Ancient Africa Education: Egypt and Nubia

Abstract

This chapter focuses on pre-Hellenistic Egypt and Nubia, c. 3200–300 BCE. There is currently no comprehensive study of ancient Egyptian and Nubian education. This is partly due to a dearth of evidence (notably, there is no evidence for an indigenous Kerma writing system and Meroitic remains enigmatic), but also due to the general lack of formal educational institutions upon which we can focus our inquiry. The notable exception is scribal schools, which have largely been the focus of previous education-related studies. A recent scholarly trend focusing on settlement archaeology, however, has allowed scholars to better understand ancient Egyptian (and to a lesser degree Nubian) households, which provides a window into daily life and informal systems of knowledge production and maintenance. This chapter investigates formal and informal systems of education in ancient Egypt and Nubia, including literacy/scribal training, moral and social education, and specialized education such as scientific training.