Eduba: Scribal School In Ancient Mesopotamia

MessageToEagle.com – Ancient Sumerian tablets, dating back to 2,500 B.C. excavated at the ancient city Shuruppak are the very first examples of school textbooks, listing gods, animals, as well as various words and phrases.

Learning how to write and read was an important process in ancient Mesopotamia. Eduba which translates as “tablet house” were scribal schools that played an important role in the education of children as well as adults during the late third or early second millennium B.C.

Unfortunately, only wealthy or elite families had the means to send their children to school. There is evidence of young girls being educated as scribes, but the majority of students were young boys.

There are some striking similarities between the students of the ancient period and those of modern times. Not unlike students these days, a pupil of ancient Sumer was also afraid to be late for school and feared the punishment. If he happens to misbehave during classes, he’s caned by his teacher.

School tablets have been found in private residences in many sites across Mesopotamia. Some houses, where particularly large numbers of school tablets were unearthed, have been interpreted by archaeologists as “school houses” or homes in which scribal education almost certainly took place.

With the advancement of the education, the Sumerian schools developed into cultural centers of the state. Sumerian scholars spent their days learning about different sciences, the secrets of theology, botany, geography, and creative writing. The students and teachers were the ones who transcribed the old documents and created the new ones.

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At school the students first learned how to form the different types of tablets required for various documents. A student would learn to form the primary rectangular tablet and practice dividing it into columns and lines. Advanced Eduba students memorized and wrote out Sumerian literary texts, beginning with the simple proverbs and progressing to much longer works.

Learning how to write was very important because the average Mesopotamian was illiterate and relied on a scribe to write and read all of their correspondences. Many wealthy households employed their own scribe. The palaces of Mesopotamia kept large numbers of scribes for all of their daily communication needs.

Alongside writing, students also learned basic mathematics, especially measures for weight, length, capacity, etc.

To this date, several possible school buildings of ancient Mesopotamia have been uncovered. One of them is located in the city of Nippur, the other one in Ur, was the third one was found in Ur.

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