IMPACTO INICIAL DE LA INVESTIGACIÓN

Arabic sources do not display direct knowledge on the subject of ancient Egyptian education or schooling. However there are scattered references to kings instructing priests to make knowledge in the general sense available to people in vernacular accessible forms.

For example the writer of the book, Akhbar Al-Zaman said of an Egyptian king:

He designated for every group of people (a specific) type of priest to teach them religion, which was at that time the religion of the First Sabaean. Each group was to send a detailed report to the king every

Day (Akhbar Al-Zaman: 126)

Many medieval Arab writers believed that the pharaohs and their priests were concerned with education as part of the well being of their subjects. According to the information cited in Akhbar Al-Zaman. a royal interest in the teaching of their subjects is said of various Kings. King “Minqawis”, yet to be identified, ordered the holy books of wisdom to be studied and commanded that books of wisdom be written:

He produced the Scriptures of Wisdom and commanded that they are studied and written in the script of the common people so that they could understand them, and (he also) restored the priests to their ranks

This function of the priests is known from various studies. Van der Horst noted that among the many functions of the Hierogrammateis priests, the scholarly class of priests in the Egyptian temple-service, was the cultivation of knowledge of the ancient Egyptian script (Van der Horst 1982: 63, 70 n.79).

One very important ancient Egyptian educational institution which appears to have survived across the ages well into the Medieval Period is “k3p” which is still in Egyptological studies, a subject of conjecture among scholars trying to identify the exact nature of the institution often referred to in ancient Egyptian biographies. It is believed to be an educational establishment with close links to the royal palace, and its graduates were called ''hrdw n k3p'' with the meaning ‘Children of the Room’ (Feucht 1995 266-304).

We have in medieval Moslem/Arab sources, a number of references by Egyptian writers (e.g. Ibn Al-Tuwayr (d. 1220) Nuzhat: 57f; Ibn ^Abd Al-Zahir (d. 1293) Al- rawda: 51; Al-Qalqashandi (d. 1418) Subh 3: 477; Al-Maqrizi (d. 1440) Khitat 2: 453-455) to a contemporary establishment with the same name and apparently the same associations. They called it “Al-Sibyan Al-Hujaryah”^ ‘Children of the Room,’ in which, from their descriptions, it would seem that an ancient Egyptian institution had survived almost unchanged to medieval times.

The medieval Arabic sources describe a building, close to the royal palace of Cairo, next to Bab Al-Nasr (Victory Gate), one of the main entrances into the city, and say that this building as well as others was dedicated to young people. These were youths (shabab), who were selected from among the sons of “Wuiaha’ Al-Nass” ‘Notables’, and, according to Ibn ^Abd Al-Zahir, also supported by Al-Maqrizi, numbered about five thousand. They received special education and military training within the school, and students distinguished either by intellect or bravery went on to become leaders and even princes. Each one had his own room with its own distinguishing name, such as “Al-Mansurah” meaning ‘Victorious’, “Al-Fath” meaning ‘Annexation/Conquest’, and “Al-Jadidah” meaning ‘The New’. Each had his own weapons and his own servants. They were kept under supervision so that their time was spent positively in acquiring skills. They were always at the ready to answer the call to battle. According to Ibn Al-Tuwayr, they were also taught different crafts and sciences. They had their own stable situated next to their dwellings.

Both Ibn Al-Tuwayr and Al-Maqrizi describe how this institution was run. The King Al-Afdal (reigned 1186-1196) built seven “Rooms” and selected from the

children of the soldiery, some 3000 young men. All were under the charge of a prince, and each hundred was under the supervision of two senior officials.

Al-Maqrizi, quoting Ibn Abi Tay, described the situation under the Fatimid Caliph Al-Mu^izz li-Din Allah (reigned 953-975) who provided a special “Room” for those who excelled in crafts, including scribes, and had announcements made around the country that local governors were to look out for talented youths and send them to Cairo where they were accommodated in the “Rooms” which, according to Al- Maqrizi were several storeys high.

This medieval description certainly seems to mirror the ancient Egyptian kSp which, in the light of our current knowledge, would seem to have been established on much the same basis. It had certainly been a special institution with a special relationship to the royal palace. Those brought up in it were of higher status, and had been carefully selected by the most senior officials, in some cases by the king himself.

The establishment which flourished under the Fatimids (909-1171) underwent changes after their demise and the quarters were abandoned, but the idea itself survived into the Mamluk period according to Al-Maqrizi (Khitat 2: 453) who noted the similarity between the Fatimid establishment and what was known in his day as “Al-Mamalik Al-Sultaniyah” meaning ‘Mamluks of the Sultan’ who were usually foreign-born youths bought by the Sultan and given strict military training and education, so that as adults they formed the upper echelons of Egyptian society. Again this recalls cases in ancient Egypt where those selected for the k3p included youths from foreign lands (Saleh 1966; 210).

It seems clear that this establishment had survived from Ancient Egypt through its different historical phases until the medieval period. The Arabic sources have furnished us with details that have until now been missing fi’om the archaeological record, thus providing us with a better understanding of the probable nature and extent of the establishment during the Pharaonic period where such palace schools flourished certainly from the fourth dynasty onwards (Berlev 1990: 98).