| | PEOPLE AND SOCIETY |
| A | Population |
The population of ancient Egypt varied greatly during its history. Some scholars estimate that only a few hundred thousand people lived in Egypt during the Predynastic period (about 5000-3000 bc). Others believe, based on archaeological evidence and reevaluations of how many people the floodplains could support at the time, that the area had a much higher population. In any case, the population had probably risen to close to 2 million during the Old Kingdom (about 2575-2134 bc). It increased during the Middle Kingdom (about 2040-1640 bc), and by the New Kingdom (about 1550-1070 bc) the population had grown to between 3 and 4 million. This figure almost doubled under Hellenistic rule (332-30 bc), with perhaps as many as 7 million people inhabiting the country at the time it was annexed to the Roman Empire.
Egypt’s increasing population could only have been sustained if the land and the economy could support it. As agricultural techniques became increasingly more efficient, the Egyptians developed systems to deal with fluctuations in the height of the annual flood of the Nile. Early on, they also learned the value of maintaining order both at home and externally, for peaceful conditions helped promote a good economy. Moreover, by the Middle Kingdom, they had learned to reclaim previously unused and unusable land for agricultural purposes. Each period brought growth in the populations of existing cities and the founding of new cities. As Egypt extended its borders and took control of external areas, populations began to shift. In the New Kingdom, captives, slaves, and immigrants entered the country. During the periods when foreign rulers controlled Egypt, such as the Second Intermediate Period (about 1640-1550 bc) and the Third Intermediate Period (1070-712 bc), people from those rulers’ home areas added to the growing melting pot in Egypt.
Egyptian society was confined almost exclusively to the Nile Valley and Delta. Most settlements were located on or close to the banks of the Nile. Since ancient Egypt was an agricultural society, its densest population was on the floodplains. Only a small fraction of the population lived in cities and towns. Major cities contained most of the urban population, and the ranks of major cities changed over time. Centers such as Memphis, Thebes, and certain provincial capitals, however, maintained their importance for extremely long periods of time. A major city generally had a densely populated center, and the density of population decreased as distance from the center increased.
| B | Social Structure |
For all their numbers and quality, the architectural monuments, statues, jewelry, and elaborate burial places of ancient Egypt reveal only a small part of Egyptian society. Much of what the early excavators uncovered and much of what appears in museums and popular publications today relates only to the ruling elite, the highest of several levels of society in ancient Egypt. Different social classes existed even in the earliest cities. Scholars who study mummies and their burials have noticed class differences in terms of the type and quantity of grave goods, the quality of a tomb’s construction and decoration, the technique of preservation used on the mummy, and the physical condition of the body. Some cemeteries had areas that were restricted for certain classes of burial. Apparently several levels of mummification existed. The way a mummy was preserved and wrapped, its age, the types of disease the person may have had, and the condition of the teeth also indicate the existence of different social strata.
Urban archaeology, or the examination of town sites, also establishes the existence of different social classes. The sizes of houses differed among the various classes. Some towns even zoned different areas for residential and commercial use.
For much of its existence, ancient Egyptian society probably had at least three social levels. Each of these had further subdivisions. At the highest level were the royalty and high administrative officials. Within this level, but considered a bit lower, were the provincial nobility and officials. The second level, a sort of middle class, consisted of many lower-level members of the bureaucracy, certain priests, very high-ranking scribes, officers of the army, wealthy landowners, and exceptional artisans. The lowest class was the largest. In it were low-ranking bureaucrats, scribes, craftspeople, priests, and farmers. Within this level, but even lower, were servants, serfs, and laborers. Slaves, mostly captured enemies and their families, made up the lowest rung of the social ladder.
Class distinctions are also indicated in “The Satire on Trades,” a Middle Kingdom text that extols the roles and life of a scribe while eschewing most other professions. Since some offices were hereditary, it was difficult for individuals to be socially mobile, or to rise to a higher class. Nevertheless, biographical texts that the elite often had inscribed on the walls of their tomb chapels sometimes recount an individual’s rise in the administration during the course of a career.
| C | Way of Life |
Ancient Egyptian Housing
Most people in ancient Egypt lived in mud-brick houses. The activities of everyday life occurred in and around the houses. Click on the labels to see examples of these activities: cooking in outdoor domed ovens, repairing a wall with mud bricks and plaster, performing daily chores under thatched rooftop awnings, and playing children’s games.
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In ancient Egypt the family was important. Its importance is demonstrated in part through the many references to the family in a variety of texts and documents, numerous depictions of it in statues and paintings, and the large number of familial relationships among the gods and goddesses. A representation of an elite family, with a father, a mother, and children, usually portrays the father as the largest figure, and therefore the most important. The mother, who is generally smaller, stands or sits beside him, and the two often embrace or hold hands. Children, if at all present, are much smaller and off to the side. Representations of royalty are more formal, depicting the pharaoh and his wife or, rarely, the pharaoh and his son. During the reign of Akhenaton, however, the pharaoh and his wife appear with their daughters.
As the head of the household, the father worked outside the home. His wife ran the domestic operations. In wealthy families, the wife’s authority extended over a staff of servants, while in poorer ones, she participated directly in chores such as preparing food and making clothes. In the lowest classes women sometimes worked outside the home, but depictions limit such work mainly to farm labor in the fields. The role of women as mothers was essential. Although unequal to men in other areas, in the eyes of the law, women were treated the same and could, for example, own property, conduct business, and file lawsuits.
Children were expected to care properly for and support their parents during old age. They were also responsible for giving their parents a proper burial and for maintaining a mortuary cult, both of which were considered necessary for ensuring the afterlife of their parents. Contact between the living and the dead took place through ancestor cults within the home and through visits to a funerary chapel. Apparently, it was believed that those in one domain could provide benefit or cause harm for those in the other, as illustrated in the “Letters to the Dead.” In such correspondence the living sought assistance from departed relatives for various problems and situations. (For more information about the Egyptians’ belief in the afterlife, see the Religion and the Afterlife section of this article.)
Egyptian Bed Carriage
Some of the earliest and most elaborate examples of furniture have survived because they were preserved in ancient Egyptian tombs. This bed carriage resembling a cow is from the tomb of King Tutankhamun. It is in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt.
Giraudon/Art Resource, NY
Pharaohs sometimes had more than one wife, a practice that was adopted apparently to guarantee an heir. However, one spouse was the general rule in ancient Egypt, at least in the earlier periods. Straying from a marriage was not condoned. By the time of the Old Kingdom, adultery was considered an impure act, and it became one of the few acceptable reasons for divorce. Couples who established households together generally remained together, and sometimes they had written contracts specifying particular financial arrangements. These contracts were similar in many ways to today’s prenuptial agreements.
The houses of the ancient Egyptians varied in style, shape, and size, depending on factors such as the wealth of the owner and the location of the house. Houses in cities tended to be smaller, taller, and more clustered together than were rural residences. The residences on the estates of the elite were large and might contain more than two dozen rooms. The dwellings of professionals or craftspeople in the same occupation were sometimes located in the same area in a city.
The Egyptians used many types of wooden furniture, including tables, chairs, stools, chests, and beds. They wore linen garments, woven from flax, and occasionally crafted some clothing from animal skins. They ate a variety of fruits (grapes, figs, and dates, for example), vegetables (tubers, leaves, and seeds), and grains (wheat and barley). Occasionally they also dined on fish, fowl, or game, and they drank water, beer, wine, and milk. For the most part they used pottery dishes and vessels, but wealthier people used ware made from stone, copper, bronze, gold, or—less commonly—silver. For sport, the ancient Egyptians apparently went fishing and hunted birds. They also enjoyed boating, listening to music, watching dance performances, and playing board games.
