![]() The priests needed to be able to read and write to perform their duties, especially concerning mortuary rituals. The words of the scribes etched daily events in the record of eternity since it was thought that Thoth and his consort Seshat kept the scribes' words in the eternal libraries of the gods.Īll priests were scribes, but not all scribes became priests. It was the scribes' responsibility to record events so they would become permanent. Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson notes how "the power of the written word to render permanent a desired state of affairs lay at the heart of Egyptian belief and practice" (204). Scribes were valued highly in ancient Egypt as they were considered specially chosen by the god Thoth, who inspired and presided over their craft. This same model applied generally to scribes. The wealth of the region and the personal success of an individual nomarch would determine whether they lived in a small palace or a modest home. ![]() A nomarch of a region which had no such attraction would expect to live more modestly. The nomarch of a district including a site such as Abydos, for example, would expect to do quite well because of the large necropolis there dedicated to the god Osiris, which brought many pilgrims to the city including the king and courtiers. The nomarchs might also live well, but this depended on how wealthy their particular district was and how important to the king. Members of the court lived in similar comfort, although most of them had little responsibility. It was the king's responsibility to rule in keeping with ma'at, and as this was a serious charge, he was thought to deserve those luxuries in keeping with his status and the weight of his duties. The king of Egypt (not known as a ' pharaoh' until the New Kingdom period), as the gods' chosen man, "enjoyed great wealth and status and luxuries unimaginable to the majority of the population" (Wilkinson, 91). Even the latter part of the New Kingdom (1570-1069 BCE) when the priests of Amun at Thebes held greater power than the king, the monarch was still respected as divinely ordained. Even after this, however, the king was still considered god's chosen emissary. 2613-2181 BCE) when the priests of the sun god Ra began to gain more power. The king was the intermediary between the gods and the people from the Predynastic Period through the Old Kingdom (c. The gods had given the people everything and had set the king over them as the one best-equipped to understand and implement their will. Social mobility was neither encouraged nor observed for most of Egypt's history as it was thought that the gods had decreed the most perfect social order which mirrored that of the gods. The population of Egypt was strictly divided into social classes from the king at the top, his vizier, the members of his court, regional governors (eventually called 'nomarchs'), the generals of the military (after the period of the New Kingdom), government overseers of worksites (supervisors), and the peasantry. Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin (Copyright) Population & Social Classes Still, reports from later Greek and Roman writers, as well as archaeological evidence and letters from different time periods, show that Egyptians of all social classes valued life and enjoyed themselves as often as they could, very like people in the modern day. The king and court are always the best-documented individuals because then, as now, people paid more attention to celebrities than their neighbors and the scribes who recorded the history of the time documented what was of greater interest. 6000-3150 BCE), this does not mean that the royalty and upper classes enjoyed their lives at the expense of the peasantry. Although Egyptian society was highly stratified from a very early period (as early as the Predynastic Period in Egypt of c. Letting one's face "shine" meant being happy, having a good spirit, in the belief that this would make one's own heart light and lighten those of others. It is the kindliness of a man that is remembered Let your face shine during the time that you live. ![]() A line from the wisdom text of Ptahhotep (the vizier to the king Djedkare Isesi, 2414-2375 BCE), admonishes a reader: Through the observance of balance and harmony people were encouraged to live at peace with others and contribute to communal happiness. The concept of ma 'at (harmony and balance) was central to the Egyptian's understanding of life and the operation of the universe and it was heka which made ma'at possible. Magic was personified in the god Heka (also the god of medicine) who had participated in the creation and sustained it afterwards. ![]()
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