Egyptian Peasants ( Lesson 9 ; section 6 )

Egyptian Peasants : Section 6 Lesson 9

Daily Life in Ancient Egypt

Peasants made up the lowest and largest class in Egypt's social pyramid. Although Egyptian society depended on their work, they were generally considered unskilled workers. Peasants grew the crops that supplied everyone with food. When not busy working the fields, peasants helped build monuments like the pyramids.

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Peasants

Multiple Choice

When peasants were not busy growing crops and working the fields, what were they doing ?

• Relaxing on the beach

• Trading goods with distant lands
• Building large structures and monuments

• Hunting wild animals for food

The Three Seasons of the Nile Peasant life revolved around the Nile River. Its three seasons were the flooding season, the planting season, and the harvest season.

The flooding season lasted from June to September. During this time, the Nile overflowed its banks and fertilized the fields. Farmers had to wait for the waters to reduce before they could work the fields. Meanwhile, they labored on royal projects, such as building pyramids and temples.

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Peasants

Multiple Choice

Nile flooding season fertilized the fields. Fertilized means ..........

• covered in sand
• frozen and dry
• depleted of nutrients
• enriched with nutrients

​In October, the planting season began, and farmers sowed their fields with seeds. The most significant crops were wheat and barley, which were used to make bread.

Peasants

Peasants worked in pairs to sow the fields. The farmer softened the earth with a plow pulled by cattle, while a second person, often the farmer's wife, followed behind to scatter the seeds. Throughout the season, farmers carefully irrigated the land.

Peasants

Multiple Choice

The 3 seasons of the Nile were ..............................

• Spring, Autumn, Rainy
• windy, rainy, and hot

• flooding, planting, and harvest.

• Summer, Winter, Monsoon

The harvest season began in March. Usually the farmer's entire family helped with the harvest. The men cut down the plants with sickles (metal blades with short wooden handles), and the women and children gathered the tall stalks of grain. During harvest time, everyone worked from dawn to dusk. Peasants often sang songs to make the long hours of labor pass more quickly. Occasionally, musicians played in the fields while the workers sang.

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Peasants

Multiple Choice

Which one of these is a sickle used in farming ?

The Daily Lives of Peasants 
Peasants had the fewest comforts of any of the social classes. They lived in plain houses that were made of mud bricks and filled sparsely with furniture, often just woven mats.

Additionally, the peasants' diet was simple. A typical daily meal might consist of onions, cucumbers, fish, and homemade bread. Peas and lentils were also common. Unlike the upper classes, peasants rarely ate meat. In times of famine, they often had to boil tough papyrus plants for food.

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Peasants

Multiple Choice

Peasant houses were sparsely filled with furniture. What does sparsely mean ?

• Sparsely means completely empty of furniture.
• Sparsely means richly decorated and furnished.
• Sparsely means abundantly filled with furniture.
• Sparsely means thinly or not densely populated.

Peasants spent most of their lives working but did have some time for recreation. Men enjoyed a river game that involved knocking each other off papyrus rafts. Holidays were celebrated before planting and after the crops were harvested. Peasants also participated in festivals held to honor the Egyptian gods.

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Peasants

Multiple Choice

Egyptian peasants worked a lot, but did have time for recreational activities sometimes.

• True

• False

​A highlight of the year for peasants was the end of the harvest season. As a reward for their hard work, they were allowed to collect and keep any leftover grain.

Peasants

But farmers could also be punished for a poor harvest since they had to pay taxes in the form of crops. If a harvest did not produce enough to pay the required tax, a farmer might be brutally beaten.

Peasants

Multiple Choice

What is the best definition of the word harvest ?

• To water the crops artificially.

• The process of gathering mature crops from the field.

• A method of cooking vegetables.
• The act of planting seeds in the ground.