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Priests
What is a priests importance in society?
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Where did you place them?
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Why did you place them where you did?
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Scribers
What is a scribes importance in society?
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Where did you place them?
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Why did you place them where you did?
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Pharaoh
What is a pharaohs importance in society?
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Where did you place them?
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Why did you place them where you did?
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Government Officials
What is an officials importance in society?
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Where did you place them?
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Why did you place them where you did?
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Peasants
What is a peasants importance in society?
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Where did you place them?
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Why did you place them where you did?
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Artisans
What is an artisans importance in society?
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Where did you place them?
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Why did you place them where you did?
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Social Structure Blurbs

Pharaohs

Pharaoh Khufu
Known as the Pyramid Builder, he built the The Great Pyramid at Giza.
He made himself a central authority figure by creating a loyal group of
government officials to help him lead and declaring himself a god.
Pharaoh Senusret I
His greatest accomplishments were in religious architecture such as
temples, shrines, and monuments. It was during his reign that jewelry
became popular and the greatest Egyptian literature was recorded.
Pharaoh Hatshepsut (1479 BCE) co-ruler of Egypt with Thutmose III. She
was a firm female and extended trade and arts in Egypt with a powerful
military campaign, and acting a warrior, she was deified later in a statue.
She was not afraid to be the iconic pharaoh that others had been.
Ramses II
As a master builder, Ramses the Great built more temples and monuments
than any other pharaoh. As a military leader, he was strong and fearless,
becoming a captain at age 10 and fighting against the Hittites whom he
later signed a peace treaty with. He reigned for 60 years, longer than most
pharaohs and was one of the best-preserved mummies ever found.

Peasants

They were the farmers, construction workers, and the unskilled

laborers.
As construction workers, peasants helped build the monuments and
pyramids for the pharaoh.
Peasants lived with the fewest comforts of the social classes, and lived in
the simplest mud-brick houses. Where the pharaoh and the upper classes
had feasts with tons of food, peasants lived off of a simple diet, and at
times were forced to eat papyrus because of famine.
Farming
Despite being the lowest social class, ancient Egyptian society depended
on the peasants. The peasants were the farmers who grew the crops that
supplied everyone's food.
The life of a farmer revolved around the three seasons of the Nile River.
The flooding season was June to September. The Nile River flooded the
grounds and fertilized the fields. This is when they helped build pyramids.
The planting season happened in October. They sowed their fields with
mostly wheat and barley.
The harvest season started in March, and peasants worked all day cutting

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down plants and gathering them.

Government Officials

Government officials assisted the pharaoh directly and advised him in

matters about society. These officials lived lives of luxury with banquets
and feasts. Government officials were very wealthy and well respected in
ancient Egypt. Officials could inherit positions of power from family
members, or earn it through displays of hard work and loyalty. They were
sometimes relatives to the pharaoh.
Roles:
The vizier was second-in-command to the pharaoh and acted as the chief
judge in cases. They were supposed to remain neutral on issues.
The chief treasurer was responsible for the government's wealth and
collecting taxes. In ancient Egypt, however, they paid in goods, not in
money, such as cloth, grain, animals, and silver.
The general of armies was the top military commander in Egypt after the
pharaoh. Their job was to advise the pharaoh in matters of war and
national security, such as making alliances with other kingdoms.

Priests
Religion was a large part of ancient Egyptian life, and the priests were in
charge of temples and religious rituals and important ceremonies.
Religion in Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egyptians believed in life after death. The priests were in charge
of embalming the bodies so they didn't decay. This process had many
steps, including removing all the organs except the heart. The bodies were
then decorated with jewels and charms and put into a sarcophagus for
burial.
The High Priest advised the pharaoh and oversaw all religious
ceremonies, while temple priests were responsible for the smaller temples
in Egypt. Since each temple was believed to be the home of a different god,
they had to take care of the god that lived in the statue of the temple. Other
priests gave advice and healings for common issues.

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Artisans
Artisan is another word for a craftsman, or someone in a skilled trade who makes things by
hand.
Artisans could be:
Carpenters
Metal-workers
Jewelers
Painters (portrayed scenes of everyday life)
Sculptors
Potters
Stone carvers
Weavers
These ancient Egyptians were highly skilled and hard workers. These hard workers of the
ancient world created all of the art and furniture we see today. The most skilled were the
stone carvers who created the statues, engravings, and reliefs of the temples, tombs, and
monuments.

Scribes

Scribes could have many different jobs for their society, such as:
Recording history and important events
Describing every day life
Writing up contracts
Taking a census of ancient Egypt
Calculating taxes
Recording court cases
Keeping track of food supply
Keeping calculations for the pharaoh and government officials
Life of a Scribe
A scribe could come from any social class, which gave some people of lower classes a chance
to move up the ranks.
Scribes were taught how to write hieroglyphs on wood, pottery, stone, and papyrus.
Learning to be a scribe was not easy. It meant hard work all day and harsh treatment, such
as beatings, was common.