Introduction
The Fertile Crescent is a region that is crescent shaped that contains a fertile land that is usually called the arid and semiarid in the western Asia, Nile delta of the north east of Africa and the Nile valley. James Henry Breasted who was an archaeologist named the term Fertile Crescent. The countries that lie in the Fertile Crescent are Mesopotamia, Assyria, and Egypt. In the modern countries are Kuwait, Egypt, Israel, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria. It is presumed that education began since the human existence where parents pass on the traditions on values to their children who will do the same with their children. The earliest form of education that was writing was discovered in Egypt in 3500 BC. The Mesopotamia and Egypt, which are in the Fertile Crescent, were among the first to have literary achievements even though they differed in their beliefs and culture. This essay will look at the history of education in the fertile crescent region to the 1400s.
Egypt
The first alphabet was formed in the central Egypt using the prototype hieroglyphic at around 200 BC. In 3400 BC, the Egyptian had already formulated the hieroglyphs and was using it in the Abydos. The stone monuments were written using the hieroglyphic scripts. The papyrus was also used to be written using inks on some cursive scripts. The papyrus is a paper look alike that is made from the stems of reeds that usually grow besides rivers. The priest in Egypt was the one who preserved the education and culture of the people. The priest came from an elite family and was also involved in politics so that there will not be cultural diversity. In 640 AD, Islam was introduced in Egypt when Arabs invaded the country. This is when Cairo was made the capital of Egypt. During the Fatimid period, the area so changes in the education department because science and arts flourished and also architecture brought about the mosque of al Azhar (Thomason).
This mosque was used to teach the children about the Islamic laws. Architecture was introduced in the school syllabus in 2686 to 2181 BC, thus enabled the formation of some of the most famous monuments in Egypt such as the pyramids. In the 1800s that is when the country required many doctors therefore, it became a privilege when one studied medicine. The humanities subjects such as geometry, medicine, science and mathematics was left for the priest to teach while the vocational skills such as sculpture and architecture was never part of a formal schooling. The Egyptians were able to formulate two types of formal schools, which are the ones for the scribes and the priest trainee. The formal education was to be under the supervision of the government because only the privileged people could attend to them (Baines, p.577).
Children were supposed to start schooling when they have reached the age of 5 years when they enter the writing schools. The pupils were to continue with their reading and writing until the age of about 16 to 17 years. At the age of about 13 to 14 years, the male students had other training that would give them skills for office work in the future. The pupils who join the priesthood schools at the age of 17 went to study at the college temple. The duration for the priesthood study always depended on the requirements of the office of the priest. In the education sector in Egypt before 1400 was that the schools and pupils were to maintain strict discipline so as o have uniformity in the cultural transmission. This means that it was prohibited to defy or sway students away from their cultures. The methods in which the students were being taught were the drill and memorization methods. The scribes were applied in the final phase of schooling especially in the 15th century (Harris).
Mesopotamia
The logographic system was among earliest forms of cuneiform script. This kind of system took a lot of years to perfect in order to be used. This meant that only a few people could be able to be educated as the scribes in its way of reading and writing (Fischer). In the Mesopotamian society only the male child from a family of physicians, the temple administrators and the scribes were allowed to be schooled. The other citizens they educated their sons about the trade business, which they were doing to get income. During the period of 2900 BC to 2600 BC, the evolution of writing began in the Mesopotamian region. As for the girls, they were supposed to remain at home with their mothers so as to learn about housekeeping work and care for their younger siblings. The syllabic script is what brought about the literacy levels of many Mesopotamians to increase. The formal education in Mesopotamia was mainly aimed at educating the priests and the scribes. As time passed by the formal education, which mainly consisted of reading, religion and writing, was able to evolve and formed higher learning schools that educated people on astrology, medicine and law.
The priesthood education was the one considered superior because the education was conducted in the temples. The priest is the one who educates the pupils in the library, which is located at the temple most noted, is the temple library located in Sippar. The literary texts, religion and scholarly works were written in the Akkadian (Mieroop). The temple is guarded by the most influential priests. The methods in which the students were educated through oral repetitions, copying models, people instruction and memorization. The test of excellence in the ancient Mesopotamia education was the copying of scripts. This is because copying scripts was considered to be the hardest and the most exhausting way of education. The process of education was considered to be very tough and exhausting while discipline was very harsh.
The fist literary fiction in the ancient Mesopotamia was the epic of Gilgamesh, which was considered to be an epic poem. In the middle ages, in Mesopotamia changes had occurred due to religion. Religion changed education in that it became more about the education of religion in the 15th century. School was still mostly for the rich families therefore, the poor people’s children were still illiterate. In the schools discipline was a must and whenever anyone made a mistake they beaten by rods. There were some priest who took the initiative to educate some of the poor children to read and write. By the 13th century, education had been common in that there were some university, which were built for higher education. During the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the king Ashurbanipal was very much invested in the scribal education. In his lifetime, he was able to learn of how to read and write as well as know about mathematics, horsemanship, chariotry, royal decorum and oil divination. His other thing that he was known for was the collection of the cuneiform from the library in Nineveh that was located in Babylonian and also from other parts of the Mesopotamia. The library of Nineveh is considered to be among the firsts well organised library in the ancient times (Thomason).
Sumerian
The Sumerians thought that education was very vital for people to have in the society. This therefore, made them document everything for future generations who will be able to read their documentation. The boys were the only ones who were allowed to go to schools. The cuneiform was the language that was written in order for people to study. The people in the society knew the educators for their very strict and harsh discipline in schools. Whenever a pupil had made a mistake, the manner in which they were punished was usually whipping. Although schools were very harsh, most male children in the society wanted to attend to schools. This was mainly because at that time most people who went to school usually got the best jobs (Harris). There was an ancient proverb that stated that those who excel in the school of scribes will be an important person in the society. This therefore, created a social class of scribes that were able to be employed in the offices of the lawyers and the agriculture. The Semitic Babylonians were able to learn the language that was extinct known as the Sumerian language. According to the archaeological, evidence they were able to find some of the scribal texts that belonged to the Babylonians schools.
In conclusion, the Fertile Crescent region was where education began and spread throughout the world. In both Egypt and Mesopotamia, religion was very important and became an essential in education from the middle ages to the 15th century. In Egypt, school was only meant for the rich people in the society. The male children were the ones educated while the girl child remained at home with their mother to learn housework. The priests were the ones who educated the children. In Mesopotamia, the boy child was also the ones that went to school while the girls remained at home. In this area, the priest oversaw most of everything ranging from the learning process to the applied education.
Bibliography
Baines, J. (1984). Literacy and ancient Egyptian society. Man (New Series) , 572-599. Print
Fischer, S. R. (2004). A History of Writing. Reaktion Books. Print
Mieroop, M. V. (2007). A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000-323 BC. Blackwell. Print
Thomason, A. K. (2005). Luxury and Legitimation: Royal Collecting in Ancient Mesopotamia. Ashgate Publishing, p.25. Print
Harris, W.V. (1989). Ancient literacy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Print
