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Education in Graeco-Roman Egypt: An Intercultural Approach

Project description

Rethinking ancient education through diversity

The traditional view of Greek education as a uniform system spreading a single cultural ideal overlooks the realities of life in Greco-Roman Egypt. The ERC-funded EduGRE project challenges this perspective by examining school artefacts (Greek, Egyptian and Latin) in their local context. Through a bottom-up approach, EduGRE highlights the experiences of everyday learners and teachers, revealing how education reflected cultural exchange, local agency and shifting identities. Its digital platform introduces a new method for editing ancient texts, combining papyrology and new philology, and includes images and 3D models. By uncovering the rich diversity in ancient classrooms, EduGRE offers a more inclusive understanding of how knowledge was shaped and shared across cultures.

Objective

EduGRE proposes a radically novel approach to ancient education. Tackling the urgent need to investigate diversity in knowledge transmission in the ancient Mediterranean, the project will comprehensively collate and analyse all school artefacts from Graeco-Roman Egypt, including Egyptian, Greek and Latin material, to set Graeco-Roman education in its specific Egyptian context and explore intercultural osmosis. Challenging the traditional view of Greek education as a tool for perpetuating and disseminating a pure and monolithic form of Greek culture within multicultural communities, this project explores the complex interplay of identities and cultural traditions in educational practices. Through a bottom-up approach that prioritises the concrete experience of individuals who were far removed from the main centres of power and literary production, and who rarely feature in ancient and modern historiographical narratives, EduGRE detects interactions between different languages and cultures, elucidates the role of local agency, and identifies variations in education over time in relation to religious and societal change.
EduGRE also introduces a new methodology in editing written artefacts. Its dedicated digital platform will house innovative critical editions combining methodologies of papyrology and New Philology to capture the unique textual iterations encoded in school artefacts. The platform’s uniform editorial methods and tagging system will allow for comprehensive analysis and comparison of educational practices, transcending traditional disciplinary boundaries. The inclusion of images and 3D reconstructions will facilitate analysis of material features.
EduGRE will redefine perceptions of ancient education by uncovering cultural diversity and dialogue in its practices. The project’s innovative approach, comprehensive methodology and commitment to inclusivity ensure it will have a lasting impact on cultural studies, both within and beyond antiquity.

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HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) ERC-2024-COG

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Host institution

THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 999 484,00
Address
THE QUEEN'S DRIVE NORTHCOTE HOUSE
EX4 4QJ Exeter
United Kingdom

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Region
South West (England) Devon Devon CC
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 999 484,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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