SAMAR COLLEGE INC.

GRADUATE STUDIES
CATBALOGAN CITY

NAME : ROSELLE N. SOLAYAO

SUBJECT : MA026 Foundation of Education
TEACHER : Dr. Elena de Luna
Time: 10:30 AM -1:00 PM
Topic : The Ancient, Oriental, Sumerian, Early Egyptian And Jewish Education

What is Education ?
 Transmission of knowledge, skills and values
 Originally a family responsibility
 Objectives:
 Development of talents and character
 Socio-economic growth

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ANCIENT, ORIENTAL, SUMERIAN, EARLY

EGYPTIAN AND JEWISH EDUCATION
PRIMITIVE EDUCATION
 Relatively Simple
 Relatively narrow social and cultural contacts
 Extraordinarily conservative
 Prone to superstition
 the organization of primitive life was tribal not political
 The absence of reading and writing

AIMS
SECURUTY
 To prepare the young to secure himself and his family
CONFORMITY
• Brought together families, clans and tribe
TYPES
1. PRACTICAL- Simple form of domestic, vocational, physical, moral, and military
training
2. THEORRETICAL- Covered the religious, musical and literary

Content
The education of primitive people consisted of:
Physical training to enable them to satisfy their food and shelter
Ceremonial training to deal with unforeseen forces
Social knowledge to learn the customs, taboos and traditions for harmonious living
with the other members of the tribe.
AGENCIES
WOMEN- child-rearing and household management
MEN- hunting, fishing fighting, making tools and weapons and how to propriate the
gods
METHODS
Primitive Children Learned By;
1. Unconscious imitation of the activities
2. conscious method
3. Simple telling and demonstration of how things done
4. Trial and error
ORGANIZATION
Primitive Education- random and incidental with no grades or levels of instruction
Initiation Ceremonies- adolescent youth, though, were highly organized and youth were
taught the ancient secrets of the tribe.

ORIENTAL EDUCATION
Nomadic tribes settle down civilization developed along the region of Mesopotamia
and the Nile.
 Developed a higher level of culture
 Developed the use of Bronze and Iron
 Acquired an elaborate system of writing
Mesopotamia
Formal Education
 Practical and aimed to train young children to become priest and scribes
 Fundamental of reading, writing and religion
 Higher learning in law, medicine and astrology
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION
• Rote of memorization
• Oral repetition
• Copying of models
• Individual instruction
Priest Education was very significant among Mesopotamians
Library- The center of intellectual activity
Upper strata-trained to become scribes who ranged from copyists to librarians and
teachers
The leaders of the dominant tribes became the kings and priest who organized a
complex government which demanded obedience from the people.

EGYPT- Is one of the earliest civilizations settled by Hamitic people who inhibited the
valley of the Nile 20,000 years ago, and with a recorded history reaching back to the
fifth millennium B.C

EARLY EGYPTIAN EDUCATION

 Government was ruled a series of dynasties of Pharoah

 Egyptians were polytheistic
 They worshipped the sun of god , ra or amon ra and Osiris who judge the dead;
horus god of day ‘ set, their satan
 They were firm believers in life after death that’s why they build many temples

AIMS OF EDUCATION
CULTURAL- To preserve and perpetuate culture
UTILITARIAN- To transfer skills from father to son so that the son could run his daily
life
Preservation of cultural patterns
Train by scribes

TYPES
RELIGIOUS- To Inculcate in the mind of the learners proper respect for the gods, moral
conduct, and preparation for life after death.
Vocational-professional education- they wanted to perpetuate the artistic skills that
embellished their temples
domestic- only for the sons of the nobles
Literary education- was needed because of the organization of the state which was
staffed by civil officials

AGENCIES
1. HOME- The first school
2. TEMPLE SCHOOL- Center of advance learning
3. Military schools- only for the sons of the nobles for defense and aggression
4. Court school- For those aspiring for a public office and those taking up law and
also taught the youth the duties of royalty, also through apprenticeship
5. Vocational schools- Schools of arts and trades

Methods
 Dictation
 Memorization
 Copying texts were the chief methods
 Imitation and repetition
 Observation and participation
 Internship or apprenticeship

Content
1. Reading, writing and language
2. Religious and secular literature- study of aphorisms, proverbs, moral judgement
3. Artistry in metal and lapidary
4. Mathematics especially geometry and surveying
5. Astronomy, engineering, architecture, physics, medicine, embalming, dentistry,
and law
6. Music, dancing, playing the harp, cymbals, drum, lyre, guitar,tambourine and
clapping to rhythm.
7. Sports, games, and physical education with swimming, wrestling, archery,
hunting and fishing
Military schools offered training in the use of the bow and arrow, battle, ax, lance, mace,
and shield
The pupils and students had to pay a certain amount of school fees even in the lower
schools. Hence, education was not universal.
Flogging was used to penalize failure to learn.
The young studied at home, mother as a teacher
Girls were not sent to school
Boy’s sent off to schools from the age of eight
The schools were typically reserve for children from royal and rich backgrounds

Facts About Education in Ancient Egypt

 • Ancient Egypt’s education syllabus included reading, writing, morality,
mathematics, sport and religious instruction
• The Egyptians used hieroglyphs or symbols in their written language. Their
language was primarily comprised of consonants and had few vowels
• Formal education for young boys began when they turned 7
• Most boys were apprenticed to their father’s trade after completing their formal
education
 Scribes provided secular instruction on reading, writing, medicine and
mathematics
• Priests taught lessons on religion and morality
• Surviving images show children seated at their desks in a classroom , while a
teacher is seated at a larger desk
• Most women in ancient Egypt were not allowed to receive formal education but
were home schooled
• Lower-class women could rarely read and write.

SUMERIAN EDUCATION

ORIGIN OF THE NAME

• The term “sumerian” is the common name given to the ancient inhabitants of
southern Mesopotamia(present Iraq) by their successors, the semitic Akkadians.
The sumerians called their land ki’engir but referred to themselves as Úĝ saĝ gĺg-
ga, phonetically uŋ saŋ giga, litetrally mean “ the black-headed people”. The
Akkadian word Shumer may represent the geographical name in dialect, but the
phonological development leading to the Akkadian term šumerŭ is uncertain.
Biblical Shinar, Egyptian Sngr and Hittite šanhar(a) could be western variants of
Shumer.

EDUCATION
• first established for the purpose of training the scribes
• took place in a temple, associated with a priest.
• for wealthy families, studied and worked from sun up to sun down.
• Sumerians only focused on studying complex grammar, and practiced writing.
• The greater part of the students came from the more wealthy families
• 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 or priest, was called ummia, meaning expert. Sumerians created the
first known formal education system (schools)

JEWISH EDUCATION
Jewish education (Hebrew: ‫חינוך‬, Chinukh)- is the transmission of the tenets, principles
and religious laws of Judaism.
• Jews value education- the value of education is strongly embedded
in Jewish culture.
Synagogue- The Jewish Community Center
 pray
 learn about Judaism
 discussions
look after members of the community.
The Hebrew expression ibri characterizes the early Israelites (“son if Israel or Jacob”)as
alien groups of inferior legal status
• camel Bedouin (desert people)
• Nomad- a member of a people having no permanent abode, and who travel from
place to place to find fresh pasture for their livestock.
According to the patriarchal tradition, the languages of customs of the nomadic
shepherds in the territory of Mari during the 20th century B.C. originated from 1500 B.C.

EDUCATION
• Home
• The primary source of Jewish education was the printed word of God also
known as BIBLE
• Learning process was rigorous, serious, and exact with accompanying physical
punishment.
Israelites learned
• To write
• Draw up contacts
• Kept accounts
• Maintain records and
• Prepared orders

Rabbis and scribes of the law were the agent of education by:
• Copying
• Translating
• Interpreting
• Teaching the sacred precepts
Israel in 722-721 B.C. And Judah in 586 B.C. synagogue become:
• House of prayer
• House of the book
• House of instruction
Male learners- instructed to read aloud the law of Moses
Girls – continued learning at home