The Philosophy of Education in Ancient Iraq

Abstract

Ancient Iraq is considered the birthplace of the earliest educational systems in the ancient world. Since the invention of writing in the city of Uruk (Warka), the society's need for learning, reading, and writing arose, which led to the establishment of the first schools in Mesopotamia.

     These schools were known at the time as "Houses of Tablets" or "Eduba," and initially, they were affiliated with temples. The temple was responsible for overseeing and implementing the educational system in ancient Iraq. With the evolution of the political system, the palace or the secular ruling authority became responsible for education, in cooperation with the temple.

    The oldest historical texts and archaeological finds discovered in ancient Iraq, particularly from the Sumerian Early Dynastic period and before the Akkadian Empire, include clay tablets and inscriptions related to students and teachers, containing educational exercises along with the names of teachers and students.

    These tablets also included the curricula taught at that time, and some even contained advanced subjects in literature, religion, and philosophy, reflecting the importance of education in the context of family, society, and the state.