Egyptian Schooling

In Ancient Egypt the child's world was not as clearly separated from the adult's as it tends to be in modern Western society. As the years went by childish pastimes would give way to imitations of grown-up behavior.

Children would more and more frequently be found lending a hand with the easier tasks and gradually acquiring practical skills and knowledge from their elders.

Parents would instill into them various educational principles, moral attitudes and views of life. Thus from a tender age they would receive their basic education from their family. For girls, this was usually all the schooling they would get, but for boys it would be supplemented by proper training in whatever line they chose, or was chosen for them.

School was typically a privileged, not all children would go to school. Mostly the wealthy would able to send their children to school. For most children in Egypt the upbringing of boys was left largely in the hands of their fathers, that of girls was entrusted to their mothers. Parents familiarized their children with their ideas about the world, with their religious outlook, with their ethical principles, with correct behavior toward others and toward the super-natural beings in whom everyone believed. They taught them about folk rituals and so forth.

A few talented individuals without formal schooling still managed to acquire sufficient knowledge to shine in their own field. And there were of course plenty who tried, as everywhere, to compensate for their lack of education by intriguing or currying favor in high places - sometimes as high as royalty