The Social Pyramid

The Ancient Egyptians had a specific social pyramid, consisting of Pharaohs at the top and pheasants, tomb builders and farmers at the bottom. The social pyramid had a definite effect on how people of different status lived. The population lived as stereotypical rich and poor people.

The life of the poor man greatly differed from that of the nobles or the pharaoh. The poor man's wife was the nurturer, the baker, the cook, the cleaner, and the washer. The wife had a few benefits although ancient Egyptian society was mostly sexist. Children were regarded as a blessing thus women married young. The rich usually adopted instead of going through the hassle of childbirth and the children could then have anything they wanted. It was good to be rich and bad to be poor.

The social triangle was a definite "Pyramid" (pun intended) and consisted of all types of people. At the bottom of the triangle were the pheasants, tomb builders and farmers and made up more than half of the population, above the pheasants were the craftsmen, then scribes, priests, doctors, high priests and noblemen, and last but not at all least, the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh was at the top for obvious reasons but mostly because he was regarded as a reincarnated god.

Some more differences between rich and poor were: Poor men wore cheap, coarse cloth for clothing while the rich would wear silky, light, airy linen that was comfortable. A poor man would mostly live on bread, meat (when they could get it – it was scarce), beer and water while the nobleman could eat various fruits and vegetables, quail, ox, duck, goose, pomegranates, flavored bread, wine, beer, and many more things. These are just some of the reasons that the poor man would envy the rich man.

To really put it all in perspective, I will provide you an overview of a day in the life of a rich man and a poor man. The rich man wakes up and uses his little bell to fetch his servant to wash and shave him. He then goes downstairs