Life and society in Ancient Egypt

Fascinating and mysterious, complex and long, the history of Ancient Egypt spans a period of 5 thousand years.

In this period, the territory occupied by this civilization saw great economic, architectural, social and political changes between dynasties of Pharaohs and bitter civil wars.

The long story set along the Nile Delta tells us that the Egyptians were in all probability the most enlightened people in the ancient history of humanity.

They were craftsmen, master architects, proud warriors and we can even say romantics.

Although the stories and legends of the long chronology of Egyptian history are countless, we will try to condense the salient aspects of the life of the Egyptian people of the first era.

Chronology of Ancient Egypt

As with the Greek civilization, historians have divided the history of Ancient Egypt into periods:

• 5000-3100 BC, Predynastic period with over 2000 years of development
• The Red Earth, in the desert and the White Earth, in the south, were unified by King Menes who established the first dynasty
• 3100-2686 BC, archaic period: Memphis became the capital and the foundations of Egyptian society were laid.
• 2686 – 2181 BC, Old Kingdom: the period in which the pyramids were built. King Djoser commissioned architects to create his funerary monument; his pyramid became the first stone construction.
• 2181-2055 BC, First intermediate period: the collapse of the Old Kingdom and the dissolution of local power lead to civil war between the provinces.
• 2055-1786 BC, Intermediate Kingdom: we return to a period of peace; leaders adopt an expansionist foreign policy that reaches into Syria and Palestine.
• 1786-1567 BC, Second Intermediate Period: antagonistic forces try to regain control over Egypt but fail to consolidate their power
• 1567-1085 BC, New Kingdom: Egypt is reunified and power is consolidated with the first king of the 18th dynasty. In this period there was a sudden transition in the cult of the gods.
• 1805-664 BC, Third Intermediate Period: great changes in society, politics and culture in general.
• 664-332 BC Late Period: Egypt is reunified but becomes part of the Persian Empire.
• In 332 BC. Alexander the Great defeated the Persians and assumed control of Egypt. After his death, in 323 BC. Egypt was ruled by the Macedonian king Ptolemy who started his own dynasty.

Cleopatra VII, the last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty, surrendered to Roman conquest in 31 BC, placing Egypt under Roman control for the next six centuries.

The new faith spread throughout the Roman Empire of which Egypt was a part. Today traces of it remain in the Egyptian Coptic church, the only institution to keep alive the language spoken by the Egyptians in the 2nd century. In the 7th century the Arabs invaded Egypt and another monotheistic religion, Islam, became predominant.

This chronology is truly a synthesis of the history of Egypt dotted with great works, or rather pharaonic works, from the work of the fields and the silence of the Sphinx, the symbol of Egypt.

Now that we have a general idea of ​​the various eras we can easily illustrate some of the most significant changes in the society of this magnificent civilization.

Basic elements of the history of Ancient Egypt

The Nile River delta was a fertile and lush territory, thanks to the abundant supply of water that reached the valley.

Just like the people who moved along the Tigre River, giving rise to the Mesopotamian civilizations, the first Egyptians reached further south from Africa, founding small colonies along the Nile.

Once they understood the cycle of the Nile River with its flood and dry periods, they were able to develop thriving agriculture throughout the country. The Egyptians cultivated wheat, flax and above all, papyrus, a flower whose processing allowed the spread of writing.

The Nile allowed not only to obtain large resources, but also to establish power in the area.

The Pharaohs

The history of Ancient Egypt is over 5 thousand years long and saw the succession of 31 dynasties, i.e. members of the same family who maintained power. Let’s look at some of the most significant Pharaohs.

Cheops, in ancient Egyptian Khufu, commissioned the great pyramid of Giza but it was Djoser, pharaoh of the third dynasty, who was the first to build a stepped pyramid, that of Saqqara in Memphis.

Amenhotep, or Amenhotep, was known for his diplomatic skills which gave Egypt a period of peace and prosperity. On the opposite side is Pharaoh Thutmose (18th dynasty) dedicated to military exploits, while his mother Senisereb took care of the kingdom.

One of the most influential pharaohs in Egypt’s history was Hatshepsut, the fifth ruler of the 18th Dynasty, who brought peace and prosperity during her long reign. Despite the great architectural feats he built, his face was “erased from history” by Thutmose II.

The child pharaoh became famous for the importance that the discovery of his tomb and the great treasures hidden in it had for understanding the history of Ancient Egypt.

His body was mummified without a heart and ribcage and a statue was found next to it portraying him with a sword, probably intent on defending himself from the bite of a hippopotamus. This is thought to be the cause of the amputations and his death.

Ramses II is the most extravagant pharaoh who left a legacy of 97 children in 67 years of reign and an incalculable treasure of architectural beauties. Ramesses even went so far as to declare himself a God.

Akhenaten revolutionized Egyptian religion, centering it on the god Aten, and no longer on the god Amon.

Religion in Ancient Egypt

Religious practices were part of the daily life of the Egyptian people of the time and included the cult of the dead, the oracle and the divinatory and magical arts.

At the center of the religious life of the country were the gods and the pharaoh, an intermediary between the people and the deity, or rather the embodiment of divine power.

The gods were otherworldly creatures with the features of man and animal.

Each region of the country had its own protective deities, so when a family rose to power the god of their region became predominant throughout the valley.

Aten was the dark side of the sun god Amun, but was soon forgotten upon the death of the Pharaoh.

The sun god was at the center of the pantheon and had several names, including Amon-Ra. His role is very similar to that occupied by Zeus in Ancient Greece. His wife, Mut, mother in ancient Egyptian, was represented in hieroglyphics as a vulture, a cat, a cobra or a cow, depending on the region.

Osiris was the god of the afterlife and vegetation. Anubis, the jackal, was the protector of the dead.

Horus, son of Isis and Osiris, was the god of revenge and war and at the same time of protection and light. These last two characteristics descend from Zeb and Nut the goddess of the heavens.

Other important gods were Thoth (god of wisdom), Ator (goddess of love and motherhood), Sekhmet (goddess of healing) and Geb (god of the earth).

The society and position of women in Ancient Egypt

Society in ancient Egypt was highly stratified, just like the pyramids:

• At the peak was the pharaoh followed by his advisors and high-ranking officials.
• Next came the nobles, administrators, lower-ranking officials, soldiers and scribes.
• In the lowest part of the pyramid there are merchants and artisans.
• At the last stage the peasants and slaves.

Education helped one move up the ranks, becoming a scribe and then an official, but essentially the parents’ position was inherited by their children.

Children learned to read and write, took lessons in mathematics, religion and learned social values.

Only children from the wealthier classes had the means to go to school. The poorer classes and girls were excluded. Girls could still learn to read and write from their mothers, but they were not introduced to the study of mathematics.

Clothing was similar in all social classes, but it was the jewels that made the difference. Women mostly wore long linen dresses, while men only had skirts and left their chests exposed. Children remained essentially naked until adolescence.

We referred to the romanticism of the Egyptians, who called every adult woman mother and every peer sister. Judging by the reports, young Tuthankamon was much loved by his wives!

The legacy left by Egypt is vast: from the mysterious pyramids, to religion, from the innovations that we still use today such as paper and ink. Let’s not forget the hieroglyphs, some of which date back to the 28th century BC. Egyptian writing influenced the Phoenician alphabet, from which the Latin alphabet we use today descends!