House of Life in Ancient Egypt

Although schools as you know them today did not exist, the House of Life was an institution that provided some education and training for a select few. A House of Life was attached to most temples. Each stored a number of texts relevant to that particular temple. The term is often mistranslated as a school, university, library, or archive. However, it was a strange institution that was all of these things and yet did not fit any of the descriptions particularly well.
Although shrouded (intentionally) in mystery, the following is known about this institution:

• The House of Life stored a number of religious texts, which were used for training priests and medical professionals. Being educated here was a great privilege, available to only a chosen few. However, how students were chosen remains unknown.
• The priests in charge of the House of Life were responsible for conserving, copying, and storing religious texts. The texts stored here were world famous. Later, Greek and Roman authors praised the wisdom recorded in these texts. The texts are said to include information about medicine, medical herbs, geography, geometry, astronomy, and the history of kings.
• The institution was not open to the public. The extremely restricted access only enhanced its aura of mystery. Many literary tales refer to texts stored in the House of Life that have information on how to speak the language of all animals, birds, and fish in the world, as well as a text that enables the reader to see the sun god. Powerful stuff, indeed!