Explore Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was a long-lasting and at times powerful civilization. Though there were groupings of Egyptians before and after Ancient Egypt, it is generally thought to span the period from circa 3050 BC to circa 332 BC. Describing daily life across approximately 3,000 years would be practically impossible, so the period during the reign of Ramses II, around 1280 BC, is chosen.

Classes and Daily Life in Ancient Egypt There were basically five classes in Ancient Egypt, excluding slaves and the Pharaoh: farmers, who made up the majority of society and are the most like "Blue Collar" America; artisans and craftsmen, who were a little higher in the social order; nobles, who were basically landowners; priests, physicians, and engineers, who were the second highest class; scribes, religious leaders, and administrators, who were the highest class.

Some aspects of Ancient Egyptian life crossed class lines; for example, Egyptians were polytheistic, believing in many gods who handled various aspects of life and death and therefore should be carefully worshiped so life, death and the afterlife would all run as smoothly as possible. Since the major gods and goddesses lived in temples, there were many temples, which owned their own farmlands and were maintained by temple priests and the pharaoh. The bulk of an Egyptian's daily life depended on the class to which he belonged.

A farmer's daily life in Ancient Egypt can be symbolized by coarse linen. He slept on coarse linen, wore a coarse linen kilt, and his wife wore a coarse linen garment. A day in the life of a farmer would revolve around farming lands that did not belong to him. The land that he farmed belonged to either nobility or the temple and, in order to farm the land, he had to pay a portion of the food he produced.

The farmer's wife spent quite a bit of her day grinding meal to flour and baking bread. Mealtime was monotonous: breakfast consisted of bread and fruit, while the mid-day meal and dinner consisted of bread, meat and beer. We have found from artifacts that farmers lived in houses made of mud brick and had amulets, metal razors, shelves for clothing, reed mats in lieu of tables, benches, reed baskets, reed sandals, pottery, adzes to make mud bricks, simple plows that were pulled by oxen, papyrus string and oil lamps.

Nobles (and the other upper classes) could be symbolized by fine, white linen sheets and clothes, including kilts and dresses. Nobles often owned lands and sometimes had overseers to keep track of the produce and geese on the land. Unlike farmers, nobles had servants to wash, shave, clothe and otherwise serve them.

Nobles had everything the farmers had, plus glass amulets, cosmetics such as kohl for the eyes, ebony cosmetic boxes, cosmetic spoons, wigs, cobs, hairpins, glass jewelry, glass containers, cabinets, cushions, low tables, mirrors, toys, perfumed wax cones, gardens, chisels and wooden lamps. Their regular meals, such as breakfast, seem as monotonous as the farmers' meals; however, the nobles also had banquets at which they ate fine meats, cakes, breads, figs, dates and wine. They were also entertained by musicians.

Craftsmen were trained and skilled in trades such as metalwork, carpentry, jewelry-making and pottery-making. Their lives were generally better than farmers' lives; however, their standard of living still depended on their trade and the level of skill in that trade. Larger assemblies of craftsmen tended to make objects for the temples; local and smaller groups of craftsmen tended to make everyday objects. Egyptians believed that preserving information about government and religion was very important; consequently, scribes were held in higher esteem than craftsmen.

Scribes were learned men who, along with temple priests and administrators/political leaders under the pharaoh, lived opulent lives relative to the farmers and craftsmen. The Pharaoh was the most powerful person in Ancient Egypt. The Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt, the Pharaoh was also the high priest of all Egyptian temples and embodied the sacred aspects of Egyptian life, as well as the secular aspects.

At his coronation, the spirit of the god Horus entered the Pharaoh and upon his death, his spirit was joined with the goddess Osiris. While he ruled, the Pharaoh held the balance of ma'at, which was order over the chaos that constantly threatened to overtake the world. If the Pharaoh and other Egyptians properly worshiped the gods and obeyed their laws, ma'at was maintained; however, if the Pharaoh failed in his responsibility, chaos would overtake the entire world. He.