Syrians were the first to send students abroad to learn
A cuneiform text transcribed in syllabic Akkadian displayed at the National Museum in Damascus documents that Syria was the first to send students students abroad to learn.
Syrian antiquities expert and reader of ancient inscriptions at the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums( GDAM) , historian Dr. Mahmoud al-Sayyed told SANA that the cuneiform text is a message that talks about sending an Ugaritic student to Cyprus to learn Greek.
The text, which dates back to the modern Bronze Age, refers to the name of the King of Cyprus, Kushmichosha, and to the request of the student to confirm the promotion of trade exchanges between Ugarit and Cyprus.
The archaeologist Dr. Al-Sayyed stressed that the Syrian people have believed since ancient times that science and its development constitute the cornerstone of building prosperous civilizations and the epigraphic inscriptions document this matter.
He indicated that the flourishing of economic and commercial relations between the Kingdom of Ugarit and Cyprus and the need for translators to facilitate the completion of commercial exchanges prompted the Kingdom to send students to Cyprus to learn Greek.
RawaaGhanam