Historical sources describe several early educational traditions prior to the Hellenistic period, including scribal schools in Ancient Mesopotamia and temple-associated education in Ancient Egypt. Later in Greece we see more formal philosophical institutions such as the Plato's Academy and the Lyceum.
In the Hellenistic period, geometry was famously systematized in Euclid's Elements, which became the standard textbook for mathematical education for many centuries.
I am interested in the earlier instructional materials used to teach mathematical subjects (arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy) prior to or around the time of Euclid.
In particular:
What extant mathematical texts, tablets, or papyri are believed to have been used in Mesopotamian or Egyptian educational settings (such as scribal schools) to teach these subjects?
Do historians interpret any of these sources as early “textbooks” or structured teaching collections (for example, problem lists or instructional manuals)?
What Greek mathematical treatises or teaching materials existed before Euclid, especially in the intellectual environment of Plato’s Academy 70-80 prior to Euclid.
Examples of texts often mentioned in this context include the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus and the Babylonian tablet Plimpton 322, but I would be interested in a broader picture of what sources historians believe functioned as instructional materials.
