Occupations:

List and briefly describe / Crafts:
Noble
Working Class
Scribes- (secretaries /clerks) check the quantities of
everything that was grown as well as overseeing
taxation Papyrus Anastasi III & Papyrus Lansing give
detail of education of scribes
Representatives: Included the King’s son of Kush, who
was the overseer of taxes and tribute from that area
Military occupations- Papyrus Anastasi III gives detail
of military life in the Ramesside Period
Artists jewellers
Commander in chief of the army: Administer of war.
Responsible to the king and the vizier.
Chancellor – The chief official of the royal court and
seal-bearer of the king
Potters
Priests- most prominent being the High Priest of Amun
Spinning and weaving (The development of textile
workshops, often run by women, and of a vertical loom
in the New Kingdom, meant that the textile industry
grew in importance.)
Overseer of Granaries
*Metalwork (included the casting and engraving of
metal objects)
Vizier
Servants at the King’s villa: Tasks included herding the
geese, taking grain to the silos, tidying guests rooms and
repairing the ploughs.
Herdsmen: Tomb of Khonsu, the High Priest of the
Tomb of Thutmose III contains scenes of an inspection
of herdsmen and cattle on the estate of Thutmose IV
Craftsmen with more specialized skills were involved in
the manufacture of jewellery, and in painting, sculpture,
and the design and construction of great monuments
built to the glory of the pharaohs and to the great state
gods.
Tax Assessors/Collectors
sculptors
Cabinetmakers (hampered by the very short supply of
timber in Egypt, with the result that most of the wood
used was imported from the Middle East. Thus wooden
objects were often expensive, and were usually reserved
for the rich.)
Carpenters

Agricultural activities related to each season
- Agriculture was the most important activity in ancient Egypt and the peasant farmer was the
backbone of society (ie agriculture and peasant farmer was the backbone of Egyptian
economy)
- The farming calendar was organized around the annual flooding of the Nile
- 19th Dyn. Tomb of Ipuy the sculptor contains agricultural scenes; herding animals; market
scenes; wine press and vintage scenes and marsh scenes
Akhet –The season of inundation:
- As the Nile began to rise, farmers moved their cattle to higher ground and fed them by
hand with fodder already in storage
Because the land was under flood during this season it was a time for:
- repairing equipment and making objects for use in the household
- major building works: central authorities could demand services of peasants to labour on
large-scale constructions, eg. temples
Perit – The coming Forth: or growing season
- most labour intensive part of the year
- preparation for ploughing and planting: people worked frantically to get the land and
irrigation system back to normal after the floods so that planting could take place before
soil dried out
- crops were sown by spreading the seeds by hand; animals were used to tread them into
the ground
- main crops: wheat, barley, and flax, grown for weaving into linen.
- when sowing was completed, had to water fields by shadouf
- small boys spent their days in the fields and gardens scaring birds that ate the newly sown
seeds
- farmers would pray to the gods to deal with plagues of insects, particularly locusts
Shemu – The season of harvest:
(most common tomb scenes)
- grain had to be harvested, threshed, winnowed, measured and transported to storage bins
- Pharaoh’s officials carried out annual census and tax assessment
- surveyors measured the fields before harvesting - this formed the basis of the tax
assessment
- harvested and processed grapes (for wine) generally drunk only by the wealthy (ordinary
Egyptians drank a weak beer)