Essay about Comparing Ancient Egypt/America

Although China and Egypt are countries thousands of miles apart, their religions in the period before 600 B.C.E are similar in the ways that they had religious rituals and believed in life after death. They’re different in the fact that Chinese religion was centered around ancestors and Egyptian religion was centered around their leaders.

Ancient Egyptians are very interesting people. They were very successful and very powerful. Life in ancient Egypt was not easy. They grew their own food and made their own clothes. They did as best they could with what they had. Life in Canada seems easy compared to ancient Egypt. Their cuisine, clothing, language, government, schooling and contributions to their society were different from ours. For my essay I have written about each of these and seen the differences and similarities between ancient Egypt and Canada.

Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece both believed in life after death, though the process in which they follow that belief differ greatly. The Greeks believed that at the moment of death the spirit leaves the body in the form of a little gust of wind or a puff of breath. The Greeks believed in proper burial rights that were performed in three parts, and the relatives mostly women are the ones that conduct these rituals for the deceased. Much like the modern world these rituals consist of the first step; laying out the body to be dressed, the second funeral procession, and the third step was the cremation of the body. Unlike the Greeks the Egyptians developed a process in which they prepared and preserved the dead for the afterlife, known as mummification. This process is believed to have been the purpose of the Egyptians famous pyramids, believed to be the stairs that would lead the Pharaohs to their kingdom in the afterlife. Artifacts are buried in their tombs such as gold, wine, and sculptures to accompany the dead in life after death.

The people groups in ancient Egyptian were very different than our societies social groups today. Ancient Egyptians were grouped in a hierarchical system with the Pharaoh at the top and farmers and slaves at the bottom. The groups of people nearest to the top of society were the richest and most powerful. The Pharaoh was believed to be a god on earth and had the most power. He was responsible for making laws and keeping order. Ensuring that Egypt was not attacked or invaded by enemies and for keeping the gods happy so that the Nile flooded and there was a good harvest. The Vizier was the Pharaoh's chief advisor

When people even mention ancient egypt, loads of things pop up like mummies, ruins,deaths,chaos, and none reasoning time period. Although in this case we have the wrong interpretation of how they actually loved their daily life better than americans do today . How can a lost civilization like ancient Egypt could even compare to American culture? Not only by how Egyptians had organized social standards, lifestyle, money, and how women’s rights were highly respected in the eyes of their people and government. Were as Americans are is still having trouble of picking the next president.

In documents B, C and D it provided evidence for this claim. Labor in ancient Egypt meant rowing tug boats for granite blocks, farming, quarrying, being a merchant, transporting goods, and harvesting cotton, linen or flax for clothing. Labor in ancient Egypt was hard work, some labor could lead to death or injuries. The Nile provided water for transportation and also provided water for farmers to grow crops. During the Shemu season in ancient Egypt crops in the Lower Nile were harvested and sent onward to markets.

Did you know that Ancient Egypt was called the “gift of the Nile?” This wasis because the king owed its survival to the annual flooding, which resulted in the depositing of fertile silt. Still, the Nile Rriver flows today in the Mediterranean Sea with a delta at its mouth. I believe that Ancient Egypt had the most impact on America and even the whole world, more than any other ancient civilization.

Finally, there is the next level down is the lower class. The lower class contains farmers and under them, is the slaves. Fields and crops, cared for the animals, maintained the water canals and reservoirs were all taken care of by the farmers. At the bottom of the classes were Slaves and Farmers, they represented the greatest percent of the Egyptian population. The workers supported the professionals above them, just as the base of the pyramid supports the rest of the structure Above were skilled Craftsmen Scribes.

During the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt, people were divided into seven different levels. At the top was the Pharaoh with the government officials, nobles and priests under him/her. The fourth level consisted of the scribes and soldiers with the craftsmen and merchants making up the middle class in the fifth level. Farmers and unskilled individuals were in the sixth level with the slaves making up the lowest level. As would be expected, each level of the social chain came with specific duties. The top of the social chain was called the Pharaoh, which was the political and social leader of Egypt. The Pharaoh’s duty was to make the law and maintain order. Following the Pharaoh came the nobles, priests and government officials. The government officials consisted of members of the royal family who assisted in running the government. The nobles, were the only group, beside the royal family, who could hold a government office. They ruled the regions of Egypt, made local laws and maintained order. The priest, served the gods and conducted rituals and ceremonies to keep the gods happy. Scribes, part of the fourth level of the chain, were some of the only people in Egypt who could read and write. They kept the records of the country, including the amount of food produced and gifts presented to the gods. Soldiers were also part of this level and their job was obvious, fight and protect the land when needed. When they were not fighting in wars, they were supervising the farmers and slaves while they built structures. The next level, the middle class, consisted of craftsmen, merchants and other skilled workers such as doctors. Merchants sold the goods made by craftsmen and doctors treated the injured. Craftsmen included carpenters, jewelers, metalworkers, painters, potters, sculptors, stone carvers and weavers. After the middle class, came

To start with, their empire began as a bureaucracy during the Old Kingdom. Then during the Middle Kingdom, it was cast out. The Egyptians also had a theocracy, meaning that government and religion were mixed together. The

When one looks to the village of Deir el-Medina one is given a few indications of every day life of Ancient Egyptians. Mainly workmen and their families occupied the village (except when Akhenaten was in power). Evidence from this village gives us insight into the economy of everyday man in ancient Egypt as well as how the workers lived. We are even given evidence of a strike. All of this cuts away the modern misconception of Egyptian workers in the guise of slaves.

Most of people’s everyday lives were the same. Young children were given a lot of time to play, and they started school at the age of seven if their families could afford it. Some main crafts they did were carpentry, glassmaking, pottery, weaving, and leatherworking. The way the pharaohs collected taxes was by claiming part of a person's produce, merchandise, or property. Egyptians used boats as transportation for 3 reasons. The 3 reasons are farming land is too precious to waste on the roads, roads get washed away too easily during the annual flood, and Egypt

Ancient Egyptians did more than just play in the sand. They actually farmed! Their farming has had some affect on how we farm today, like how they watered their crops, what they would grow as crops, and what tools they used to farm.

Any normal Egyptian had a regular low paying job such as a farmer. These farmers aren’t just farmers they also work for the pharaohs, which means they do whatever they tell them too. Working for the pharaohs was not a secure job, because there was very low pay and sometimes you did things out of your job description. Some of the things the pharaohs would call a worker to do was building roads, helping to make pyramids, and fighting in war. It was not common that common workers were called to war, but when they were they feared that they might die in strange land where no one can find their bodies.

Work life was hard for most egyptians. Peasant life was not enjoyable. Most people made a living off of agricultural stuff. Grain and particularly wheat were the main successful crops. Even though the egyptians were the first people to introduce the ox-drawn plow, planting, plowing, and harvesting were still very difficult. Taxes were imposed on crops which made it hard for poor families to become anything more than poor. They couldn’t really raise up in society with those taxes.The views of slaves are very different. Many scholars believed that the slaves were treated more like servants than slaves. Some slaves weren’t as lucky and had to work humiliating and degrading jobs. There is a lot of controversy about the Great Pyramids being built