Ancient Sumerian students practiced writing with a tongue-twister poem
Around 2000 BCE, Mesopotamian scribal students mastered cuneiform by copying a rhythmic hymn that repeatedly used the word for 'hoe' as a verbal and intellectual challenge.
In the scribal schools of ancient Mesopotamia, known as the edubba or House of Tablets, education was a rigorous process of copying and recitation. To reach graduation, students had to master a curriculum divided into groups of compositions called the Tetrad and the Decad. One of the most popular works in the more difficult Decad was the Song of the Hoe, a praise poem dated to approximately 2000 BCE.
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