Education of ancient civilization
In Mesopotamia, only royal offspring and sons
of the rich and professionals such as scribes, physicians, and temple
administrators went to school. Most boys were taught by their fathers. Girls
had to stay home with their mothers to learn housekeeping and cooking, and to
look after the younger children. Later, when the script became more widespread,
more of the Mesopotamian population became literate. Women as well as men
learned to read and write. Vocabularies, grammars, and interlinear translations
were compiled for the use of students, as well as commentaries on the older
texts and explanations of words and phrases. Massive archives of texts were
recovered from the archaeological contexts of Old Babylonian scribal schools,
through which literacy was disseminated.