A wax tablet mounted in a wooden frame dating back to second-century-CE Egpyt, at that time under Roman Empire control, reveals the ancient lessons taught to elementary-school-age children 1,800 years ago. Though there is no name on the tablet, so the identity of the pupil is unknown, back then formal education was almost exclusively the realm of males from wealthy families.
The tablet reveals a lesson in ancient Greek, including a reading and writing exercise and multiplication table. Lines written presumably by a teacher have been copied out by a rather endearingly wobbly hand, though according to Peter Toth, curator of the exhibition to feature the tablet at London’s British Library, the sentences weren’t just for practicing the alphabet but also to impart moral lessons. [...]
That the tablet – about the size of a paperback book, or, again prophetically, your electronic tablet of choice – survived nearly 2,000 years is impressive. Wax typically breaks down in moisture so the dry clime of ancient Egypt would have helped preserve it.
No comments:
Post a Comment