EDUCATION

i. IN THE ACHAEMENID PERIOD

Little is known of the training of children during the Achaemenid
period. In two Elamite documents from Persepolis drafted in the 23rd
regnal year of Darius I (499 B.C.E.) Persian boys (who) are copying
texts are mentioned (Hallock, nos. 871, 1137); the texts in question
are records of the issue of grain to twenty-nine individuals and wine
to sixteen. It is possible that the boys were learning Persian
cuneiform script, which was probably known only to a few scribes, as
it was used mainly for royal triumphal inscriptions. Even nobles and
highly placed Persian civil servants were illiterate, and writing played
no part in standard Persian education. The Persians therefore used
foreign scribes (writing chiefly in Aramaic) in the state chancery.
Greek sources provide some idea of typical Persian education.
According to Herodotus, Persian boys were not allowed into the
presence of their fathers until the age of five years; until then they
lived among the women. From ages five to twenty years they were
trained in horsemanship, archery, and telling the truth (Herodotus,
1.136). Persians regarded lying as the worst of offenses, whereas
prowess in arms was the mark of manliness. Xenophon wrote in
Cyropaedia that until the age of sixteen or seventeen years the sons
of Persian nobles were brought up at the royal court, practicing
riding, archery, throwing the spear, and hunting. They were also
instructed in justice, obedience, endurance, and self-restraint (1.2.2-
12, 7.5.86, 8.6.10; cf. idem, Anabasis 1.9.2-6; Strabo, 15.3.18). Clearly,
apart from ethical guidance, the aim of Persian education was to
produce efficient soldiers. This conclusion is confirmed by the tomb
inscription of Darius I: Trained am I both with hands and with feet.
As a horseman I am a good horseman. As a bowman I am a good
bowman both afoot and on horseback. As a spearman I am a good
spearman both afoot and on horseback (DNb 40-45; Kent, Old
Persian, pp. 139-40). In Alcibiades (attributed to Plato, 1.120-23) it is
noted that Persian princes were assigned at the age of fourteen years
to four eminent Persians, called respectively the wisest, most just,
most temperate, and bravest, who tutored them in the worship of
the gods, government, temperance, and courage respectively.
Plutarch (Artaxerxes 3.3) mentioned a priest who taught the wisdom
of the Magi to Cyrus the Younger (q.v. vi).
There is practically no information on education in the eastern
satrapies of the Achaemenid empire, but the evidence for Babylonia
and Egypt, where traditional educational systems continued under
Persian rule, is extensive. In both countries formal education was
restricted to boys. Reading and writing, as well as some grammar,
mathematics, and astronomy, were taught in scribal schools. In
Achaemenid Babylonia literacy was widespread among the non-
Iranian population; scribes were numerous and included the sons of
shepherds, fishermen, weavers, and the like. Many school texts have
survived from Mesopotamia. They include Sumerian-Babylonian
dictionaries, tablets with cuneiform signs, and collections of examples
of grammatical usage and exercises (Oppenheim, pp. 244-49). The
literacy rate was even higher among the Achaemenid military
colonists in Elephantine in Egypt (qq.v.), where witnesses to
contracts in Aramaic usually signed their own names (Naveh, p. 22).
Darius I ordered the restoration of the medical school at Sais in
Egypt. It seems, however, that among the Egyptians education
remained the privilege of the nobility: The Egyptian dignitary
Ujahorresne declared that there were no children of nobodies
among the students in this medical school (Posener, pp. 1-2, 22).

Bibliography: (For cited works not found in this bibliography and
abbreviations found here, see Short References.)
Boyce, Zoroastrianism II, pp. 181, 212-13, 261.
R. T. Hallock, Persepolis Fortification Tablets, Chicago, 1969.
S. W. Hirsch, The Friendship of the Barbarians. Xenophon and the
Persian Empire, Hanover, N.H., 1985, pp. 85-87.
J. Naveh, The Development of the Aramaic Script, The Israel
Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Proceedings 5/1, Jerusalem,
1970.
A. L. Oppenheim, Ancient Mesopotamia. Portrait of a Dead
Civilization, Chicago, 1977.
G. Posener, La premire domination perse en gypte, Cairo, 1936.
(Muhammad A. Dandamayev)
Originally Published: December 15, 1997
Last Updated: December 9, 2011
This article is available in print. Vol. VIII, Fasc. 2, pp. 178-179

ii. IN THE PARTHIAN AND SASANIAN PERIODS
No concrete evidence on education in Parthian times has survived. It
may be postulated, however, that it was similar to education in the
Sasanian period. Information about the latter period is confined
mainly to education of princes, the nobility, the clergy, and
administrative secretaries (dab!rs, q.v.). Most peasants were
illiterate, but most urban merchants were probably acquainted at
least with writing and calculation (Christensen, Iran Sass., p. 416).
The required education for a child of a noble or an upper-class family
is described in the Pahlavi treatise Xusraw ud R"dag (Pahlavi Texts,
ed. Jamasp-Asana, pp. 27-38): writing, religious instruction, physical
education, and training in courtly arts. A noble child would begin
attending school (fra-hangest#n) at the proper age, between five
and seven years (Wiz!rkard, p. 177; cf. !abar", I, pp. 815, 855: Arda#"r
at seven years, Bahr$m V at five years) and would have completed
general training and religious studies by the age of fifteen years
(Andarz ! P$ry$tk"%#n, par. 1; Pahlavi Texts, ed. Jamasp-Asana, p.
41). At school he would learn to write and would memorize the ya%ts,
H#d$xt, Bay#n Yasn, and Vid"vd#d, the same training provided for a
future h"rbed (religious teacher). In addition, he would listen to the
Zand, the Pahlavi translation of the Avesta. Astrology was also part of
the curriculum (Xusraw ud R"dag,pars. 8-10, 14). The education of a
certain Mihr$m-Gu#nasp, son of a noble Sasanian family who later
converted to Christianity and was martyred, was similar. He was said
to have been initiated into Middle Persian literature and the
Zoroastrian religion at an early age. He could recite the ya%ts and
hold the barsom (q.v.) at the age of seven years (Hoffmann, p. 94;
Christensen, Iran Sass., pp. 413-14). According to Ab% Man&%r
'a!$leb" (&orar, p. 712), ("r)ya (later Kavad II, r. 628 C.E.) read
Kal!la wa Demna at school.
The account of the education of D$r$b (q.v.) given in the '#h-n#ma
(Moscow, VI, pp. 359-60, vv. 93-103; cf. 'a!$leb", &orar, p. 394; cf.
Xusraw ud R"dag, pars. 11-12) probably reflects Sasanian norms: He
first learned the Avesta and Zand and was then trained in riding,
archery, polo, and the military arts. It was customary to entrust the
education of a prince, especially a crown prince, to a tutor, in some
instances far from the court. For example, at the end of the Arsacid
period B$bak (q.v.) sent Arda#"r (q.v.; 224-40) at the age of seven
years to the argbed (q.v.) T"r", who was probably commander of the
fortress of D$r$bgerd (see D*R*B ii), to be educated (!abar", I, p.
815; Bal!am", ed. Bah$r, p. 876). Writing (dib!r!h), riding (asw#r!h),
and other skills were parts of his education (K#r-n#mag, ed. Antia,
chap. II, p. 5 par. 4). Arda#"r himself, while at the court of the last
Arsacid king, Ardav$n (see ARTABANUS), had trained princes in
horsemanship and hunting ('a!$leb", &orar, p. 475). Bahr$m V
(Bahr$m G)r, q.v.; 421-39), whose education was said to have been
entrusted to Mon+er, Arab ruler of ,"ra in Mesopotamia, was
instructed by various tutors (mo!addeb) in writing, archery, riding,
and law. His general education is reported to have finished at the age
of twelve years, after which he continued training in archery and
riding until he attained mastery (!abar", I, pp. 855-57; Meskawayh,
pp. 78-79; D"navar", ed. Guirgass, p. 53; 'a!$leb", &orar, p. 541; '#h-
n#ma, Moscow, VII, pp. 270-71; Bal!am", ed. Bah$r, pp. 929-30).
A noble education also involved learning to play musical instruments
and sing, games like chess and backgammon, and general
information about wines, flowers, women, and riding animals
(Xusraw ud R"dag, pars. 13, 15, 57-58, 62-63, 66, 69-93, 96, 99-100).
When Arda#"r was relegated by Ardav$n to service in the royal stable,
he reportedly amused himself by playing the lute ((anb)r) and
singing (sr$d-w#z!g; K#r-n#mag, ed. Antia, chap. 3, p. 11 par. 2; cf.
'#h-n#ma, ed. Khaleghi, II, p. 30, VI, p. 178, about Rostam and
Esfand"$r respectively).
Ferdows"s description of the education of Prince S"$va# by Rostam in
Z$bol provides a model of princely education in Sasanian and
probably Parthian times as well. The prince was not only trained in
horsemanship, archery, hunting, and the arts of war but also learned
social etiquette, ceremonial rites, conduct on festive occasions, and
delivery of orations. The results of his education were later apparent
in the skills in archery, polo, and hunting that he exhibited when he
lived at the court of Afr$s"$b (q.v.; '#h-n#ma, ed. Khaleghi, II, pp.
207, 289-94).
There is some evidence that in the Sasanian period women attended
school, at least for general religious studies, though probably in
relatively small numbers (Kotwal and Kreyenbroek, pp. 18, 38, 43);
the main part of their training, however, consisted of domestic skills
learned at home (D"nkard, ed. Madan, I, p. 935; Christensen, Iran
Sass., p. 418). There is one piece of evidence suggesting that some
women were well versed in Sasanian civil law (Bartholomae, p. 35;
Christensen, Iran Sass., p. 418).
Three terms for school are attested in Pahlavi books: frahangest#n,
lit., place of education (Xusraw ud R"dag, par. 8; K#r-n#mag, ed.
Antia, chap. 2, p. 8 par. 21); dib!rest#n, probably a school for training
scribes and secretaries (Andarz ! *durb#d, pars. 58, 129, in Pahlavi
Texts, ed. Jamasp-Asana, pp. 63, 69; Xw"%k#r!h ! R"dag#n, pars. 1, 3,
5, 23, in Junker, pp. 15, 16, 20; Sad dar na+r, chap. 51, p. 37); and
h"rbedest#n, evidently a school for religious studies (Andarz !
P$ry$tk"%#n, par. 8, in Pahlavi Texts, ed. Jamasp-Asana, p. 43;
Andarz $ k$dak#n, par. 25, in Junker, p. 20). The general term for
teacher was hamm$zg#r, for religious teacher h"rbed, and for
instructor frahangbed (D"nkard, ed. Madan, pp. 274, 757; cf.
!abar", I, p. 1063: mo!addeb al-as#wera instructor of horsemen).
The sources provide scanty information on educational methods. In
two Pahlavi treatises (Xw"%k#r!h ! R"dag#n and Andarz $ k$dak#n)
that have survived in P$zand, the duties of boys at school, at home,
and on the way from home to school are described (Junker, pp. 15-
21). Physical punishment was administered at school (cf. Z#dspram,
chap. 27, p. 97 par. 8; Pahlavi Texts, ed. Jamasp-Asana, p. 130, par.
9, where beating with a very long stick is mentioned).

Bibliography: (For cited works not found in this bibliography and
abbreviations found here, see Short References.)
C. Bartholomae, Zum sassanidischen Recht IV, Sb. der Heidelberger
Akademie der Wissenschaften 13, Heidelberg, 1922/5.
G. Hoffmann, Auszge aus syrischen Akten persischer Mrtyrer,
Leipzig, 1880.
H. F. J. Junker, ed., Ein mittelpersisches Schulgesprch, Sb. der
Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften 3/15, Heidelberg, 1912.
F. M. Kotwal and P. Kreyen-broek, The H"rbedest#n and
N"rangest#n I, Paris, 1992.
Meskawayh, Taj#reb al-omam I, ed. A. Em$m", Tehran, 1366 (/1987.
Sad dar na+r, ed. B. N. Dhabhar, Bombay, 1909. Wiz!rkard ! d"n!g,
ed. P. Sanjana, Bombay, 1848.
(A-mad Tafa..ol")
Originally Published: December 15, 1997
Last Updated: December 9, 2011
This article is available in print. Vol. VIII, Fasc. 2, pp. 179-180