The Social Classes Of Ancient Egyptian Societies

Egypt would be nothing without their famous government and rulers. The biggest, most important ruler, of Ancient Egypt, was and is the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh was the most vital leader to not just of the government, but also of the religion in Egypt. There were tears of the Egyptian government. So, under the pharaoh, was the vizier. A vizier is the main overseer of the land. The other officials reported to vizier each day. Under the vizier, were the Nomarks. They rule over a certain area of land called a nome. Almost like a governor. A nome was almost like a state. The role of a nomark would be hereditary and be passed down from father to son. The laws of Ancient Egypt were believed to be partially codified. There were 8 books that set out the legal code. Most people believe that Egyptian law was based on common sense and the view of right and wrong. This is how Egyptian’s complex religion helped make Egypt a working civilization.

In Egypt, the social structure was very important to everyday life. At the top they had their main gods, Ra, Osiris, and Isis. They even elevated some of their own people to the top, giving the god status. These were the Pharaohs. The Pharaohs had total control and power over their subjects and pyramids were built as their graves. There is also a chain of command at the top of hte social structure. After Pharaohs came his appointed assistant, known as the Vizier who collected and kept track of the taxes. Under the vizier came their scribes to helped record all the documents. These were vitally important because they were largely the only ones in the entire community who could read and write. Then came the soldiers, quite high up on the ladder compared to many of the other civilizations. This was because fighting for the Pharaoh was highly appraised work. The middle class was made up of the craftsmen, traders and merchants, and artisans. These are the people who created the everyday tools for people up and down the entire social structure. And finally at the very bottom came the farmers and slaves, doing the unsklled work unlike the middle

Ancient Egypt was a captivating and intricate civilization. Over the years, historians have found it easier to study this civilization, rather than other historical civilizations, because the Egyptians went through great lengths to record their history. Besides being decent record keepers, they were very religious, and “ahead of their time,” due to their technological and economic breakthroughs. Because of the aspects of this culture, it has to be one of the greatest civilizations of the world.

As widely admired civilizations both Ancient Egypt and ancient Greece prospered for many years, and is due to its political governing. In ancient Egypt the Pharaoh was perceived to be the embodiment of the all mighty sun god, and regarded him as a god himself. Therefore the Pharaoh was the ruler of all of Egypt and citizens did not have a say in politics. Egyptian class structure is best portrayed by

Pharaoh, viziers, high priests and nobles, priests, engineers, doctors, scribes, craftsmen, slaves and farmers, these are examples of how the existing order of social class in Ancient Egyptian. What’s the difference between the social class order we have today? Classes such as upper class, middle class, and the lower or working class still resemble the class order and theme of then in the Ancient Egyptian time. Social class could be managed as much in wealth and income, possession of goods and the way individuals are viewed after death are essential elements in social class. Social class has a noteworthy part to play in the lives, for example, the lives in Egypt to the lives that we live in the 21st century. Social class is something that is observed at but mentioned in different context. Social class in Ancient Egypt was not only a description of how people lived but also how they were views after death. And this how the pyramids and other monuments played a role in class and status ranking.

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

Ancient Egypt was a society centered on the Nile River. It was geographically advantageous because the Nile allowed for food surplus and protection from invaders. The government was dynastic succession with a Pharaoh as the leader. Egypt is a good example of rich dominance in the government because no forms of regular people having a voice are seen. As one of the earlier, powerful, and united (by Menes of Upper and Lower Egypt) societies, Egypt had its time of economic prosperity. But, there was still a separation between standard of living in the commoners versus the government and religious leaders.

Government and Religion were inseparable , the Pharaoh lead the Government and represented the Gods in Human form. the egyptian people would also use temples to worship Gods on a daily basis. The society was built on order, law and defending the country for the people, and to make sure they were taken care of. The hierarchy enabled Egypt to create stability and organization, from the Pharaoh to the farmers for 3000 years.

The ancient Egypt social pyramid was painted as Pharaoh's the highest of ranks followed by nobles, priests, officials and then by scribes, merchants and at the bottom of the social pyramid would be the farmers and servants. Pharaohs were marked as the highest of social status due to their resemblances of the

Social stratification was visible in Egypt like other societies. The king is at the top of hierarchy who is also referred to as a Pharaoh during the era of the new kingdom, or sometimes even referred to as a living god (Jones, Podcast 1). Kings could demand the people to build monumental tombs or canals to show their power (Jones, Podcast 1). Lower to the king are Nobles, who control the nomes. Majority of ancient Egyptians were common people (Backman, p. 27).

They believed in Gods ruling their world. The Pharaohs got their name by ancient Egyptian dynasties. Pharaohs were God like people to ensure things were in order and to make sure that things were working correctly. Pharaohs would ask regular citizens to defend civilizations. Government officials is the second highest in the social structure. Officials were very wealthy and had lots of respect. Priest also belong in that category. Male and female priests were servants of the Gods. Priest were only allowed to enter sacred areas of the temple. Soldiers were the third highest of the structure, but they were not trained professionals. Scribes were typically men who knew how to read, write and were the only ones that were able to do so. The Merchants were the ones to trade. Merchants would return the items for grains and goodies. The last one would be slaves and servants. Slaves, who were mainly house servants, had to sell their children into slavery. Slaves lived a good life because they were fed, cared for and did not have to pay taxes. Servants were most popular but had limited rights like not being able to inherit land. They had jobs like cooking, weavers, and

During ancient Egypt, civilization was brought about because the people picked a ruler, or king. “Two of the most important sources of life for the ancient Egyptians were the Nile River and the Pharaoh” (William). At the time, society was very hierarchical; the society was divided into two groups: the privileged people and the majority. The king kept control and managed everything ranging from politics to religion.

First and foremost, Ancient Egypt was structured in the form of a pyramid. The top of the pyramid of course was the gods. These gods included Ra, Osiris, and Iris, and according to the people of Egypt, these gods controlled almost the entire earth. Leaders in Egypt were called pharaohs so they were believed to be Gods in human form which is amazing. The ruler in status were powerful nobles and priests. Only nobles could hold government posts and in those positions they profited from tributes paid to the pharaoh. Priests were responsible for pleasing the gods. While soldiers fought in wars or quelled domestic uprisings. When there was no war to fight, the soldiers supervised

The women nearest to the king had a statue in their honor. The name of the wife of the king was, from the Second Middle Period, written in a sign, and several Old and Middle Kingdom wives of kings were buried in a pyramid.

Egyptian civilization was born from the vast and unique Nile River. This river provided the rich “Black Land” soil that was the foundation for agriculture (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010). Although there was no need for irrigation as in Mesopotamia, Egyptians were able to provide an abundance of foods for their civilization base. The Nile River not only provided land perfect for farming it was also used as a mode of transportation for the Egyptians enabling the trade of imports and exports. Due to natural barriers in the geography and the strategic use of fortifications, Egyptians were able to create a secure way of life protected from invasion. This way of life was organized hierarchical lines with a god-king at the top (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010). The ruling class consisted of nobles and priests who assisted the god-king and ran the government. The middle class society was made up of merchants and artisans who controlled trade and art while the rest of the population were common farmers and slaves. Similar to the Mesopotamians, controlling the vast civilization of Egypt were the numerous gods and goddesses created by the polytheism belief. These gods were represented in wall paintings,