Transcript Daily life in Ancient Egypt

Daily life in Ancient Egypt
•Each
year, when Nile
river flooded its
banks, all of Egypt
celebrated the Opet
Festival.
•People of all levels of
social structure joined
in a great festival
honoring the pharaoh
and his patron, the
god Amon-Re.
Ancient Egypt's social pyramid
At the top of the social
pyramid was the pharoah
the top ruler. Below the
pharoah were government
officials who carried out
the orders of the pharoah.
 Priests were the next layer
of the social pyramid and
were very important
because religion touched
every part of people’s daily
lives.
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Ancient Egypt's social pyramid
Next on the social pyramid
were scribes, who were
well respected and
recorded information for
government and religious
officials.
 Artisans were the next
layer of the social pyramid,
which included craftsmen,
carpenters, metalworkers,
sculptors, etc.
 The last step in the
pyramid were peasants ,
which was the largest class
and supplied the labor for
the society.

Government Officials
Government officials belonged
to the highest class on Egypt’s
social pyramid , after the
pharaoh.
 They inherited their position
from family members.
 Three important officials were
the vizier, the chief treasurer
and the general of armies.

Vizier- adviser to the
pharaoh
Government Officials
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The vizier had more power
than anyone except the
pharaoh. He appointed and
supervised many of the
government officials.
The chief treasurer oversaw
the governments wealth. His
main duty was to collect taxes.
After the pharaoh the top
military commander in Egypt
was the general of the armies.
Priests
Priests were powerful and
highly respected in Egyptian
society. They all served
under the pharaoh who was
considered the highest
ranking priest of them all.
 Priests had different jobs.
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Priests
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High Priests advised the
pharaoh and oversaw all
religious ceremonies, while
temple priests were in
charge of temples
throughout Egypt.
The priests had a special
role in burial practices. They
believed that a persons
body remained with him in
the afterlife, so Egyptians
used a method called
embalming to preserve the
bodies from decay.
Scribes
Scribes were Egypt’s official
writers and record keepers.
 Only men were allowed to be
scribes and they attended
scribe school.
 Schooling started around age
five. Students typically spent
12 or more years learning
hieroglyphs.

Artisans
Egypt's artisans were some of the most skilled laborers
who created some of the most magnificent statues, art
carvings, furniture, and jewelry.
 Those jobs included metalworkers, painters, potters,
sculptors, and stone carvers.
 Stone carvers played an important role because in tomb
building wealthy Egyptians believed to honor the dead.
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Peasants
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Peasants made up the lowest and
largest class in Egypt’s social
pyramid.
Peasants grew the crops that
supplied the everyone with food.
They also supplied the labor to
build monuments like the
pyramids.
Peasant life revolved around the
Nile River.
Its three seasons were the
flooding season, the planting
season, and the harvest season.