Comparison of Social Hierarchies

1. How does this hierarchy reflect Egyptian civilization’s values? It shows that religion is an important part of Egyptian civilization since priests are so high on the hierarchy. Rulers are more important than anyone else, including priests and those who do all the work of society are the least valued. Scribes are important because they are needed to write in the tombs which is important to record the power of the pharaohs as well as recognizing the importance of Egyptian religion.

2. How does the political and economic power a person has (in any society) depend on their social class?   Those that serve in government and have the most money are always at the highest level of the social class.

3. Why do you think so many peasants are needed in most of the societies? The peasants are needed to do all the work on the farms and other jobs that keep the society running. Also, providing food for an entire civilization required a large amount of people to do the work.

4. What is the difference between where Peasants are on the Japanese Social Structure and where Peasants are in other Social Structures?  Why do you think this is? Peasants are higher on the social structure in Japanese society than all other societies. This is most likely because they were valued for their ability to provide food for society, which a very honorable responsibility to have.

5. According to the diagram, who is Japan’s true political leader 5. According to the diagram, who is Japan’s true political leader?  What does this say about the Emperor? The shogun (military dictator) was the true political leader because he controlled the military. The emperor was more of a figure head and traditional role for Japan (similar to the Monarchy in Great Britain today).

6. Why do you think Merchants are considered the lowest class in Japan’s Social Structure? Merchants were not considered as productive members of society like the farmers and fishers were. Merchants made money off of the hard work of others, thus Japanese did not value the merchants. Japan followed Confucianism and it valued hard work.

7. Describe at least one similarity and one difference between Japan’s Social Structure and any other Social Structure on this document.   Similarity- Rulers at top, have a peasant/farmer class. Difference- Peasant class is not the lowest class and amount of wealth does not determine where one falls on the social hierarchy.