Download Ancient Egyptian Social Class Appearances

Comparing the ancient
Egyptian classes
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What clothing did they wear?
Did they wear jewelry?
Why did they wear certain accessories
What tools would they have carried with them?
Did they wear headpieces?
Was there a difference between the clothing of the rich and that of the
poor?
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They used jewelry for ornamentation, round collars of jewels or beads, they decorated their wrists and upper arms with rings
bracelets.
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Both for beauty and protection from the heat, they wore long. heavy black wigs of sheep's wool or human hair, they also wore striped
or embroidered headdresses to signify their upper social standing.
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Helped the Pharaoh to rule the country and were often rewarded for their work by gifts of land from the Pharaoh that they could use
to make their own income
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Scribes were people in ancient Egypt (usually men) who learned to
read and write.
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Although experts believe that most scribes were men, there is
evidence of some female doctors. These women would have been
trained as scribes so that they could read medical texts.
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To become a scribe, you had to attend a special school for scribes. At
this school you would learn how to read and write hieroglyphic and
hieratic scripts. This was hard work. These scripts are complicated, and
there were many signs to learn. Students spent a lot of time practicing
the signs by copying them onto sheets of papyrus, old pieces of
pottery or flakes of limestone.
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Most often it was the children of scribes who became scribes. Although
some craftsmen were able to get their sons into the school for scribes,
it was very rare.
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It could take four to five years for a person to go through scribe school.
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Scribes usually wrote on papyrus with reed brushes dipped in ink. The
ancient Egyptians made ink by grinding brightly coloured minerals
into powder, then mixing the powder with liquid so that it was easier to
apply.
Servants belonged to the lowest social class and did most of the hard
work.
Depending on the needs of their masters, Egyptian servants had
different duties. Both men and •women
. worked as servants. Women were
often serving girls for royalty or nannies for children in wealthy
families. Sometimes they worked in the fields. Male servants also
worked in the fields or did other manual labor.
Some servants were assigned to work for the pharaoh. They reported to
the royal controller who was in charge of the pharaoh's servants. The
servants worked as cooks, butlers, litter carriers, and as pharaoh's
dressers. The male servants also worked on royal building projects or
were sent to fight in the Egyptian army.
Egyptian servants did not have many rights but were usually not treated
poorly. Egyptian servants could not own or inherit land. Servants could
not move up in the social order, but their children could.
Slaves were most commonly prisoners of war
Slaves could own land, marry freeborn people, and even employ
servants. Slavery in Egypt did not mean total ownership, which is associated with the later concept of slavery.
Slaves of the royal families were held in high regard. Many of the slaves were more educated and used for their
knowledge of accounting and writing. Slaves that were servants cared for every aspect of the royal families, from
taking care of the children, cooking, dressing them and cleaning for them. It is believed that these slaves were
treated almost as well as the higher ranking Egyptians.
• Pharaoh means “great house”
• Absolute ruler
• Large head garments were worn.
• The pharaoh wore a lot of gold jewelry
because he could afford it.
• Cloth was wrapped around the waist.
• The pharaoh’s clothing was more
transparent than others to show his
wealth and status.
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Most priests did not wear a wig unlike other people in
the society. (Ancient Egyptian Clothing)
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Priests were not allowed to wear leather sandals or
wool clothing because it was considered unclean.
(Ancient Egyptian Clothing)
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Priests wore leopard robes while serving their god
Amun. (Ancient Egyptian Clothing)
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Priests were likely the cleanliest of all Egyptian
peoples. They washed several times a day and kept
themselves free of body hair in order to purify their
bodies for Amun. (Ancient Egyptian Clothing)
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Their job was to look after the temples and hold
religious ceremonies.
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The high priest ran a temple with the help of
musicians, dancers and assitant priests.
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People paid taxes directly to the temple.
• Other than weapons soldiers had to wear helmets, scales, gloves, and shields for
protection
• They also had another form of protection - magical and religious icons on jewelry for
example were popular too.
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Common people wore clothing around their waste made of animal hide and linen as well as
simple tunic dresses which were fitted.
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The cloth used in common people’s clothing was less transparent than those of the wealthy.
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Worked in organized shops and used simple tools
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Worked mainly for the government, the pharaoh, the temple of wealthy people, but if they
had extra goods, they could trade them at the market.
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Jobs consisted of leatherworkers, sandalmakers, stonecarvers, metalworkers, chariotmakers,
sculptors, carpenters, jewelers, scribes, boat builders, and painters
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Wore cloths made of animal hide and linen as well as simple tunic dresses which were fitted. The cloth used in common
people’s clothing was less transparent or see through than those of the wealthy.
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Most of the slaves actually worked naked.
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Used simple tools that they made out of wood such as plows, digging sticks, and sickles
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Worked all day long and didn’t waste any time
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Often gathered food to feed their cattle, rasied ducks and geese, weaved cloth, make bricks out of Nile mud to build their
homes, as well as hunting and fishing for food along with harvesting the land.
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During the flooding season, they were known to work on government
pay off debt and the
taxes on their land.
projects such as building the pyramids to
• Grooming was very important. Women also washed before
they dressed. They also rubbed scented oil on themselves to
smell nice.
• Women wore a piece of cloth over their heads.
• Usually, women held their hair up with pins or a metal band
around the head.
• Women also wore ankle length dresses which tied around
the neck or behind the shoulders.