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9.1 – Introduction In this chapter, you will meet members of Egyptian society. You’ll learn what Egyptian life was like during the New Kingdom (about 1600 to 1100 B.C.E.). Each year, when the Nile River flooded its banks, all of Egypt celebrated the Opet Festival. Work in the fields stopped while people at all levels of Egyptian society joined in a great festival honoring the pharaoh and his patron, the god Amon-Re (AH-muhn-RAY). Almost everyone in Egyptian society took part in the Opet Festival. Priests decorated the god’s statue with jewelry. They put the statue in a shrine and placed the shrine on a ceremonial boat called a barque. The beautifully decorated boat was made by artisans, or craftspeople. High-ranking government officials competed for the honor of carrying the barque on poles through town. Members at the lower levels of society, such as farmers, lined the streets to watch the procession. Scribes made a written record of the celebration. The Opet Festival brought all these groups together. But in everyday life, they belonged to very different social classes. These classes made up a social pyramid, with the pharaoh at the top and peasants at the bottom. In between were government officials, priests, scribes, and artisans. The daily lives of the Egyptian people were distinct for each class. In this chapter, you will learn about the various classes that made up Egypt’s social pyramid. Then you’ll explore how social rank determined advantages and disadvantages, work responsibilities, and the quality of daily life for the members in each class. 9.2 – Ancient Egypt’s Social Pyramid Egyptian society was structured like a pyramid. At the very top of this social pyramid was the pharaoh, Egypt’s supreme ruler. Egyptian religion strengthened the pharaoh’s authority. Pharaohs were believed to be gods, and their word was law. Next in importance were several layers of social classes. The classes near the top of the pyramid had fewer people and enjoyed higher status. The classes nearer the bottom had greater numbers of people but lower status. |
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