grinding the corn” (“The Life of Ancient Egyptians”).

And when we compare this Ancient Egyptian moral with the way we govern ourselves, there is yet another similarity seen. All are eligible to have their voice heard and listened to in our country now, whether it be at a town meeting, a protest or petition, or in a vote for various leaders. Perhaps we should add Egypt to the list of civilizations that influenced our Founding Fathers?
All in all, I believe the knowledge of Ancient Egyptian education is an important topic for myself, and every U.S. teacher now that I have looked into it myself. The moral values found in the Books of Instruction are words that I take to heart, not to mention the similarity with Biblical lessons which have shaped a deal of our culture is uncanny. The subjects taught in Ancient Egypt are all subjects I believe to be important, even essential to a proper career and life in the U.S. today. The nearly identical classroom setup of Ancient Egyptian and American classes boggles my mind and makes me wonder if it is the correct way to teach, since it has apparently worked for thousands of years. The teacher, the books, the parents, and society all being sources of knowledge is definitely something I want to have in my classroom. If anything, these loads of similarities only prove that History is still worth teaching, for if we didn’t have knowledge of the way these old civilizations ran things, we might not be living in this country today, and that has me content.

Works Cited

Alchin, Linda. “Ancient Egyptian Education.” Historyembalmed.org, Siteseen, 2017, www.historyembalmed.org/ancient-egyptians/ancient-egyptian-education.htm.

Carr, K E. “Egyptian Schools.” Quatr.us, Quatr.us, 2017, quatr.us/egypt/people/school.htm.

Ryan, Kevin, et al. Those Who Can, Teach. 14th ed., Cengage Learning, 2016.

“The Life of Ancient Egyptians: Education and Learning in Ancient Egypt.” Touregypt.net, TourEgypt, 2017, www.touregypt.net/historicalessays/lifeinegypt7.htm.

I wouldn't be surprised if this thread is going to be full of comments like "We wuz kangz and shiet".

Now for my Question:

How should classrooms be taught? Should we be happy that the U.S. and other nations are using such and old and, therefore, successful and effective way of Schooling and Education? Or should we be concerned that education has not evolved far from the point of how it was conducted in Ancient Egypt?

Dude I'm sorry I'm not reading this.

LMAO

Do you doubt Darth Darth Binks ability to write essays, Tabby?

What university? :P

Good essay, by the way.

I assure you that Cata has downvoted this thread as part of her campaign to clean the forum out of U.S.-American bias, despite your disclaimer.

Anyhow, I will read this later.

What university? :P

This was for my Foundations of Education class at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA. It's one of the top Liberal Arts colleges in the U.S., so they say. It has local connections, Benedictine education values, and a good Social Studies department.

Good essay, by the way.

Thank you. I wish I had better sources to work with, rather than websites, but I wasn't officially a student at St. Vincent at that point to access its library, and the public libraries didn't have books that went deep into this particular topic.

Dude I'm sorry I'm not reading this.

I didn't think most would. Nonetheless, you may still partake in the discussion I have proposed.

I assure you that Cata has downvoted this thread as part of her campaign to clean the forum out of U.S.-American bias, despite your disclaimer.

Yep.

Anyhow, I will read this later.

Cool. You've always been one to give your two cents on a topic I bring up.

This article is great! We need more original articles and links like this one. Upvoted.

Thanks, man. I was sifting through my Google Drive when I found this, and I thought some may like this topic.

Edited 7/4/2017 01:56:35

St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA. It's one of the top Liberal Arts colleges in the U.S

As far as I can tell, they all say this. I've literally never heard of this place, and I'm looking at good liberal arts schools

As far as I can tell, they all say this. I've literally never heard of this place, and I'm looking at good liberal arts schools

Yep. But I was offered a great deal with tuition, and the Pittsburgh Steelers have Summer camp there.

>ancient

t too ignorant to name specific dynasties.

>modern

vague word without any meaning, especially in this context.

Edited 7/4/2017 14:05:08

^Naming all the Dynasties that would apply would take a lot of space in the prompt and take away from the point of the paper. In fact, if I were to go a little more specific, I would not dissect it further than the Three Kingdoms. This is a paper for an Education class. If this were a History-focused class, I would have seen the need to dive deeper.

As for using the word "modern," I believe I have used it correctly in all instances, in either comparing how close a certain time period (Colonial era) is to our time in regards to Ancient Egypt, or in referring to our current era, the Modern Era.

Edited 7/4/2017 15:24:36

Don't take Karl the baby seriously, he isn't tough, he's the exact opposite. He is a pig.

^So Karl is a piglet?

A piglet is a young pig, Karl is an old one.

an educational philosophy similar to Essentialism

what's that?

only those who would become scribes or priests were able to go to school, joined by royals and the wealthy

overstanding what you are saying here. So is it scribes, priests, and the wealthy go to school, or is it that the wealthy go to school to become scribes and priests?

Essentialism is the educational philosophy which believes students should be brought up learning what is needed for them to become functional members of society and have a sufficient life at the same time.

could've explicated this earlier in the paper. and are there any non-retarded picks other than "Essentialism"?

This “back to basics” philosophy was, and still (to some degree) is, unique to the U.S. (Ryan 286)

"Ryan" is a braindead cuck, don't listen to him. No country really follows "Essentialism" as much as it should, but every national education system stresses maths (and programming more and more), sciences, and writing.

Women still could not carry out some jobs and privileges that men could, like going to school, but they certainly were seen as people.

Name one society that did not see women as people (excluding slaves). Anyhow, USA was founded akin to the British system, where wealthy men were above all else politically. And historically it was not very egalitarian relative to other countries. Today you might say that it is egalitarian, but there are still a lot of unseen Americans who hate Mexicans, hate gays. And then on the other side, you've got folk upholding to invalidate whiteskins' votes so Trump doesn't get picked.

Rome and Greece are always the two civilizations that are pointed to when one ponders what our nation was shaped by.

It's true. Noone back then (and still today somewhat) cared nor knew about the history of a Turkish vilayet in Africa, and noone spoke Egyptian, whereas everyone and their nan at all wealthy could write in Latin and many in Greek as well. Any coincidences with Egypt are just that: coincidences. I'm pretty sure the Bolsheviks and Revolutionary France weren't inspired by Egypt, despite their groundbreaking egalitarianism for the times. Heck, I don't think it was until the French invasion of Egypt that they really started digging much there.

All are eligible to have their voice heard and listened to in our country now, whether it be at a town meeting, a protest or petition, or in a vote for various leaders. Perhaps we should add Egypt to the list of civilizations that influenced our Founding Fathers?

Every grownup having a say is something thoroughly not-Egyptian. And furthermore, I'm pretty sure when America was first founded, something like 3% the population was eligible to vote.

the similarity with Biblical lessons which have shaped a deal of our culture is uncanny

Not so uncanny if you think about it. Both very old Afroasiatic cultures living in pretty much the same lands with a lot of interaction with each other.

History is still worth teaching

Not as a mandatory subject. And if not as a mandatory subject, most everything is worth teaching.

Should we be happy that the U.S. and other nations are using such and old and, therefore, successful and effective way of Schooling and Education?

Modern education, it's дерьмо. In Europe and America we still learn the same stuff ancient Greeks did, despite its irrelevance. Handheld calculators have been a thing since the '70s, and graphing calculators since the '80s. And now some carry calculators at all times: their telephone. Law, programming, economy, why're these not yet mandatory subjects mostwhere? Self-defence instead of aimlessly running classes, drop learning literature and history wholly.

overstanding what you are saying here. So is it scribes, priests, and the wealthy go to school, or is it that the wealthy go to school to become scribes and priests?

He said "joined by royals and the wealthy", so it's scribes and priests that went to school with the royals and the wealthy, according to him.

Edited 7/4/2017 19:22:45