How many times have you heard it said, "Its better to start teaching them while they are young!" These words can go down as written in the hall of fame, or "House of Fame" if translated by Egyptologist into English from heiroglyphs. In fragment B02, 7,2 translated in the Book of Thoth on page 15 the script directs "the-one-who-loves-knowledge" to say
Children figure prominately in the art of writing. Teaching our children this gift that has been passed down to us by our intelligent ancestors is most beneficial when they are young. And that, my friends, is just ancient Kemetic wisdom!
"O may your prophecy be eternally young! O foremost one of (or before) the House of Documents! Begin with the children of your teaching!"There are many instances in Egyptian records that show the importance of learning the hieroglyphs and to scribe as a child. House of Documents, Hall of Records, or House of Books are all what I would consider to be a modern day Library. In my blog I will refer to the place where those in KMT stored writings as libraries, instead of the translations provided. Libraries have been found dating as far back to the time of Narmers palate and King Scorpio, who carried on the teachings of Ssh around 3200BC during the Naqada III period (pre-Dynastic). We will discuss him more later.
Children figure prominately in the art of writing. Teaching our children this gift that has been passed down to us by our intelligent ancestors is most beneficial when they are young. And that, my friends, is just ancient Kemetic wisdom!
Interesting that I should read this post right now. I'm in the midst of reading Plato's The Republic for a Social and Political Philosophy class. We're right in the middle of discussing the preferred education of the children of the ruling class.
ReplyDeleteSocrates and his discussion-mates put forth an unabashed support of censorship with the aim of molding a moderate temperament in citizens. It's a very different view of our current attitude of "knowledge is power."
But, is it so very different from the actual practice of public education in our modern times? To teach our children to read is a necessary and liberating gift, for sure. But, while public education gives them the gift of freedom through literacy, it also educates them in the values of "staying within the lines," effectively clipping the wings of all but the most spirited (stubborn?) kids.
It's a harsh, one sided view of our current educational system, I know. But, it's something I've been thinking about as I read the words of a man many have looked to for wisdom. Is the purpose of education to free the mind, or to mold it?