In Roman Egypt, apprenticeships were a common way for young people to learn skilled trades—over 20 of these contracts from Roman Egypt have survived, including some for weaving.
A notable example of an apprenticeship contract comes from the village of Karanis itself. Excavated by the University of Michigan in 1927, the papyrus pictured here documents an agreement between Aurelius Ision, a resident of Karanis, and Aurelia Libouke, a female professional weaver from the nearby town of Arsinoe. In it, Ision arranges for a young girl under his care to be trained in weaving under Libouke’s supervision.
The contract outlines the length of instruction, the skill level the student is expected to achieve, and the teacher’s responsibilities. This kind of formal, structured learning significantly differs from the informal teaching through imitation and play seen in the miniature tools nearby. Together, these objects showcase the many ways children in Roman Egypt learned the skills of their community.
Excerpt of the weaving apprenticeship contract:
[The child is to] learn the indicated craft with Aurelia Libouke for one year from the first of the ensuing month, Mecheir, the child being fed and clothed by her....
...as many days as she is idle because of sickness or any other cause, she is to remain available an equal number of days as compensation after the end of the period. When the girl has completed the agreed time without fault, the teacher shall return her after she has learned the craft with skill equal to those of her own age. Neither party shall have authority to alter either one or another stipulation nor to transgress any part of the written agreement, but let whosoever does transgress give to the one abiding by it, as penalty, two hundred silver drachmas.
—Translation from Pearl 1985: 257, with reference to notes from van Minnen 1998
