The clearest evidence for how the ancient Egyptians went about their day-to-day lives comes from archaeology and art. Archaeologists excavate the remains of cities, towns, and houses to find the remnants of objects used by people in the areas where they once lived. Then they try to reconstruct the regular activities of those people as completely and clearly as possible.
Helping these interpretations are scenes that were carved and/or painted on the walls of tombs. Some of these images seem to show parts of “daily life” in action. Many of them show aspects of food production, preparation, and storage - baking bread and brewing beer, working the fields and harvesting grains, raising and butchering cattle, and hunting and fishing. Specialized crafts also appear, such as carpentry and jewelry-making. Other scenes show foods and other products being transported toward images of a tomb owners themselves.
They do show the kinds of activities expected of everyday life. However, their purpose from the ancient Egyptians’ point of view was ever more important.
The Egyptians lived mostly along the Nile River, because it was the primary source of water for drinking and growing crops. The rest of the countries are generally a desert, quite dry and sandy and rocky. In the spring of each year, the Nile would reliably flood and spread out as much as one mile wide. It would recede and leave fertile mud/soil behind. The farmers would then prepare the soil with a plow pulled by two men or two cattle.
Next they would go through the field with a mattock, a pick-ax like tool, to break up the large clumps of soil. After the soil was prepared, women would scatter seed in the furrows by hand from wicker baskets. The fields were irrigated after planting by using ditches and canals, sometimes putting water into a canal by hand, one bucketfull at a time. They also weeded and worked to protect the crops from birds and rats. After three months they would harvest the grain, sometimes using a sickle, a hand tool with a curved blade. The plant stems were used as straw for the livestock.
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The seed heads with grain were threshed. This involved cattle walking over the grain heads to separate the seeds from the stem tops and the chaff. The farmer would then use a large fork-shaped tool to throw the grain into the air, and the wind would blow away the chaff. The seed would fall to the ground and be collected. The grain was then ground to make flour for bread.
Ancient Egypt was a complex society needing people doing many different tasks and jobs.
- Farmers - most of the people were farmers. They grew barley to make beer, wheat for bread, vegetables such as onions and cucumbers, and flax to make into linen.
- Craftspeople - There were a wide variety of craftsmen jobs. They included carpenters, weavers, jewelers, leather workers, and potters.
- Soldiers - Becoming a soldier was an opportunity for a person to rise in society. Most of the soldiers were footmen. There was a well defined hierarchy in the Egyptian army.
- Scribes - Scribes were important people in Ancient Egypt as they were the only people who knew how to read and write.
The second most prevalent occupation was “scribe”. The scribes were bureaucrats, government officials, copiers of documents and they were also involved in decorating tombs with hieroglyphics and stories. They were taught in private schools, as there was no public school system. Other occupations in Ancient Egypt included soldiers, priests, personal servants, craftsmen, artists, miners in quarries cutting stone blocks, and miners in mines searching for gold and turquoise.
The craftsmen included sculptors, furniture makers and tool makers. The builders primarily made buildings out of sun-dried mud bricks. These bricks have since deteriorated. The builders also made stone temples with columns and walls and also the stone pyramids. Many of these have survived for thousands of years and are still standing today. The temples and stone-cut underground tombs often had hieroglyphics and stories written on the walls and many of these have survived and teach scholars much about Ancient Egyptian life and religion and history.
There were also shepherds of cattle, goats and sheep. The livestock produced meat and wool and milk and were also used for sacrifices at the temples. Marshmen also worked along the river. They hunted and fished and collected papyrus, a marsh grass that grew 10-12 feet tall. Papyrus was used to make paper and small boats and it was also used in the construction of houses. The marshmen speared fish, which were plentiful in the Nile and caught birds in nets.
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The business people were a small portion of the population. There was no money in Ancient Egypt until approximately 300 BC (BCE), so business was done by bartering, exchanging objects for other objects. Some of the business men were involved in international trade, which included copper and tin, tall lumber and spices. Egypt was a large exporter of grain. Mining was considered the worst occupation because the work was exhausting, and they worked in dusty, dark and dangerous conditions.
Workers in the quarries cut stone blocks out of rock formations of limestone and sandstone primarily. The average Egyptian had to work to survive, and they worked almost every day. Food in Ancient Egypt was not “meat and potatoes” for the average person. It was “bread and beer’. Protein usually came from fish or plant sources. Meat was quite expensive, so it was only eaten on special occasions. They had no sugar, so honey was used as a sweetener. They did use salt and spices.
Egyptians were thought to have invented beer, which was made by fermenting grain. Beer was safer to drink than the water, which could be, and probably was, contaminated with bacteria. The alcohol in the beer would kill at least some of the germs, just as alcohol-based hand sanitizer kills germs on the skin. The Egyptians also made wine from grapes.
Looking nice and being clean was very important to the Egyptians. Most everyone, men and women, wore jewelry of some type. Makeup was important as well. Makeup was worn by both men and women. They had cosmetic cases they would carry around. Because it was so hot, most people wore white linen clothes. Men wore kilts and women wore a straight dress.
The average family lived in a village of sun baked mud houses. The houses were fairly small with few windows or furniture. The main staple of the commoner was bread. They also had fruits, vegetables, lamb, and goats for food. They had clay ovens to cook in and usually used dishes made of clay.
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Social Structure
Imagine the population of ancient Egypt arranged in a social pyramid: the pyramid base is supported by slaves, servants and the serfs; and tenant farmers work the estates owned by the king, the elite and the temples. Next come the skilled and semi-skilled artisans; the soldiers, sailors and those employed on the great state projects (the building sites, tombs and temples). Above them are the educated professional classes, including scribes, accountants and doctors. Finally come the nobility; the elite who control much of Egypt’s wealth.
The royal family remain exclusive and aloof at the top of the pyramid, while the king, or pharaoh - the only mortal who is deemed able to communicate effectively with the state gods - is superior to everyone.
There were three social classes in Egypt. There was the royalty, such as the pharaoh and his extended family. There were “free” people, such as government officials, priests of the gods, soldiers and some civilians. The lowest class included serfs and slaves. Serfs belonged to the land and were bought and sold with the land. At one point early in Ancient Egypt almost all of the people in the country were serfs.
Ancient Egypt Social Hierarchy #ancientegypt #ancienthistory #socialhierarchy
Family Life
Egypt had the highest birth rate in the ancient world. And yet, things were far from perfect. Illnesses and accidents could not be avoided, and there was no welfare programme to protect the unfortunate. The family provided the only reliable support mechanism and was therefore an institution of immense importance, with marriage a practical rather than a romantic bond, designed to create a viable economic unit.
Everyone, even the gods and goddesses, married. An unmarried man was seen as incomplete, and schoolboys were advised to wed early and father as many children as possible. Destined to follow in their parents’ footsteps, boys were trained in the trades and professions by their fathers and uncles, while girls stayed at home to learn from their mothers. In their early teens girls would marry and the cycle would start again.
Roles within Marriage
Husbands and wives had complementary but differing roles within the marriage. While the husband worked outside the home, earning the rations that would feed his family, the wife or ‘mistress of the house’ ran the household, providing food, drink, clothing and cleaning services as needed.
To reflect this traditional allocation of duties, the Egyptian artists depicted women as pale skinned ‘indoor’ people, while men appeared as darker skinned ‘outdoor’ workers.
Childcare, cooking and cleaning were considered important, but they have little impact on the archaeological or written record. Consequently we know less about Egypt’s women than we do about its men. One thing we do know, however, is that women had the same legal rights as men of equivalent social status. This allowed them to own their own property and to live alone without the intervention of a male guardian.
Childbirth
Most married women spent much of their lives either pregnant or breast-feeding. With little medical advice available, amulets and charms bearing the figures of the pregnant hippopotamus goddess Taweret and the dwarf demi-god Bes were used to protect both the mother and her unborn child.
The mother prepared for birth by removing her clothing and loosening her hair. In a wealthy household she may have retreated to a specially constructed birthing hut; this was a privilege available to few. The mother squatted on birthing bricks for the delivery, and a midwife used a sharp obsidian or flint knife to cut the umbilical cord.
Marriage in Ancient Egypt was not a religious matter. It was based on a contract between the groom and the bride’s family, and it involved an exchange of gifts. Men and women were expected to marry and have children. Women managed the household and the children. They usually ground the grain into flour and did the baking of bread. They also did weaving of fabric and sewing of clothing. Marriages were expected to last until death.
Women were considered equal under the law, but were second class citizens in terms of employment outside the home. Women’s status came from their relationship to their father in their youth and their husband later in life.
Homes in Ancient Egypt
The Egyptians built their towns and cities from mud-brick, reserving stone for their temples and tombs. Building with this material was both cheap and fast, but unfortunately, over time, almost all the mudbrick houses and palaces have crumbled and dissolved.
Fortunately, the workmen’s village of Deir el-Medina - home of the royal tomb-builders - has survived relatively intact. Here the terraced houses were long, narrow and dark, with a wooden front door opening directly onto the main street. Each house included two living or public rooms, a storeroom or bedroom, and a kitchen equipped with a mud-brick oven. The roof over the kitchen was made from matting that would allow smoke and cooking smells to escape. Stairs gave access to the rest of the roof, which could be used as an additional living space.
Not many examples of ancient Egyptian houses have survived because they were built a very long time ago. Houses would have been built of mud-bricks with floors made from earth. They had living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms. Many of the large objects that we can move around (like seats and ovens) were built into the house. There was no gas or electricity, meaning that food was cooked in stone ovens, using a fire for heat. To keep food and drinks cool, pits were dug and food was stored below ground level.
Their homes were built to deal with the extremes of the climate. The weather could be up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48 degrees C) on a summer afternoon and as cold as the 30s in degrees Fahrenheit ( around 2 degrees C) on a winter night. Homes generally had an open courtyard, a porch held up by columns and covered with a roof, along with private rooms for the family. They might also have a pool. Silos for grain and stables for livestock were added to farm houses.
After a hard day's work, the farmers returned to their houses, which stood near the fields or in small rural villages located nearby. An average agricultural peasant's house featured walls made of mud bricks. The ceiling was fashioned from bundles of plant stems, and the floors consistend of hard-beaten earth covered by a layer of straw or mats made from reeds. There were one or two rooms (perhaps occasionally three) in which the farmer and his wife and children (if any) lived. In many cases, the stabled some or all of their farm animals in the same rooms. Because such modest homes lacked bathrooms, the residents had to use an outside latrine (a hole in the ground) to relieve themselves. Needless to say, water had to be hauled in buckets from the river or the nearest hand-dug well.
By contrast, the palace of the pharaoh Amenhotep III (1386-1353 BCE), known as Malkata today, covered over 30,000 square meters (30 hectares) and included spacious apartments, conference rooms, audience chambers, a throne room and receiving hall, a festival hall, libraries, gardens, storerooms, kitchens, a harem, and a temple to the god Amun. The entire structure, of course, had to be furnished and these articles were supplied by the lower class workers. In its time the palace was known as 'the house of rejoicing' and other similar names.
The apartments and homes of scribes, as with those of the nomarchs, were opulent or modest depending on their level of success and the region in which they lived. The author of the Papyrus Lansing, Nebmare Nakht, claimed to live in grand style and to own land and slaves on par with a great king.
Food and Drink
Egypt was a very fertile land, and under normal circumstances no one went hungry. Food could be homegrown, earned in the form of rations (there was no money), hunted, fished or bartered at market. Water could be obtained from wells, the Nile, or irrigation canals built by the Egyptians.
Grain - wheat or barley - was the principal source of carbohydrate. Everyone ate vast quantities of bread, even the gods, whose temples received daily offerings of hundreds of loaves. Vegetables and fish were widely available, and the typical peasant family ate a healthy diet rich in bread, fish, onions and pulses supplemented by occasional small game and fowl. The elite ate meat on a more regular basis. Chicken, which is consumed in vast quantities in modern Egypt, was not available.
Beer, a mild, thick, slightly sweet beverage best drunk through a filtering straw, was the main drink of the masses, consumed at every meal. Wine made from grapes grown in the Nile Delta was a privilege of the elite.
The area around the river Nile was very fertile, thanks to the annual flood. This meant lots of different foods could be grown and harvested. Common foods we eat today, like tomatoes, bananas, and potatoes were not eaten in Ancient Egypt as they had not yet been discovered. The food you ate depended on your class. Richer people (like priests and pharaohs) ate meat, eggs, figs and grapes. Poorer people, like farmers, ate bread and onions. Everyone loved garlic.
Clothing
Many painted tomb walls show Egypt’s elite dressed in gleaming white, intricately pleated garments as they walk through the fields or enjoy a tasty banquet. This is very much an idealised image. Archaeological evidence indicates that most women dressed in practical, plain, sleeved dresses similar in style to the simple galabiyahs worn by modern Egyptian villagers. These dresses were made from linen; cotton and silk being unknown in ancient Egypt. Woven sandals and a shawl for warmth completed the outfit.
Men had a similar wardrobe, although the long outer garment would be removed and replaced by a kilt when working in the fields. These simple garments would have been very valuable; they would have been handed down, patched and darned, until at the end of their useful life, they were used as mummy wrappings.
Laundry was done in the canal or the Nile, with natron, a salt-rich mineral, as a cleaning agent.
Health and Medicine
Egypt’s doctors were considered the best in the ancient Mediterranean world. They employed a combination of scientific techniques (observation and diagnosis) and magical rituals (spells and charms) to bring about their cures. Patients might be treated with a prescription - human milk being considered a particularly effective ingredient - or by minor surgery.
There was some specialisation among doctors, with Egypt’s gynaecologists offering not only the treatment of female illnesses, but also the provision of fertility and pregnancy tests and (unreliable) contraceptive measures.
Although mummification made the Egyptians aware of the arrangement of the internal organs, their understanding of the body systems was inaccurate. They believed that there was a network of ‘canals’ centred on the heart, which included the blood vessels, tear-ducts, and nerves. Obstructions within this system would cause floods and droughts in different areas of the body.
Religion and Magic
The Egyptian pantheon included several thousand deities. These gods might be arranged in a loose hierarchy, with nationally recognised state gods at the top, locally significant gods in the middle, and demi-gods and supernatural beings at the bottom.
While the king and his priests worshipped the important state gods in their state temples, his subjects were almost entirely excluded from state religion. Instead, they worshipped an eclectic mix of local gods, demi-gods and supernatural beings; the spirits and ancestors who never developed formal cults, but who undoubtedly had an enormous influence on the lives of the ordinary people.
Magic was, at all levels of society, a real and potent power that could be used to protect the innocent and ward off harm. It could not be separated in any meaningful way from either formal religion or science.
They worshiped a vast array of gods, perhaps over 1,000, from which they could pick and choose. Egyptians believed that whatever occurred in their lives or environment had a supernatural cause.
The world of the Egyptians was imbued with magic. Magic was personified in the god Heka (also the god of medicine) who had participated in the creation and sustained it afterwards. The concept of ma'at (harmony and balance) was central to the Egyptian's understanding of life and the operation of the universe and it was heka which made ma'at possible. Through the observance of balance and harmony people were encouraged to live at peace with others and contribute to communal happiness. Letting one's face "shine" meant being happy, having a good spirit, in the belief that this would make one's own heart light and lighten those of others.
Life After Death
In Ancient Egypt death was not necessarily the end of life. The Egyptians believed it was possible to live again, if the corpse was preserved in a lifelike form so that it might form a bridge between the spirit of the deceased and the land of the living. So, as soon as possible after death, the body was taken to the undertaker’s workshop. Here it was laid on a sloping embalming table, stripped, and washed.
The brain was immediately discarded. This was usually achieved by breaking the ethmoid bone (the bone separating the nasal cavity from the skull cavity) and poking a long-handled spoon up a nostril. The heart, in contrast, was left in place. Next an incision was made in the left flank, then the stomach, intestine, lungs and liver drawn out. The finger- and toenails were tied in place and the corpse packed with natron salt. It was left for up to 40 days, until entirely dry. Finally the desiccated body was washed, oiled and bandaged.
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