Sumerian Education
Most education took place in a temple, associated with a priest. Education for wealthy families, studied and worked from sun up to sun down. Sumerians only focused on studying complex grammar, and practiced writing. Most, if not all sumerian students were male. The greater part of the students came from the more wealthy families; the poor could hardly afford the cost and the time which a prolonged education demanded. Until recently this was assumed a priori to be the case. Sumerians were praised if work was done well and accurate. If this did not happen, students were punished with lashes from a stick or cane.
The temples were called edubbas, meaning tablet house. The teacher, and or preist, was called ummia, meaning expert. Sumerians created the first known formal education system (schools). It is unlikely that you could get into scribe school if you were the son of a lowly farmer.You had to attend school for many years to learn the written language (cuneiform), the number system, and the methods and conventions of a scribe. Much of scribe school consisted of memorizing and copying cuneiform texts from one tablet to another. Sexagesimal (base 60) is a numeral system with sixty as its base. It originated with the ancient Sumerians.
Education was first established for the purpose of training the scribes,a person who writes books or documents by hand as a profession and helps keep track of records. This was necessary to satisfy the economic and administrative needs of the land, primarily, of course, those of the temple and palace. This continued to be the major aim of the Sumerian school throughout its existence. However, in the course of its growth and development, it came to be the center of culture and learning in Sumer.
Most education took place in a temple, associated with a priest. Education for wealthy families, studied and worked from sun up to sun down. Sumerians only focused on studying complex grammar, and practiced writing. Most, if not all sumerian students were male. The greater part of the students came from the more wealthy families; the poor could hardly afford the cost and the time which a prolonged education demanded. Until recently this was assumed a priori to be the case. Sumerians were praised if work was done well and accurate. If this did not happen, students were punished with lashes from a stick or cane.
The temples were called edubbas, meaning tablet house. The teacher, and or preist, was called ummia, meaning expert. Sumerians created the first known formal education system (schools). It is unlikely that you could get into scribe school if you were the son of a lowly farmer.You had to attend school for many years to learn the written language (cuneiform), the number system, and the methods and conventions of a scribe. Much of scribe school consisted of memorizing and copying cuneiform texts from one tablet to another. Sexagesimal (base 60) is a numeral system with sixty as its base. It originated with the ancient Sumerians.
Education was first established for the purpose of training the scribes,a person who writes books or documents by hand as a profession and helps keep track of records. This was necessary to satisfy the economic and administrative needs of the land, primarily, of course, those of the temple and palace. This continued to be the major aim of the Sumerian school throughout its existence. However, in the course of its growth and development, it came to be the center of culture and learning in Sumer.
Citations:
http://mesopotamia.mrdonn.org/school.html
http://chnm.gmu.edu/cyh/primary-sources/408
http://www.fsmitha.com/h1/ch01.htm
http://mesopotamia.mrdonn.org/school.html
http://chnm.gmu.edu/cyh/primary-sources/408
http://www.fsmitha.com/h1/ch01.htm