Chapter 5: Section 2 LIFE IN ANCIENT EGYPT

Work and Family Life scribes  Some ancient Egyptians learned to be scribes, people whose job was to write and keep records.  As Egyptian civilization grew more complex, people took on jobs other than that of a farmer or scribe  Skilled artisans erected stone or brick houses and temples  Others made pottery, incense, mats, furniture, linen clothing, sandals, and jewelry

Egyptian Social Roles  One of the highest jobs in Egypt was to be a priest  Followed formal rituals and took care of the temples which included cleaning the sacred statues in temples, changed their clothes, and even fed them meals  Priests and the rule held ceremonies to please the gods because they believed if the gods were angry, the Nile would not flood, crops wouldn’t grow, and people would die  Slaves were at the bottom of society  Became slaves if they owed a debt, committed a crime, or were captured in war  Usually freed after a period of time unless they had to work in mines because many died from the exhausting labor

Life for Women & Children  In Egyptian society, men and women had fairly equal rights  They could both own and manage their own property  Main job for women was to care for their children and home, but some did have other jobs as well  Some wove cloth and other worked with their husbands in fields or workshops  Some would even rise to important positions in the government  Children play with toys, animal figures, board games, and marbles  Boys and some girls from wealthy families went to schools run by scribes or priests, but most learned their parents’ jobs  Usually married in their early teens

Expanding Knowledge  Priests studied the sky as part of their religion  Developed the world’s first practical calendar  Developed some of the first geometry  Geometric shapes such as squares and triangles were sacred to Egyptians and used in design of royal temples and monuments  Doctors prepared dead bodies for burial, so they had to know parts of the body  Performed world’s first surgeries  Not perfect: believed that the brain circulated blood and one “cure” for an upset stomach was to eat a hog’s tooth crushed in sugar cakes hieroglyphics-  Developed a writing system using hieroglyphics- pictures that stand for different words or sounds  System contained about 700 characters and 6000 symbols papyrus  Also developed a paper-like material called papyrus  Cut the stems into strips, pressed them, and dried them into sheets that could be rolled into scrolls

Beliefs and Religion afterlife  Egyptians believed that their prosperity could continue with a happy afterlife - or a life believed to follow death  Worshiped gods that were related to the afterlife and to parts of nature  Re- sun god/ Osiris- judged Egyptians after death/ Isis- fertility goddess/ Anubis- a god of the dead embalmed  Thought they would need their bodies in the afterlife, so they embalmed, or preserve a body after death, dead people mummy  They would remove all organs except the heart, and fill the body with salt and herbs to create a mummy, or a body that has been dried so it won’t decay  Mummy was placed inside a coffin inside a tomb which held everyday objects, furniture, and food