Life house

The house of life (Per-anch), also House of Life , was an institution in ancient Egypt that performed the functions of a scriptorium and a library , among other things .

Since scientific and religious works were not only copied and stored here, but also written, the houses of life can be seen as forerunners of the universities that were only founded in the Middle Ages . One of the tasks of the teachers who worked here was to meet the need for young writers .

Often the houses of life were attached to a temple . The best known example is the house of life in the Re temple of Heliopolis .

As a central place of worship , the houses of life had a permanent place in the coronation ceremony of the pharaohs .

literature

Alan H. Gardiner : The House of Life. In: The Journal of Egyptian Archeology. Vol. 24, No. 2, 1938, pp. 157-179, doi : 10.2307 / 3854786 .
Manfred Weber: House of Life I. In: Wolfgang Helck , Eberhard Otto : Lexicon of Egyptology . Volume 3: Horhekenu - Megeb. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1980, ISBN 3-447-02100-4 , columns 954-957.

Web links

Ancient Egypt. Knowledge and production: the House of Life . On: ucl.ac.uk from 2003; last accessed on January 31, 2016.
Per-ankh: The House of Life . On: reshafim.org.il from 2009; last accessed on January 31, 2016.

Individual evidence

↑ According to the Danish Egyptologist Aksel Volten, quoted in the Lexicon of Egyptology . Volume 3, Wiesbaden 1980, columns 954.
↑ The job title or the title "Teacher of the House of Life" has been handed down. “During the time of foreign rule, the writing lessons shifted more and more to the temples, which it since the later Ptol. alone. ” Hellmut Brunner : Training. In: Wolfgang Helck, Eberhard Otto: Lexicon of Egyptology. Volume 1: A - Harvest. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1975, ISBN 3-447-01670-1 , columns 573.
↑ Uwe Jochum: Small Library History (= Reclams Universal Library . No. 17667 ). 4th edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 2017, ISBN 978-3-15-017667-2 , pp. 21 .

↑ " O'n was the oldest university in history", it says on the English-language homepage of the Ain-Schams-Universität , which refers to the Heliopolis house as its namesake. History of Ain Shams University ( Memento of the original from September 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. On: asu.edu.eg from 2015; last accessed on January 31, 2016. @1@ 2

[1] According to the Danish Egyptologist Aksel Volten, quoted in the Lexicon of Egyptology . Volume 3, Wiesbaden 1980, columns 954.

[2] The job title or the title "Teacher of the House of Life" has been handed down. “During the time of foreign rule, the writing lessons shifted more and more to the temples, which it since the later Ptol. alone. ” Hellmut Brunner : Training. In: Wolfgang Helck, Eberhard Otto: Lexicon of Egyptology. Volume 1: A - Harvest. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1975, ISBN 3-447-01670-1 , columns 573.

[3] Uwe Jochum: Small Library History (= Reclams Universal Library . No. 17667 ). 4th edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 2017, ISBN 978-3-15-017667-2 , pp. 21 .

[4] " O'n was the oldest university in history", it says on the English-language homepage of the Ain-Schams-Universität , which refers to the Heliopolis house as its namesake. History of Ain Shams University ( Memento of the original from September 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. On: asu.edu.eg from 2015; last accessed on January 31, 2016. @1@ 2