Daily Life in Ancient Egypt

Daily Life in Ancient Egypt

6th Grade Social Studies

Today's Objective

How did social class affect daily life in ancient Egypt?

Unit 3 Anchor Question

Of the seven characteristics of a civilization, which one do modern and ancient societies have in common the most?

Ancient Egypt's Social Pyramid

Egyptian society was structured like a pyramid. At the very top of this social pyramid was the pharaoh, Egypt's supreme ruler. Egyptian religion strengthened the pharaoh's authority. Pharaohs were believed to be gods, and their word was law.

Next in importance were several layers of social classes. The classes near the top of the pyramid had fewer people and enjoyed higher status. The classes nearer the bottom had greater numbers of people but lower status.

Multiple Choice

Why do the ancient Egyptians use a pyramid to describe their social classes?

• The triangle represented the three seasons of the Nile.

• Most people were in the bottom classes, and the fewest people were at the top.

• Scientists like to use a pyramid to keep the layers apart.

• Many structures of that design were built in the desert.

Social Classes

• Government officials carried out the orders of the pharaoh. Most officials came from noble families. They were powerful and wealthy, and they enjoyed a high quality of life.

• Priests were also a powerful group, because religion touched every part of people's daily lives. Priests were in charge of the temples and religious rituals. They also oversaw the important ceremonies surrounding death and burial.

Social Classes

• Scribes held a respected position in society. They recorded information for government and religious leaders. It took years of schooling to become a scribe.

• Artisans included craftspeople like carpenters, metal workers, painters, sculptors, and stone carvers. Artisans were highly skilled, but they had little social status.

• Peasants were the largest social class. Peasants worked the land, providing the Egyptians with a steady food supply. Peasants also worked on the pharaoh's massive building projects.

Multiple Choice

Of these four groups, which one had the lowest social status?

• priests

• scribes

• artisans

• government officials

Life in Egypt's Social Classes

• Most people belonged to the same social class as their parents

• There was little chance of moving to a higher class

• Most Egyptians married within their social group

• Children were highly valued

• Men were the heads of their households; they worked to support the family

• Fathers often trained their sons to take on their line of work

• Women typically managed the home and raised the children

Women

• Women had more freedom and rights than most women in the ancient world

• They could own land and run businesses

• They could also ask for divorces and represent themselves in legal matters

• Some women in the middle and upper classes worked as doctors, government officials, or priestesses

• Egyptians believed their class system created a stable, well-ordered society

• Each social class had its own role to play

Multiple Select

Which of the following are true regarding Egypt's social classes? Select TWO answers.

• Most people belonged to the same social class as their parents

• Moving to a higher class occurred often

• Women had very few freedoms and rights compared to other women in the ancient world

• Often times male children took on their father's line of work

Government Officials

• Government officials belonged to the highest class on Egypt's social pyramid

• Their job was to assist the pharaoh in his or her role as supreme ruler of Egypt

• Government officials were often members of the pharaoh's family or other upper-class families

• Most of them inherited their positions from family members

Vizier

• advised the pharaoh and carried out his commands

• appointed and supervised many of the other government officials

• served as a kind of chief judge

• judges would bring him their toughest cases

• was expected to be fair and neutral

Important Government Officials

The chief treasurer oversaw the government's wealth. His main duty was to collect taxes. Egypt's economy was based on goods rather than money. People paid their taxes in grain, cows, cloth, and silver.

After the pharaoh, the top military commander in Egypt was the general of the armies. He advised the pharaoh in matters of war and national security, such as how to protect Egypt's borders from invaders. He also helped the pharaoh make alliances with other kingdoms.

Multiple Choice

How did most government officials get their jobs?

• They attended school to learn how to govern.

• Popular elections showed the vote of the people.

• Priests relied on signs from the gods to choose them.

• They inherited the position from a family member.

Priests

Like government officials, priests were powerful and highly respected in society. A large network of priests served under the pharaoh, who was considered the highest-ranked priest of all.

The Duties of Priests

• The High Priest advised the pharaoh and oversaw all religious ceremonies.

• Temple priests were in charge of the temples scattered throughout Egypt.

• Other priests handled more common concerns and requests such as giving advice and performing healings.

• Women were allowed to be priestesses in Egypt. They were generally regarded as equal to male priests. Their main duty was to oversee temples that were devoted to music and dancing.

Temple Priests

Temple priests played an extremely important role in Egyptian religion. Every temple was home to one or more Egyptian gods. A temple priest's primary job was to take care of his temple's special god in a variety of ways.

A temple's god was thought to live in a statue. The statue was housed in a holy room called a sanctuary. Only a priest who had purified or cleansed himself could enter the sanctuary to perform his sacred duties

The Priests' Role in Burial Practices

Priests had a special role to play in burial practices. Egyptians believed in a life after death. They thought that in the afterlife, a person's body remained with his or her dead spirit. For this reason, the Egyptians used a method called embalming to preserve bodies from decay. Priests oversaw this sacred ritual.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is NOT true regarding priests in ancient Egypt?

• The pharaoh was considered the highest-ranked priest of all

• Priest were just below the pharoah on the social pyramid

• A temple priest's primary job was to take care of his temple's special god

• Priests had a special role to play in burial practices

Embalming Process

• The body's organs were removed

• Hooks were used to pull the brain out through the nostrils

• Only the heart was left in the body

• Egyptians believed that the gods used the heart to judge a dead person's soul

• The organs were packed in jars to preserve them

• The organs and body were dried out with a special salt called natron

Embalming Process

• After about 70 days, the embalmers washed and oiled the body

• Then they wrapped it in hundreds of yards of linen

• The embalmers decorated the wrapped body, or mummy, with pieces of jewelry and protective charms

• Often, they placed a mask over the head

• Finally, they spread a black, gooey gum over the body and wrapped it a final time

• The mummy was then ready for burial

Burial Process

• The mummy was then placed in a wooden box

• The box was then stored inside a large stone coffin called a sarcophagus

• Because the ancient Egyptians believed that the afterlife was much like life in this world, they buried other items along with the box or coffin

• Items included food and drink, furniture, statues, jewelry, gold, clothes, games, and mirrors

Multiple Choice

Why did the ancient Egyptians make mummies?

• to decorate palaces of the pharaohs

• to preserve dead bodies of the pharaohs

• to transport goods up and down the Nile

• to educate and protect the royal children

Scribes

• One level below priests

• Egypt's official writers and record keepers

• Highly respected and well paid

• Worked for the government, priests and nobles

• Only men were allowed to be scribes

• Came from all classes of society

• One of the few ways that men could rise above their parents' social class

Scribe Schools

• Most students came from artisan or merchant families

• School started around the age of five

• Typically spent 12 years or more learning hieroglyphs

• Students had to memorize over 700 hieroglyphs

• Classes lasted from dawn until sunset

• Teachers were strict and often treated their students harshly - beatings were common

Work of Scribes

• Recorded accounts of the grain and food supply

• Wrote down the results of the government census, which counted the people living in Egypt

• Calculated and collected taxes

• Recorded court cases and helped enforce laws

• Kept track of the army's soldiers and food supply, and the number of enemies killed in battle

Tools of Scribes

• For pens, a scribe used finely sharpened reeds

• For paper, he used a sheet of papyrus laid on a writing tablet

• The tablets were made of wood or stone, each contained two wells, one for black ink and one for red ink

• A scribe carried his tools with him wherever he traveled

• Scribes also carried rolls of papyrus

Multiple Choice

What was one of the few ways that a boy from a peasant family could rise to a higher social class?

• store a lot of grain

• attend scribe school

• help build a pyramid

• take care of a temple

Artisans

Below the scribes on the social pyramid were the artisans. Egypt's artisans were highly skilled laborers who created some of the most beautiful art objects in the ancient world. Yet, unlike scribes, they rarely got respect from higher classes. Only the few who became masters at their craft were sometimes honored for their work.

Types of Artisans

• carpenters

• jewelers

• leather & metal workers

• weavers

• painters

• potters

• sculptors

Stone Carvers

The most skilled artisans were the stone carvers. They produced the statues, engravings, and reliefs found in Egyptian temples, tombs, and monuments. Stone carvers played an important role in tomb building. Stone carvers helped equip the tombs with artworks to honor and preserve the dead. Artworks might include statues of the deceased, highly detailed wall engravings, and stone coffins.

Carvers often worked with hard rock, such as granite. Dolerite, a hard rock, was used to pound out an initial shape. Next, they refined the shape and carved in details, using stone tools and copper chisels. Quartz was used to sand to smooth and polish the object.

Life of Artisans

• Toward the lower middle of society

• Typically worked side by side in big workshops

• Usually worked ten days in a row before taking time off

• Pharaohs called upon hundreds of artisans at a time to work on royal projects

• Despite artisans' skill and creativity, the upper classes often viewed them as little more than common laborers

Multiple Select

Which of the following are true of artisans in ancient Egypt? Select TWO answers.

• Artisans were just above scribes on the social pyramid

• The most skilled artisans were the stone carvers

• The upper classes often viewed them as common laborers

• Artisans typically worked alone in small workshops

Peasants

• Peasants made up the lowest and largest class in Egypt's social pyramid

• Egyptian society depended on their work

• Peasants grew the crops that supplied everyone with food

• Peasants helped build monuments like the pyramids

• Peasant life revolved around the Nile River and its three seasons: the flooding season, the planting season, and the harvest season

Poll

Based on all of the evidence you have learned, which social class was the most important in ancient Egypt?

• Government Officials

• Priests

• Scribes

• Artisans

• Peasants

Open Ended

How did social class affect daily life in ancient Egypt?