Daily Life in Ancient Egypt

The New Kingdom

• Powerful & Stable• Ma’at- combination of ideas: harmony with

the universe, justice, order, & peace• Must maintain ma’at for the world to remain

safe & stable• To maintain ma’at: work hard, be a good

person, live in harmony with one another• Pharaoh: rule wisely & well so order was

maintained

The Hittite Empire

• Lived in Anatolia (present-day Turkey)

• Well-fortified capital

• Expanded empire to West & South

The Hittites

• Expansion was aided by their development of smelting iron– Swords & other weapons– Chariots

Your assignment

Adorning the Body

• Light & simple clothing• Rich & poor, men & women work jewelry,

dyed hair, wore wigs & make-up

Burial Practices• Believed in the afterlife, preserved the body• Wealthy Egyptians were mummified.- removed all organs but the heart,

covered it in salt, 40 days later washed, oiled & wrapped body in fabric. Spread black gooey momia over the body

• Poor Egyptians were wrapped in old clothing & buried in the ground

Crafts & Trade• Highly skilled- created furniture, jewelry, pottery• Taught their craft at a young age, went to school at the

pharaoh’s palace• Traded grain, gold, copper, linen, gemstones, and

minerals for timber, iron, silver, tin, and lead

Domestic Life• Married within social class. Girls- 12, Boys-14• Upper class women oversaw the household, lower class women also cooked,

cleaned, and helped in the field• Women had rights and were seen as equal to men in the eyes of the law• Children were allowed to play and be kids

Food & Drink• Most Egyptians spent a lot of time farming to grown vegetables, wheat, and barley,

which they made into bread & beer. (Drank water & wine, too)• Very different based on class.

• Upper class: Wide selection- meat and fowl (beef, pork, geese, ducks), vegetables (peas, beans, cucumbers, lettuce), cheese, cakes, fruit.

• Lower class: simple meals-bread, vegetables, fish

Housing• Houses made of mud brick• Upper class- large homes, 2 stories tall, many rooms including

bathrooms• Lower class- simple houses, few small rooms, narrow high windows &

little furniture

Medicine• Doctors used parts of

plants and herbs, such as garlic, in their treatments

• Doctors treated injuries & wounds with bandages and stitches, but did not perform surgery

• Relied on magicians to treat illness & to help women during pregnancy & child birth

Music & Dance• Performed at public & religious festivals, holidays, and feasts• Usually women, many were supported by the royal court and

nobles• Variety of instruments- harp, lyre, flute, oboe, tambourine,

drums

Religious Beliefs• Osiris- passed judgment on the souls of the dead• Anubis- helped prepare bodies of dead for afterlife• Priests and priestesses carried out rituals in temples to honor gods &

goddesses• Commoners made offerings to gods and goddesses in their homes

Social ClassesPharaoh

----Royal Family, Nobles, Gov.

Officials-----

Priests-----

Scribes----

Artists/Skilled Workers----------

Laborers, Farmers

During flood season, famers would work on the pharaoh’s

building projects

Warfare• Army of full-time soldiers stationed throughout the empire to protect

Egypt• In peacetime, soldiers dug canals or built pharaoh’s tombs• Mercenaries (soldiers from other lands who were paid to fight for

Egypt) were sometimes part of the army• Variety of weapons : javelins, swords, shields, padded caps,

chariots

Writing & Education• Scribes administered laws, collected taxes, recorded the grain & food

supply, kept the census, measured the rise of the Nile & kept military records

• Boys attended school for 12 years, often sunrise to sunset with strict teachers

• Learned hieroglyphics and hieratic writing