Daily Life in Ancient Egypt
My Research project deals with the daily life of an ancient Egyptian. Throughout the study of this class we have read about many civilizations and empires. We take notes regarding important milestones and battles, and in the study of ancient Egypt, it was no different.
Everyone who studies history knows learns about the great pyramids of Egypt and the infamous Pharaoh, King Tut. Even the average person on the street, who has no particular interest in history, probably has heard of these great structures. They defy the imagination due to their scale in size, and the engineering that obviously was used in their construction.
In American popular culture, Hollywood immortalized one of Egypt’s more colorful citizens, played by the actress Elizabeth Taylor, Cleopatra. I was interested in the daily Life of Egyptian citizens and all that it entails. For Examples: What was important to them? What was family like? How did they cook and carry water? How were legal affairs dealt with?
Did Egyptians like to wear Jewelry, and did the females wear make-up? How did they view children? Did women have any rights? What was the average home like of the middle class Egyptian?
All of these things were of interest to me. Since I could not fly to Egypt and see the country and talk to Egyptians, I did the next best thing and visited the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose, California.
Looking at pictures in Strayer’s book, of pots and jewelry or coffins and mummies, did not have the same impact as standing inches away from some artifact that was hand made, and actually used in the daily life of an Egyptian.
When you first approach the museum, you are immediately struck by the huge columns and large gold colored doors to the (1) Entrance. Of course these are replicas and I can only imagine what it must have been like to see the original temples and palaces of the pharaohs in their natural setting.
In Ancient Egypt 2(2) Women ran the household. She had the last word when it came to organizing the home including overseeing servants and /or slaves. Women without servants did the weaving, spinning and sewing of the households clothes. She gathered water using containers like the (3) ones seen in the picture provided.
The Egyptians worshiped both genders and had God’s and Goddesses. For example, Egyptian women prayed to the Goddess (4) Ishtar who, in addition to being a “household Goddess”, was also the goddess of love and beauty. Later in Roman times, Ishtar morphed into Venus Goddess of Love.
The citizens of Ancient Egypt valued family life; children were 5(5) treasured and considered a blessing from the Gods.
Many Egyptian households had a (6) birthing room where the expectant mother could be isolated so she could focus on the birthing process, and often assisted by midwives or female servants or slaves.
Egyptian (6) homes were made from bricks of sun dried mud because wood was scarce, they often were 2 or 3 stories high, where a business was located on the first floor and living quarters on the upper levels. This arrangement can be seen today in any city where you have ground floor commercial or retail space, and apartments on the 2nd floor. The picture of the clay model of the Egyptian house is a good example of the type and shape of a typical living space.
Both males and females, in ancient contemporary Egyptian society, liked to wear (7) jewelry. In the photo I have provided showing actual necklaces and bracelets, one can see the variety of colors and styles that Egyptians had to chose from.
While touring the museum I found the display of leather (8) sandals, worn by the average Egyptian, to be fascinating. Times have not changed much in 3000 years as the footwear could have been at the shoe department at Macy’s. The sandals look remarkably similar to those worn today. It was also interesting o find out that 9(9) priests wore sandals made of papyrus as leather was viewed as impure.
Another interesting fact was to learn that Egyptians enjoyed drinking 10(10) beer. It was the most popular beverage and was made from barley. In the photos, small figures of men are mashing and bottling the beer as a scribe looks on, counting the bottles for accounting purposes.
The scribes would often write their hieroglyphic notes on (11) slabs of stone or clay. This was their record keeping. In the photo marked #12, the museum has on display an actual loan contract etched on this tablet. It’s amazing to see how legal documents were written thousands of years ago. That was a modern and contemporary way of conducting business in ancient Egypt. In other examples of (12) record keeping the museum contains several other documents written on stone or clay tablets.
A scribe in ancient Egypt was a man who learned to read and write hieroglyphs. His two main duties were to read and write sacred texts on temples and tombs. His other function was record keeping as I have shown with the loan document in the previous pages. Scribes often used stamps or seals to validate an official document such as the ones shown in the pictures.
Another method of writing was on Papyrus. The Egyptians used the world’s first paper called papyrus, which were blades of a kind of palm tree. I have included several Museum photos showing actual (16) ink-wells used by an Egyptian of Ancient times: Figure # (17) shows us other examples of bushes and ink vessels that were common in Egyptian society.
I also wanted to highlight a medium sized boat model that the museum show cased. It is marked # (18), and depicts the social strata of Egyptian Life. For example, if you look closely at the picture of the model you will see several men on the boat. On either end you have a member of the upper-class who is in charge of the men. There are several slaves that are rowing the boat and two men on either side of the cargo that look to be guards of some sort.
It is impossible to talk about Egypt and not mention Egyptian’s obsession with the afterlife. Egyptians went to great lengths to mummify its rulers and send them off to the afterlife in elaborate tombs as their final, earthly resting place.
The Rosicrucian museum has on display in a glass case, an authentic Egyptian (19) figure of a mummified man that is absolutely incredible. It is amazing how well preserved it is for something thousands of years old. Egyptians were experts in preserving and preparing it’s pharaohs for their celestial journey.
They adorned their mummies with artwork, as you can see in the funeral (20) mask of a Ptolemak Egyptian women
I was also able to see a decent replica of an Egyptian Tomb at the museum. The photos numbers (21-25) that I have included do not reflect the feeling that I experienced as I walked about the tomb prompting spontaneous mummy behavior. Also, included at the museum are several large mummy statutes as well as an authentic (26, 27) coffin from around 2000 B.C.E.
Another fascinating statue is a cast of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon that is at least 12 feet tall.
One of the best known features of Egypt’s legacy is the Tower of Babel. The 28(28) story of the Tower of Babel is also found in the Bible’s book of Genesis 11; 1-9A, King James Version. See pictures numbered (#31-38). The model of the tower of Babel shows how huge a building it was, it must have been jaw dropping to see for the first time. The story in the Bible refers to the origins of different languages. God wanted to confuse man, impart because of the excess of man’s freedom and idleness, so he scattered man about the world, thus creating Languages.
The code of Hammurabi is another interesting and significant historical document that is shown on picture #(39, 40). This is an ancient law 41(41) Code of Hammurabi that spelled out penalties for specific acts of discretion, such as lying, stealing or murder. It’s one of the oldest documented Law Code in the world dating back to 1700 B.C.E.
On a Lighter note, the Egyptian family loved to play board (42) games. One of the most popular was called Senet, and the museum has on display several interesting and colorful board game pieces. Check out pictures # (42, 43).
In conclusion I felt like I accomplished my goal of seeing the home life of an Egyptian family some 5 thousand years ago. As we sit here in 2011 watching events unfold in Egypt after the Arab Spring, we can see how dynamic and alive Egyptian culture remains today. Family life in Ancient Egypt was very similar to families today. Egypt’s elegant and sophisticated culture still conjures up mysterious and exotic images of the once mighty Egyptian Pharaoh, even as we watch on TV the democratic process unfold in the shadow of the Great Pyramids of antiquity. I highly recommend a visit to the Rosicrucian Museum to get a peek into the daily life of our Egyptian friends as they walked on this planet over 4000 years ago.
Bibliography
9 Roscrusian Museum, Sandals Exhibit, Dynasty 18-Late Period split papyrus stalks, RL 1569, 122, 1 split papyrus stalks, RL 1569, 122, 1455
10 http://www2.sptimes.com/Egypt/Egyptcredit.4.2html plus 2 beer
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