The EGYPTIAN SOCIAL StructureEgypt's social structure, or pyramid, was very organized and also quite efficient as you were more than often times born into your social class. This means that everything got done, because everyone was all contributing something. Although many people didn't like were they were, the social pyramid was able to sustain the ancient Egyptian society and allow it to thrive for over thousands of years! Below, you can see an excellent example of the ancient Egypt social classes, and jobs!
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PHARAOHS
In the social structure of Ancient Egypt, the Pharaoh’s were always at the top of the social structure, for, they were Egypt’s leaders. The pharaohs were looked upon as if they were gods which meant that whatever they said was to be the law. The four main leaders of the Egyptian society consisted of Pharaoh Khufu, Pharaoh Senusret I, and also Pharaoh Ramses II. Pharaoh Khufu existed from 2551 to 2528 B.C.E. Some of his stories describe him as a cruel, harsh ruler. He controlled a large network of government officials. Below the great pharaohs, there was many different classes. The closer to the top of the pyramid that you were, the more luxury you were able to enjoy. Directly below the pharaohs were the government officials. GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS The government officials along with the priests belonged to the two upper most classes in the social pyramid under the pharaohs. These three classes were the most powerful groups in Egypt. There were three different types of government officials. They were the vizier, general of the armies, and the chief treasurer. The government officials carried out the various orders of the pharaohs. They had an abundance of power and were just as wealthy, as they enjoyed a high quality of life. Priests The priests were in charge of the temples and religions rituals. Priests also oversaw important ceremonies surrounding death, burial, and overseeing the temples while also giving advise and healing commoners. Women could even become priests, and were thought of that equal to men. Surprisingly enough, even the great pharaoh's were said to be priests. They were the highest ranking priest of them all, as the pharaohs were viewed upon as gods. Soldiers Beneath the three main groups were the fearsome Egyptian soldiers. They had a very hard life, as they didn’t eat much, and would ,of course, fight in all of Egypt's great wars and battles. This wasn't the best class to be born into, as the conditions were very harsh and dangerous. Scribes One level below the soldiers in the social pyramids were the scribes. Their job was to record all of the important information about what was happening, calculated taxes, food supplies, and to help enforce the law. To become a scribe, all that a young boy would have to do is to go to scribe school. Any boy could attend scribe school if they wanted to raise to above your parents in the social classes. If you wanted to go to a scribe school you would be taught starting as young as age five and it would last for twelve years. Their instructor would be a priest, and would teach the young boys different hieroglyphs. They would have to memorize over seven hundred different hieroglyphs. When they were grown up and working, the tools that they would use were finely sharpened reeds, rolls of papyrus, tablets ,generally made of wood or stone, and ink along with some water to wet the ink before they used it. Merchants Downward from the Egyptian scribes, were the merchants. They would make, buy, and sell products with other areas to collect items that Egypt had in low demand, such as food, or traded for an article like money. They were the only people to trade items with other civilizations. Artisans Artisans were beneath those who were the traders of Egypt. They would make things such as pottery, sculptures, and even draw the Pharaohs. The different categories of the artisans that there were included, carpenters, jewelers, leather-workers, metal-workers, painters, potters, sculptors, and weavers. AS you can see there was a very extensive variety of jobs that they could choose from, though they were greatly under appreciated than then many other classes. If the pharaohs wanted work done on their home, then they could take the artisans away from what they were doing, and make them work on what the pharaohs wanted them to. Remember, what the pharaoh's said was to be the law. Farmers Farmers had barely any luxury in the fact they were the second to last on the social pyramids. Peasants were made up of farmers. They would work very hard out in the fields and would come home very late after working extra early into the day. Like everyone, they had to pay taxes to the pharaohs, but if the farmers came up short, the husbands would be brutally beaten. Slaves Finally at the lowest rung of the Egyptian social classes, were the slaves. They were treated very harshly and were usually made up of prisoners caught at war. The slaves would usually have to be bought for those who could afford them for and abundance of different tasks. Most commonly was to help the woman of the house with chores, and also the children. They were at the bottom of the social pyramid and there was many of slaves. In fact the closer to the top of the social pyramid that you you got, the smaller the amount of people in that class. Izabella Reed
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