History of American Sign Language and Deaf Education around the World Ancient Egypt- c. 3100 to 2686 B.C. Unlike many other ancient societies, deaf and mute people were not harmed nor killed in Ancient Egypt. They were, in fact, believed to have been chosen by the gods and were respected and educated, usually through the combination of hieroglyphics and hand gestures. Egyptian God Ra, Maxpixel (2011) Ancient Greece- c. 800 to 500 B.C. Many famous Greek philosophers addressed the issue of deafness and muteness in their teachings, most famously Aristotle (right) in his work ‘The Problems’. He wrote that deaf people were barbarians, because they could not speak Greek, and also stipulated that deaf people should not be educated. He wrote "Those who are born deaf all become senseless and incapable of reason”. Plato, however, disagreed and mentioned people using basic gestures and signs to communicate. He believed deaf people had intelligence and should be educated, though he did not mention an instances of deaf (or ‘dumb’, as they were called) people being educated. Socrates, Wikimedia (2002)