The Egyptian Project- Daily Life of Peasants BY: Matthew Yoshimoto
The picture/background above is thanks to: http://7-themes.com/data_images/out/58/6968195-egypt-pyramids.jpg
Ancient Egypt contained many social classes. Every class lived a different life. Some would work, some would relax, and some would rule Egypt. Pharaohs are at the top of the social class pyramid with peasants at the bottom. Pharaohs have always been recognized for their great actions, yet think about how Egypt would survive without peasants. The next few paragraphs below will show you how peasants are the people who tie ancient Egypt together.
Peasants are one of the social classes that are not treated well at all. They have horrible living conditions. For instance, peasants did not get much free time because of work and they did not even receive comfortable clothes to live and work in. They had the simplest houses with uncomfortable furniture and also had a simple diet. However, Egypt could not survive without peasants there to harvest crops and build monuments. Peasants were sometimes even considered unskilled laborers. So how did peasants really live back in ancient Egypt?
Peasants were the least appreciated in the social levels of ancient Egypt so they would have to work almost constantly. Barely having any free time, the peasants had little time to have fun and instead had to work. Peasants, though, did not work the same jobs all year long; it depended on the three seasons throughout the year. The first season took place between June and September. It was called the flooding season because during this time, the Nile River would flood their fields, ruining all the crops. Peasants would then help build the pyramids. Next was the planting season which occurred during October. They would plant mainly wheat and barley as their form of work. The final season that determined their job started in March and was called the harvest season. This name fits the season perfectly because during this time, peasants worked all day long cutting down the plants that they planted from the last season.
The background picture is thanks to: https://sblazak.wordpress.com/2012/10/
Peasants had so little power and money that the clothes they had to wear were in bad condition. Since the clothing in ancient Egypt was very expensive, the peasants had to make the clothes themselves. Making the clothes was one of the many chores that women had to take on every day. Clothes during ancient time were scarce due to lack of money, so on a warm, sunny day, the kids sometimes roamed around naked. To us, running around naked would be very strange, yet for the Egyptians, it was pretty common, even showing naked children in works of art.
This picture is thanks to: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/510525307734419394/
In ancient Egyptian times, the higher classes had great houses, but what did the peasants live in? They lived in mud, brick houses. Peasants did not have the money to buy a comfortable living space so they were forced to build a moderate house, with some of the worst conditions possible. Since the mud, brick houses were pretty cheap, the bricks would sometimes crumble, causing the house to get destroyed. There also was not much furniture at all in Egypt, so the peasants were forced to sit on the ground. They may have had a straw mattress or rug to sleep on if available. Peasants would also store things in reed baskets if they were lucky enough to purchase them.
This background picture is thanks to: http://www.historyonthenet.com/egyptians/housing.htm
Since ancient Egypt did not have an endless supply of food, the peasants never got a feast unlike the pharaohs and upper classes. Peasants mainly only ate bread, simple fruits, honey or sap, and were sometimes forced to eat papyrus because of a food shortage. When the upper class ate on gold, silver, and bronze plates, the peasants were forced to eat with clay dishes. Peasants did not even have utensils but instead used their finger tips.
This background picture is thanks to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_literature
The peasants in ancient Egypt surely had a rough life. Having almost no free time, having trouble finding clothes to wear, having a home that could collapse on top of you, and eating mainly bread, simple vegetables, and sometimes even papyrus your whole life is not easy. They had to fight all day long for their survival. People in the higher classes get respect yet for peasant's superior actions, nothing happens. The social pyramid may not have been the best way to organize people because the rules were not fair to everyone. Peasants really kept ancient Egypt alive through farming and being construction workers on the pyramids but they still got the worst conditions in the community.