3.2 The Old Kingdom
Building Background:
As in other ancient cultures, Egyptian society was based on a strict social order of social
classes. A small group of royalty, nobles, and priests ruled Egypt. They depended on the rest of the
population to supply foods, crafts, and labor. Few people questioned this arrangement of society.
Early Egyptian Society:
About 2600 B.C., the Old Kingdom started in Egypt. It lasted for nearly 500 years. During
this period of the Old Kingdom, Egyptian cities became centers of religion and government. Kings,
priests, government officials, and artisan lived there. By 2200 B.C., Egypt had about 2 million
people.
Egypt’s Social Classes:
If you made a diagram of the different social groups in ancient Egypt, you would find that they
made a pyramid shape. At the top was the king and his family. Beneath that level was a small
upper class of priests, army commanders, and nobles. Next came a larger base of skilled middleclass people, such as traders, artisans, and shopkeepers. At the bottom was the largest group –
unskilled workers and farmers.
Ancient Egyptian society was
highly structured. AT the top
was the pharaoh and his
family. At the bottom was the
group with the least wealth –
unskilled workers. What
group was just below the
pharaoh in Egyptian society?
Egypt’s upper class was
made up of nobles, or people from
rich and powerful families, priests,
and other wealthy Egyptians who
worked as the government officials. They lived in cities and on large estates along the Nile River.
They had elegant homes made of wood and mud bricks, with beautiful gardens and pools filled with
fish and water lilies. Wealthy families had servants to wait on them and to perform household tasks.
The men and women dressed in white linen clothes and wore heavy eye makeup and jewelry.
Egypt’s middle class included people who ran businesses or produced goods. They lived in much
smaller homes and dressed more simply. Artisans formed an important group within the middle
class. They produced linen cloth, jewelry, pottery, and metal goods.
Farmers made up the largest group of early Egyptians. Some rented their land from their
ruler, paying him with a hefty portion of their crops. Most, however, worked the land of wealthy
nobles. They lived in villages along the Nile, in one-room huts with roofs made of palm leaves. They
were built on high ground so that they would be safe from the yearly flood. Egyptians farmers not
only worked in fields, but they also took care of cattle. When they were not faming, they built
monuments, dug ditches, and repaired roads.
Many of Egypt’s city dwellers were unskilled workers who did physical labor. Some unloaded
cargo from boats and carried the cargo to markets. Others made and stacked mud bricks for
buildings. Workers lived in crowded city neighborhoods. They had small mud-brick homes with
hard-packed dirt floors and a courtyard for the family’s animals. On the flat rooftops, families
talked, played games, and slept. Women worked on the rooftops, drying fruit, making bread, and
weaving cloth.
Family Life:
In ancient Egypt, the father headed the family. However, Egyptian women had more rights
than females in most other early civilizations. In Egypt women could own their own property. They
could buy and sell goods, make wills, and obtain divorces. Upper-class women were in charge of
temples and could perform religious ceremonies.
Few Egyptians sent their children to school. Mothers taught their daughters to sew, cook, and
run a household. Boys learned faming or skilled trades from their fathers. Egyptian children had
time for fun, as well. They played with board games, dolls, spinning tops, and stuffed leather balls.
Egypt and It’s Neighbors:
Although well-protected by its geography, Egypt was not isolated. Other culture had
influenced it for centuries. For example, Sumerian design are found in Egyptian art. Egyptian
pottery also reflects styles from Nubia, a region south of Egypt. During the Old Kingdom, Egypt
began trading with its neighbors. Traders returned from Nubia with gold, ivory, slaves, and stone.
Traders traveled to Punt, an area on the Red Sea, to acquire incense and myrrh (MUHR). These two
items were used to make perfume and medicine. Trade with Syria provided Egypt with wood.
Old Kingdom Rulers:
During the Old Kingdom, the Egyptians continued to develop their political system. This
system was based on the belief that the pharaoh, (FEHR-ohs) an Egyptian king, was both king and
a god.
Pharaohs:
The ancient Egyptians believed that Egypt belonged to the gods. They believed that the
pharaoh had come to earth to manage Egypt for the rest of the gods. As a result, he had absolute
power over all the land and the people of Egypt. But the pharaoh’s status as a god came with many
responsibilities. He carried out certain rituals that were thought to benefit the kingdom. For
example, he drove a sacred bull around Memphis, the capital city. The Egyptians believed this
ceremony would keep the soil rich and ensure good crops. The pharaoh was also the first to cut ripe
grain. Egyptian believed this would bring a good harvest. However, people blamed him if crops did
not grow well or if disease struck. They also demanded that the pharaoh make trade profitable and
prevent wars.
The pharaoh owned all of the land in Egypt, but he gave gifts of land to rich Egyptians and
priests. During the Old Kingdom, the duties of the pharaohs grew. To make sure the land was
produced well, the pharaoh saw to it that dams and irrigation canals were built and repaired. The
pharaoh also ordered the building of brick buildings for storing grain. These were used to store grain
from good harvests for people would not starve in times of bad harvest. To help carry out these
duties, the pharaoh hired government officials. Most officials came from the pharaoh’s family. These
officials were appointed in order to carry out the pharaoh’s wishes. The officials also controlled trade
and collected tax payments of grain from farmers.
The most famous pharaoh of the Old Kingdom was Khufu (KOO-foo), who ruled in the 2500s
B.C. Egyptian legend says that he was cruel, but historical records tell us that the people who
worked for him were well fed. Khufu is best known for the monuments that were built to him.
Why did Egyptians willingly serve the pharaoh? One reason was
that they believed the unity of the kingdom depended on a strong
leaders. Another was that they considered the pharaoh to be the son of
Re (Ray), the Egyptian sun god. As a result, his subjects paid him the
greatest respect. Whenever he appeared in public, people played music
on flutes and cymbals. Bystanders along the road had to bow down and
“smell the earth”, or touch their heads to the ground.
Egypt’s Religion:
The ancient Egyptians had strong religious beliefs. Worshipping the gods and goddesses, or
deities (DEE-uh-teez), was a part of their everyday lives. The Egyptians believed these deities
controlled the forces of nature and human activities. Many Egyptians religious
customs focused on what happened after people died.
The Gods:
Religion was deeply woven into Egyptian culture. Like Mesopotamians,
Egyptians practiced polytheism, the worshiping of many gods. Before the
First Dynasty, each village worshiped its own god. During the Old Kingdom,
however, Egyptian officials tried to give some sort of structure to religious
beliefs. Everyone was expected to worship the same gods, though how they
worshipped the gods might differ from one region of Egypt to another.
The Egyptians built temples to the gods all over the kingdom. The
temples collected payments from both the government and worshippers. These payments allowed
the temples to grow more influential. Over time, certain cities became centers for the worship of
certain gods in Memphis, for examples, people prayed to Ptah, the creator of the world. The
Egyptians had gods for nearly everything, including the sun, the sky, and the earth. Many gods
mixed human and animal forms. For example, Anubis, the god of the dead, had a human body, but a
jackal’s head. Other major gods included:
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Re, or Amon-Re, the sun god
Osiris, the god of the harvest and eternal life (underworld)
Isis, the goddess of magic
Horus, a sky god, god of the pharaohs
Hapi, the god of the Nile
The Egyptians depended on the river and the sun. The river brought them water and fertile soil,
while the sun helped their crops grow.
Osiris (o-si-ris) was a very important god. According to the Egyptian legend, Osiris was an
early pharaoh who gave his people laws and taught them farming. He and his wife, Isis (I’-sis), ruled
over the dead. The Egyptians believed that the souls of the dead went to the underworld. There,
they were weighted on a scale, if a person had led a good life and knew certain magic spells, the
scales balanced. Then, Osiris would grant the person life after death. To learn correct magic spells,
Egyptians studied a special book called the Book of the Dead.
Afterlife:
Unlike the Mesopotamians, who imagined a gloomy life after death the Egyptians took a
hopeful view. Much of the Egyptian religion focused on the afterlife, or life after death. The
Egyptians believed that the afterlife was a happy place. They believed that life in the next world
would be even better than life on Earth. Following a long journey, the dead would reach a place of
peace and plenty. Paintings from Egyptian tombs show the afterlife as an ideal world where all the
people are young and healthy.
The Egyptian belief in the afterlife stemmed from their idea of ka (KAH), or a person’s life
force. When a person died, his or her ka left the body and became a spirit. The ka, however,
remained linked to the body and could not leave its burial site. The ka had all the same needs that
the person had when he or she was living.
To fulfill the ka’s needs, people filled tombs with objects for the afterlife. These objects
included furniture, clothing, tools, jewelry, and weapons. Relatives of the dead were expected to
bring food and beverages to their loved one’s tombs so the ka would not be hungry or thirsty.
Burial Practices:
Egyptian ideas about the afterlife shaped their burial practices. Egyptians believed that a
body had to be prepared for the afterlife before it could be buried. This meant the body had to be
preserved. If the body decayed, its spirit could not recognize it. That would break the link between
the body and the spirit. The ka would then be unable to receive the food and drink it needed to have
a good afterlife.
To keep the ka from suffering, the Egyptians developed a method
called embalming (em-balm-eing). Embalming is a way of preserving
the bodies of the dead. Embalming allowed bodies to be preserved for
many, many years as mummies, specially treated bodies wrapped in
cloth. A body that was not embalmed would decay quickly.
Embalming was a complex process that took several weeks. First,
priests remove the body’s organs. A special kind of salt is applied to the
body and it was stored for a number of days to dry. After this, the body
was filled with spices and perfumes, then stitched closed. Next, it was cleaned with oils and tightly
wrapped with long strips of linen. The mummy was then placed in a coffin. Relatives often wrote
magic spells inside the coffin to help the mummy receive food and drink.
Only royalty and other members of Egypt’s elite (ay-leet), or people of wealth and power,
could afford to have mummies made. Peasant families buried their dead in shallow graves at the
edge of the desert. The hot dry sand and lack of moisture preserved the bodies naturally.
Pyramids:
Egyptians began to build pyramids (pir-uh-midz), large Egyptian tombs, during the Old
Kingdom. Some of the largest pyramids ever constructed were built during this time. Many of these
huge structures are still standing. Historians are still note sure exactly how Egyptians built the
pyramids. They are, however, amazing feats of engineering.
No ordinary tomb would do for a pharaoh of Egypt, the pyramids were a way for the people to
show the pharaohs how they felt about them. The size of the pyramid was a symbol of the pharaoh’s
greatness. The pyramid’s shape, pointing to the skies symbolized the pharaoh’s journey to the
afterlife. Because the sun sank in the west, these “House of Eternity” were built on the west bank of
the Nile. They were designed to protect the pharaohs’ bodies from floods, wild animals, and robbers.
Egyptians wanted the pyramids to be spectacular because they believed that the pharaoh, as their
link to the gods, controlled everyone’s afterlife. Making the pharaoh’s spirit happy was a way of
ensuring a happy afterlife for every Egyptian.
The Great Pyramid:
About 2450 B.C., the Egyptians built the largest and grandest of the pyramids known as the
Great Pyramid. It is located about 10 miles from the modern city of Cairo. This pyramids was built
for Khufu, is one of three still standing in Giza
on the west bank of the Nile. It rises nearly 500
feet (153 m) above the desert, covers an area the
size of nine football fields, and contains more
than two million stone blocks. Each block weighs
an average of 2.5 tons.
The Great Pyramid was the tallest
structure in the world for more than 4,000 years.
It is equal in size of a 48-story building and is the
largest of about eighty pyramids found in Egypt.
The Great Pyramid is truly a marvel because the
Egyptians built it without using beast of burden, special tools, or even a wheel.