Life as a Peasant in Ancient Egypt By Sterling Williams
Source of cover page image: http://www.redicecreations.com/ul_img/23975egy_birds.png
There were six different social classes in ancient Egypt. The social classes are pharaohs, government officials, priests, scribes, artisans and peasants. The majority of people in ancient Egyptian times were peasants. Peasants were at the bottom of the social class but were a very important part of the society because they were responsible for all of the labor necessary for society to grow and flourish.
Peasants had an important role in society
Source of images in order of appearance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt, http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/farm.htm
The peasants in ancient Egypt were responsible for feeding the society and providing crops to the temples to honor the dead in the afterlife. They mostly grew wild grain including wheat, barley and flax. They also grew vegetables such as onion, lettuce and cucumber. Any left over crops were used as a currency for bartering and provided the peasants with an extra source of income.
They were taxed on crops making it difficult to get ahead in society. If they had a bad year with their crops, they were harshly beaten by the tax collectors.
- Three Seasons for Farming: FLOODING
The Nile River flooded the grounds annually between June to September. These floods fertilized the land by providing a mud like silt that had lots of nutrients for growing crops.
During this time of year peasants often worked on building temples and monuments for the pharaohs because they couldn't work on the land.
Source of image above: http://hdpixa.com/nile+river+flooding+in+ancient+egypt
Three Seasons for Farming: PLANTING
Planting crops couldn't happen until the waters receded. This usually occurred in October. To begin the planting process the peasants would use a cow, hoe and a plow to soften the soil and then plant the seeds for the annual crops.
In order for the crops to grow the plants needed water. The peasants used an irrigation system to water the crops until ready for harvest.
Source of image above: http://www.egyptianagriculture.com/images/egypt_animals.gif
Three Seasons of Farming: HARVESTING
The harvesting season started in March and was a very important time of the year for the entire family. The men would cut the wheat with a sickle (a tool with a C shaped blade and a wooden handle) and the rest of the family would gather and bundle the crops. They would work seven days a week from morning till night until finished.
Source of image above: http://egyptsearch.com/forums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=print_topic&f=15&t=006199
Peasants were the backbone of ancient Egypt and they did most of the hard work such as farming and building the temples and monuments that we enjoy today. They were probably not treated nicely by the pharaohs and they are not what we think of when we hear about ancient Egypt. But without the lower class peasants there would be no magnificent ancient Egyptian history as we know it today.