Children of Memphis - Acrylic on Canvas - 24" by 30" ©2011Ben Morales-Correa

Original Photo by Ben Morales-Correa ©2011

Hand-knotted carpet making is a traditional craft in Egypt. Children, especially the female, learn the craft at home or at carpet factories such as those found west of Cairo, near the Pyramids. Here once stood the School of Ptah, in the city of Memphis, the oldest capital of ancient Egypt, which produced the greatest artists and craftsmen Egypt ever saw.

It is claimed that the carpet factories are vocational schools where children are taught a skill that will improve their standard of living as adults. The owners assert that the children work for up to three hours a day either in the morning or in the afternoon depending on their school shift. Whether true or not, they get paid from $20 a month for trainees to $60 or more for the skilled, a sum which is usually higher than what their parents earn. The carpets are sold primarily to the tourist market and the export market.

The older boy is staring at the hieroglyph sign for "to know". Learning a trade at his young age will set him free from want. Attaining knowledge is what ultimately will set him and the future Egypt he represents free from ignorance.

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