Daily Life in Ancient Egypt 9.1 Intrductin (p.81) Each year, when the Nile River flded its banks, all f Egypt celebrated the Opet Festival wrk in the fields stpped while the peple jined in a festival hnring the pharah and his patrn, the gd Amn-Re Almst everyne in Egyptian sciety tk part in the festival Priests decrated a statue f the gd with jewelry They put the statue in a shrine and placed the shrine n a ceremnial bat called a barque The Opet Festival brught tgether artisans (craftspeple), high gvernment fficials, peasant farmers (did farmwrk fr wealthy landwners), and scribes But in everyday life, they belnged t very different scial classes These classes made up a scial pyramid, with the pharah at the tp and the peasants at the bttm In between were gvernment fficials, priests, scribes, and artisans The daily life f each class was quite different 9.2 Ancient Egypt s Scial Pyramid (p.82) Egyptian sciety was structured like a pyramid (see pyramid p.82) At the very tp was the pharah, Egypt s supreme ruler Egyptian religin strengthened the pharah s authrity Pharahs were lked upn as gds, and their wrd was law The classes near the tp f the pyramid had the fewest peple and enjyed the highest status The classes near the bttm had mre peple and lwer status Egypt s Scial Classes Gvernment fficials and priests belnged t the tp tw classes in the scial pyramid under the pharah they were the mst pwerful grups in Egypt Gvernment fficials carried ut the rders f the pharah Mst f them came frm nble families They were pwerful and wealthy, and they enjyed a high quality f life Priests were als a pwerful grup, because religin tuched every part f peple s daily lives They were in charge f the temples and religius rituals
They als versaw the imprtant ceremnies surrunding death and burial Next n the scial pyramid were the scribes They held a respected psitin in sciety They recrded infrmatin fr gvernment and religius leaders It tk many years f schling t becme a scribe Artisans (craftspeple) ccupied the next layer f the scial pyramid This grup included craftspeple like carpenters, metal-wrkers, painters, sculptrs, and stne carvers Artisans were highly skilled, but they had little scial status At the bttm f the scial pyramid were peasants (peple wh did farmwrk fr wealthy landwners) They were the largest scial class They wrked the land, prviding Egypt with a steady fd supply When they weren t farming, they wrked n the pharah s massive building prjects Pharah Gvernment Officials Priests Scribes Artisans Peasants Life in Egypt s Scial Classes Egypt s scial pyramid was fairly rigid peple usually belnged t the same scial class as their parents Mst peple had little chance t mve t a higher class Peple in different classes had sme things in cmmn, but in ther ways their lives were quite different Egyptians in all scial classes cherished family life Mst Egyptians married within their scial grup
Children were highly valued Men and wmen had different rles within the family Men were the heads f their husehlds They wrked t supprt the family Fathers ften trained their sns frm an early age t take n their line f wrk Wmen typically managed the hme and raised the children Nblewmen had servants r slaves t help them Lwer-class wmen had t d the wrk themselves Men were in charge f Egyptian sciety, but wmen enjyed mre freedm and rights than mst wmen in the ancient wrld They culd wn land and run businesses They culd ask fr divrces and represent themselves in legal matters Sme wmen in the middle and upper classes wrked as dctrs, gvernment fficials, r priestesses Bth men and wmen enjyed a better quality f life the higher they were n the scial pyramid The Egyptians believed that their class system created a stable, wellrdered sciety Each grup had its wn rle t play 9.3 Gvernment Officials (p.84-85) Gvernment fficials belnged t the highest class n Egypt s scial pyramid, after the pharah Their jb was t assist the pharah in his/her rle as supreme ruler f Egypt Gvernment fficials usually came frm the pharah s family r ther upper-class families Mst f them inherited their psitins frm family members Trusted servants frm the ryal curt smetimes rse t pwer Imprtant Gvernment Officials Three imprtant fficials were the vizier, the chief treasurer, and the general f the armies each had his wn duties The vizier (a high-ranking gvernment fficial) had mre pwer than anyne except the pharah The vizier advised the pharah and carried ut his cmmands He appinted and supervised mst f the ther gvernment fficials
The vizier als served as a kind f chief judge A vizier was expected t be fair and nt shw special favr t either side in a dispute In wrks f art, viziers were ften shwn wearing white, the clr f neutrality Imhtep was an early and pwerful vizier in ancient Egypt He was famus fr his rle in designing and building great mnuments (see statue p.84) The chief treasurer lked after the gvernment s wealth His main duty was t cllect taxes Egypt s ecnmy was based n gds rather than mney Peple paid their taxes in grain, cws, clth, silver, and even beer After the pharah, the general f the armies was the tp military cmmander in Egypt He advised the pharah in matters f war and natinal security, such as hw t prtect Egypt s brders frm invaders He als helped the pharah make alliances (an agreement between natins t wrk tgether fr cmmn interests) with ther kingdms Lives f Luxury High gvernment fficials led lives f luxury Mst were nbles wh had great wealth, fine hmes, and plenty f time t scialize The lavish banquets enjyed by these wealthy Egyptians illustrate their luxurius lifestyle (descriptin p.85) 9.4 Priests (p.86-87) Like gvernment fficials, priests were pwerful and highly respected in Egyptian sciety A large netwrk f priests served under the pharah, wh was cnsidered the highest-ranked priest f all The Duties f Priests Priests had different jbs The High Priest advised the pharah and versaw all religius ceremnies
Temple priests were in charge f the many temples scattered thrughut Eurpe They played an especially imprtant rle in Egyptian religin Every temple was hme t an Egyptian gd/gds A temple priest s main jb was t take care f the gd A temple s gd was thught t live in a statue The statue was placed in a hly rm called a sanctuary Only a priest wh had purified (cleansed) himself culd enter the sanctuary Other priests handled mre cmmn cncerns and requests They gave advice and perfrmed healings Wmen were allwed t be priestesses in Egypt They were generally cnsidered t be equal t male priests Their main duty was t versee temples that were devted t making music and dancing The Priest s Rle in Burial Practices Egyptians believed in a life after death They thught the spirits f the dead needed their bdies in the afterlife Fr this reasn, they preserved bdies frm decay thrugh embalming (t treat a dead bdy with preservatives t prevent it frm decaying) Priests versaw this sacred wrk (descriptin p.87) The mummy (the wrapped bdy) was placed in a wden bx which was then put inside a large stne cffin, called a sarcphagus Nt all Egyptians culd affrd such cmplicated burials, but even pr Egyptians wrapped their dead in clth and buried them with jars f beer, laves f bread, and ther items they thught wuld be needed in the afterlife 9.5 Scribes (p.88-89) Scribes were ne level belw priests in the scial pyramid Scribes were Egypt s fficial writers and recrd keepers They were highly respected and well paid
Mst wrked fr the gvernment; thers wrked fr priests r nbles Scribe Schls Bys wh wanted t becme scribes had t attend scribe schl (run by priests) nly men were allwed t be scribes, althugh wmen were smetimes taught t read and write Mst students came frm artisan r merchant families; very few came frm the peasant class Schling started arund the age f 5 Students typically spent 12 years r mre learning hierglyphs (the symbls used in the Egyptian system f writing that develped in abut 3000 B.C.E.) The system was very cmplicated mst students first mastered a simpler frm f writing and then wrked their way up t hierglyphs Students had t memrize ver 700 hierglyphs they spent as many as 4 years cpying the signs ver and ver They practiced their writing n pieces f wd, flakes f stne, and even brken bits f pttery When they were gd enugh, they were allwed t write n papyrus (a type f paper made frm the papyrus plant) Students in scribe schls did nt have an easy life Classes smetimes lasted frm dawn until sunset Teachers were harsh and ften treated their students harshly Beatings were cmmn The Wrk f the Scribes Ancient Egyptians made all kinds f recrds, s scribes held a wide variety f jbs They kept recrds f the grain and fd supply When a gvernment census (an fficial cunt f the ppulatin r number f peple living in an area) cunted the peple living in Egypt, they recrded the results Sme scribes calculated and cllected taxes Legal scribes recrded curt cases and helped enfrce laws Military scribes kept track f the army s sldiers and fd supply, and the number f enemies killed in battle Every scribe used the same tls Pens finely sharpened reeds Paper a sheet f papyrus laid ut n a writing tablet (made f wd r stne) Each tablet cntained tw wells fr ink ne black and ne red
9.6 Artisans (p.90-91) A small cntainer held water that was used t wet the ink A scribe carried his tls with him wherever he traveled Scribes als carried rlls f papyrus (see descriptin f hw papyrus is made n p.88) Belw the scribes n the scial pyramid were the artisans Egypt s artisans were highly skilled labrers wh created sme f the mst beautiful art bjects in the ancient wrld Unlike scribes, they rarely gt the respect they deserves Only the select few wh became master craftsmen were smetimes hnred fr their wrk Types f Artisans Artisans specialized in any ne f a number f crafts Wrkers in this class included carpenters, jewelers, leatherwrkers, metalwrkers, painters, ptters, sculptrs, and weavers Mst artisans were men, but sme wmen wve fabric, beaded clthing, and made perfume The mst skilled artisans were the stne carvers They prduced the statues, engravings, and reliefs fund in Egyptian temples, tmbs, and mnuments They played an imprtant rle in tmb building stne carvers helped equip the elabrate tmbs f the wealthy with artwrk t hnr and preserve the dead Stne carving was hard, time-cnsuming wrk Stne carvers used a hard type f rck called dlerite t pund ut the bject s initial shape (see the rest f the descriptin f the prcess n p.90) The Daily Life and Wrk f Artisans Artisans were a class in the middle f Egyptian sciety They and their families lived in mdest hmes (descriptin n p.91) Artisans typically wrked side by side in large wrkshps They depended entirely n their emplyers fr fd Pharahs typically called upn hundreds f artisans at a time t wrk n ryal prjects Despite artisans skill and creativity, the upper classes ften viewed them as little mre than cmmn labrers Even the mst talented artists were almst never allwed t sign their wrk
9.7 Peasants (p.91) Peasants made up the lwest and largest class in Egypt s scial pyramid They were generally cnsidered unskilled labrers Yet Egyptian sciety depended n their wrk they grew crps that supplied everyne with fd, and they helped build mnuments like the pyramids The Three Seasns f the Nile Peasant life revlved arund the Nile River and its three seasns: the flding seasn, the planting seasn, and the harvest seasn The flding seasn lasted frm June t September During this time, the Nile verran its banks and fertilized the fields Farmers had t wait fr the waters t g dwn befre they culd wrk the fields In Octber, the planting seasn began Farmers swed their fields with seeds The biggest crps were wheat and barley, which were used t make bread and beer Peasants wrked in pairs t sw the fields The harvest seasn began in March Usually the farmer s entire family helped with the harvest During harvesttime, everyne wrked frm dawn t dusk The Daily Lives f Peasants Peasants had the fewest cmfrts f any f the scial classes Their diet was simple In times f famine (a severe shrtage f fd), they ften had t bil tugh papyrus plants fr fd Peasants spent mst f their lives wrking, but they did have sme time fr fun An imprtant time f year fr peasants was the end f the harvest seasn As a reward fr their hard wrk, they were allwed t gather up as much leftver grain as they culd and keep it fr fd But they culd als be punished fr a pr harvest Farmers had t pay taxes in the frm f crps If a farmer s harvest came up shrt and he culdn t pay the required tax, he was brutally beaten 9.8 Chapter Summary (p.92)
QUESTIONS: 1. Why did it take a lng time t becme a scribe? 2. If yu were a peasant and wanted t raise yur status, what can yu d? 3. What des the scial pyramid shw abut the number f peple in Egypt s scial classes? 4. Why did ancient Egyptians believe having scial classes was a gd idea? 5. What kind f jbs did a gvernment fficial have? 6. Hw did the Egyptian schlteacher treat the bys in scribe schl? 7. What were the wmen s rights in Egypt? 8. What is the rder f the classes in Egypt, list frm highest t lwest? 9. Cmpare and Cntrast: gvernment fficial and peasant. Keep in mind the type f wrk they did, fd they ate, and what they did fr fun. Use a Venn Diagram.