ANCIENT EGYPT

It is interesting that during the Ancient Egyptian civilization which was in existence for over 3000 years, almost every person had a job or role they played. The majority of the men earned their jobs as a part of their hereditary rights. This meant that if your father was a farmer, you too became a farmer. If you were born into an upper aristocratic family who was a part of the governing administration, you too were likely to be part of the governing body when you grew up. If your family were slaves or servants, that was your occupation as well. Men had a lot of importance and held much of the power. However, women also had legal rights and did have opportunities as they were able to own land, initiate divorce, own, or operate their own business. Women could also become scribes, priestesses, dentists, doctors, and even pharaohs. Many women were homemakers and operated businesses out of their homes such as making bread, basket weaving, textile weaving, sandal making, and jewelry work.

 

Ancient Egyptian civilization was based on a type of cast system since people were born into their jobs and roles based on what their families did previously. The jobs for this ancient civilization centered around economic and religious activity. The highest position was that of Pharaoh, who made laws, collected taxes, protected Egypt from invasion, and was the high priest. The person next in charge below the Pharaoh was the Vizier. The Vizier was the Pharaoh’s right-hand man who oversaw all the other government officials and gave a concise report back to Pharaoh. The upper-class aristocratic families were part of the administration that governed Ancient Egypt. A specialized job in government administration was that of the scribe. Scribes documented legal documents. They also taught as they knew how to read and write, some were even involved in medicine and architecture.  Another important job was that of priest or priestess and astrologers. The priest or priestess took care of the temples and dealt with the religious happenings of the kingdom. Astrologers, on the other hand, were hired by the government to predict the outcomes of events or expeditions. 

Jobs for the middle class included Engineers and Architects. They designed and help guide the building of temples and great Pyramids. They were highly skilled at finding innovative ways to build these huge monuments which took slaves decades to complete.  Other middle-class labourer jobs included merchants and various craftsmen which included carpenters, jewelers, leatherworkers, potters, and any other crafts during that era.  There were other jobs that were important and that weren’t apart of the upper or middle classes that helped Ancient Egypt civilization to grow its wealth. The lower class people included farmers who grew and harvested the foods that were used to trade and grow Ancient Egypt’s wealth. The farmers were peasants and worked the land that was owned by noble families. Other peasant workers were servants and builders. Servants worked in homes of upper-class families doing various household or childminding duties. The builders were people who worked to build the temples and pyramids. They did all the heavy and hard work to move the stones, stone masonry, and bricklaying. Surprisingly a common soldier who was low ranking was also considered a peasant, but those that moved up the ranks were able to improve and become middle or upper class depending on their rank.