Essays

Describe the social hierarchy of the ancient Egyptians. 

            Hierarchies were valued people. They were mostly men. Women had more domestic duties, such as taking care of the children. People looked up to hierarchies to make decisions for the land. The biggest hierarchy were pharaohs. They were considered partly god. People thought they could communicate with the other gods to make the land safe and beneficial for them.

           At the bottoms of the social hierarchy were slaves and servants. They helped the rich people with the children and household jobs. Farmers were second from the bottom. They raised wheat, barley, lentils, and onion. They benefited from the Nile. Artisans were next. They would carve statues and reliefs. Then came Merchants. Merchants would use the barter system. They would accepts bags of grain and food for payment. Scribes were very important back then. They kept record of everything that was happening. They would right about medical treatments. They wrote in hieroglyphs. Soldiers were third from the top. They used weapons made of wood. Government officials or priest and nobles were second in importance. They were know as the "white kilt class." Pharaohs were at the top. They were religious and political leaders. They owned all the land. They made laws and collected taxes.

          Throughout the land, people followed these hierarchies. Woman were servants to some men. If the pharaohs were married to more than one women, they would have multiple people to help them out. The woman aren't listed but I think they would be part of the servants because they did a lot of work and had to take care of the men. I think the social hierarchy is where a lot of our world came from today because people in other countries still follow these rules.


Discuss the importance of the Nile River in the lives of Egyptians.

           The Nile River was very important to the people of Egypt. It flowed from south to north, which is very unusual. Every July, the Nile would flood, and every October it left behind rich soil. People considered the Nile a god. They would worship it because it gave them many great things that they needed to live. Egypt is centered around the Nile. 


          The Nile was water for drinking, irrigating, bathing and transportation. When it left behind the rich soil, Egyptians would plant seed there and have their cattle step on it to get the seeds in the ground. Upper Egypt was a 500 mile strip of of fertile land that was along the Nile River. Lower Egypt was the wide land of the Nile delta. It emptied into the Mediterranean Sea. Without the Nile, people wouldn't have lived or been able to thrive. The Nile was definitely the center of their life.

        If the Egyptians back thousands of years ago didn't have the Nile, our love would have been affected to. They were the first to live on the Earth and they set a base down for all life. They created a calender with 365 days and months. They new when the Nile would flood and progressed every year. They learned how to live and learn. The Nile was very important and created a lifestyle for everyone on Earth.