Egyptian Social Classes
Ancient History
The Egyptian Social Classes
The Egyptians organized their social life like a big pyramid. Different groups of people had different importance. At the top of the social pyramid was the pharaoh. Pharaohs were like kings, they ruled Egypt. All the wealth and treasures of the empire was theirs, and they were worshiped as gods. But the life of the pharaoh was not simple. It was the job of the pharaoh to maintain order, control the economy, the laws of nature, the seasons, the flooding of the Nile, the movement of the planets. That's a lot of work for just one person. Second in importance on the pyramid, after the pharaoh, were the priests.
The priests main activities were serving the gods in each of the temples and performing offerings and rituals. Below the priests were describes whose ability was, well, knowing how to write. Although nowadays, we all learn to write as children. In ancient Egypt, only a few privileged people were taught how to write. That gave them a lot of power. In Egypt, they wrote using sacred signs called hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics were drawings, which represented sounds, like our alphabet, except a lot harder to write. Though there were more than 700 different symbols, the writing was ruled by clear and simple principles. The fourth place on the pyramid was occupied by the soldiers. Soldiers were in charge of protecting Egypt and the empire. Because Egypt was so rich. Many armies wanted to conquer it and take its wealth.
After so many encounters and so many battles, the Egyptian army perfected its techniques and became very powerful. Hey guys, now that we're so powerful, let's go attack them. Well, that's a great idea. And so the Egyptian army set out to conquer other territories to the east and to the south. One might think that with so much fighting, in peaceful times, the army would rest. But in ancient Egypt, there was always something to be done. Officers, when there were no enemies to confront, were devoted to tasks like digging irrigation canals, and transporting blocks of stone to the building sites of the great pyramids. Finally, at the bottom of the pyramid, were traders and craftsmen. Below them were the peasants. And at the very bottom were the slaves. Who, though they were at the bottom, held up the whole pyramid of Egyptian society.