1. HISTORY OF EDUCATION

The first major milestone in the history of education occurred in prehistoric times when man invented language. Language en­abled man to communicate more precisely than he could by signs and gestures. But early man had only a spoken language. He had no system of writing or numbering and no schools.

Young people in prehistoric societies were educated through apprenticeship, imitation and rituals.Through apprenticeship a young man learned, for example, how to build a shelter by working with an older, experienced master builder. Through imitation, young people acquired the language and customs of their par­ents and other adults in their society. Through the performance of rituals, they learned about the meaning of life and the ties that bound them to their group. The rituals consisted of dancing or other activities. They were performed at times of emotional stress, such as death, warfare, or drought. The rituals usually involved myths, which dealt with such things as the group's history and its gods and heroes.

Today, in all societies, young people still learn through ap­prenticeship, imitation and ritual.But as a society grows increasingly complicated, teachers and schools take on more and more re­sponsibility for educating the young.

The Beginning of Formal Education

About 3000 ВС¹, the Sumerians², who lived in Tigris-Euph­rates Valley³, 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 awkward¹ and hard to learn. As a result, special schools arose in which teachers taught reading, writing, and calculation.

Sumerian and Egyptian Education

Shortly after 3000 ВС, both 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 shore of the Mediterranean Sea². Certain tribes in this region each spoke one of the closely related Semitic languages. Between about 150 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 Hebrew³ Semitic tribes developed a remarkably democratic educational system. Other educational systems had be 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.

¹ awkward I'o-.kwad] — неудобный, затруднительный

² the Mediterranean Sea — Средиземное море

³ Hebrew ['hi-.bru:] — иудей; (древне)еврейский

' ВС — до нашей эры

² the Sumerians [sA'menanz] — шумеры

³ Tigris-Euphrates Valley ['taignsju'freitr.z'vaeli] — долина рек Тигра и Евфрата