The Beginning of Formal Education

About 3000 ВС*, the Sumerians,** who lived in Tigris-Euphrates Valley,*** and the Egyptians each invented a system of writing. Both systems included a method of writing numbers as well as language. The invention of writing was the second major milestone in the history of education. It made possible the beginning of schools as we know them today.

Before man developed writing, teachers had to repeat orally what was to be learned until the young had memorized it. A child could thus learn only what his teacher already knew, and had memorized. But by teaching the child to read, a teacher could make available the knowledge of many men, not only his own, yet reading and writing could not be learned while the child served as an apprentice, imitated the behaviour of his elders, or took part in rituals. In addition, the first writing systems, which were a kind of picture writing, were awkward* and hard to learn. As a result, special schools arose in which teachers taught reading, writing, and calculation.

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* ВС – до нашей эры

** the Sumerians – шумеры

*** Tigris-Euphrates Valley – долина рек Тигра и Евфрата

Sumerian and Egyptian Education

Shortly after 3000 ВС, both0 the Sumerians and the Egyptians established schools to teach boys the newly invented arts of reading and writing. The schools were taught by temple priests. Only exceptionally talented boys could attend the schools. Girls were not allowed to attend school, but some girls learned reading and writing in their homes.

A boy's training, which lasted from about the age of 5 to 17, was strict and monotonous. He learned to write by copying the same literary selections again and again. He learned arithmetic by copying business accounts. Boys who completed their education formed a separate social class called "scribes." Scribes were hired for any task that required a knowledge of reading, writing, or arithmetic.

Other Middle Eastern Education

Civilization spread from Sumer and Egypt to the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea.** Certain tribes in this region each spoke one of the closely related Semitic languages. Between about 1500 ВС and 1000 ВС, these tribes developed the world's first alphabet and so gave education another valuable tool. Alphabetic systems make writing easier than picture systems because they require far fewer symbols.

Certain Hebrew*** Semitic tribes developed a remarkably democratic educational system. Other educational systems had been designed mainly for the sons of upper-class families. But the Hebrews required boys of every social class to attend school. The Hebrew schools were religious -schools conducted by priests called scribes. They taught boys to read the sacred writings of the Hebrew people, which were collected in a volume called the Tarah. Hebrew girls did not attend school but were taught at home by their mothers.

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* awkward – неудобный, затруднительный

** the Mediterranean Sea – Средиземное море

*** Hebrew – иудей; (древне)еврейский