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Daily Life in Ramesside Egypt
(l) Explain, using evidence, the daily life of Egyptian nobles (e.g. occupation,
housing, furniture, food, clothing and leisure.
There were three distinct ‘hierarchal classes’ in Egypt – the pharaoh and nobility at the
top of the pyramid, followed by priests, scribes, warriors, and skilled workers. The nobles
were the highest social rank beneath the Pharaoh and the Royal family, and included
members of the court, close associates of the Royal family, officials and bureaucrats.
At the bottom, supporting it all, was a large body of unskilled agricultural labourers.
We as historians are bombarded with information on the top level, and these are therefore
the strata I have focused on.
A day in the life of a noble of the time would have been mainly taken up by hunting, and
various leisure activities due to the fact that they had the time and money to do what ever
they pleased and lived a carefree life. However, although evidence from ancient Egypt,
and more specifically the Ramesside period, comes mainly from the tombs and funerary
goods, the Egyptian ambition to re-create the conditions of their daily existence in the
afterlife has resulted in the preservation both of tomb scenes, showing many facets of
their lives, and of objects such as furniture, clothing, cosmetics and jewellery.
Therefore through evidence such as temples, tombs, papyri and octrica, we are able to
also draw conclusions on other daily life areas, such as occupations, housing, furniture,
food and clothing.
A working day for Ramesside Egyptians took many forms. Agriculture was the basis of
the Egyptian economy and consequently, the daily work of the vast majority of the
Egyptians was linked with farming. However, a specialized bureaucracy monitored or
controlled much of Egypt’s economy. Although they didn’t tell the farmers what to grow,
they’re role was to re-measured and reassigned the land after every inundation - based on
past assignments, assessed the expected crops, collected part of the produce as taxes,
stored and redistributed it. Bureaucrats were also in charge of public works which were
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mostly religious in character and involved at times tens of thousands of workers and
administrators.
The period of inundation was a time where very little could be done agriculturally, and
this was the time when leisure became a way of life not only for the farmers, but also for
nobles. Gardner explains that ‘music, songs, dancing, buffoonery, feats of agility, or
games of chance’ were a large part of Egyptian leisure. The most common leisure activity
for the nobility seems to be drinking parties, accompanied by hired musicians, dancers,
acrobats and singers. Other favorite pastimes included board games like Hounds &
Jackals and what Gardner thought of as ‘draughts’, what we now know as senet. Senet
was a game with unclear rules, where figures were moved around a board against an
opponent. The tomb of Ramesses III contains such figures, and the Book of the Dead
records royal scribe Ani playing the game.
The modern locality of Beni Hassan records physical leisure: weightlifting bags of sand,
wrestling, boatfighting with poles, athletics, and my favourite, beating each other with
sticks. Discus throwing is shown in a 19th Dynasty pharaonic tomb. Fishing and Fowling
was also a popular leisure activity and is depicted in tomb scenes1 side-by-side with the
noble as the central character. He is shown on a small papyrus boat in the marshes which
are alive with wildlife, and two ‘Tilapia’ fish are shown being caught and put on a spearlike mechanism while wild fowl are killed with a throwing stick.
Egyptians were renowned throughout the ancient world for their culinary expertise, and
the type of food they ate was fairly specific. Animals were a scarce commodity, as the
agricultural land Egypt had was taken up by growing grains and vegetables. The matter
of class comes into what Egyptians would have eaten, but we know from Plutarch that
‘no Egyptian eats mutton’. Nobility tomb scenes show that the richer classes had a
penchant for that most charming of animal – goat, as well as ibex, oryx, and gazelle. Wild
geese were eaten, as well as ducks, snipe, and quails. And the Nile again treated the
Egyptians with an abundance of edible fish, although it didn’t keep very well in the heat.
Agriculture again shows its importance, as Pliny tells us that the Nile valley ‘surpassed
1
Fowling in the marshes: fragment of wall painting from the tomb of Nebamun (no. 10)
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every other country in the abundance and spontaneous growth’ of vegetables. Ramses III
allotted the Amun-Re temple figs, grapes, dom-palm fruit and pomegranates: ‘Mehiwet:
cakes 3100, Khitana-fruit: heket 310, Khitana-fruit: bundles 6200.’2 Some of these fruit
were only eaten fresh, but many were dried in order to preserve them. Jars of raisins were
allotted by the thousands to the Nile god temple by Ramses III, as were dried dates.
However the most commonly eaten foods in Egypt were onions (which were also used as
currency), garlic, lentils, and a flatbread made from barley, sorghum, or wheat flour.
However, it is evident that the abundance of food significantly changed during the 19th
and 20th dynasties in comparison to earlier dynasties. During the Rammeside period,
surplus became low, with food becoming less plentiful. One Egyptian woman called it
‘the year of the hyaenas, when everyone was short of food.’3 However continuity proved
that Egyptians liked good eating, as depicted by the great Harris papyrus, which lists all
the offerings made by Ramesses III to the gods; records the presentation of foodstuffs at
least as often as of precious metals, garments and perfumes.
Egyptian clothing styles did not change much throughout ancient times. Clothes were
usually made of linens ranging from coarse to fine texture. Small amounts of silk were
also traded to the eastern Mediterranean, as a few strands of material, which analysis
proved to be hydrolysed Chinese silk, were found in the hair of a 21st dynasty female
which was discovered in the workers' cemetery of Deir el Medina. During the Ramesside
period, noblemen would sometimes wear a long robe over his kilt, while the women wore
long pleated dresses with a shawl. Interestingly, however, in the course of the New
Kingdom and in particular during the Ramesside period, feminine fashion became ever
more varied and sophisticated. This has been put down to influences from areas of the
Near East occupied by Egypt at that time. White remained the most popular colour, only
occasionally varied with pastel shades, but dresses were now made of two pieces or more.
Some kings and queens wore decorative ceremonial clothing with feathers and sequins.
During the New Kingdom, and more particularly under the Ramessids, sandals of plaited
papyrus, of leather and even occasionally of gold (for the nobles) were in more general
2
3
James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Four
Theban woman called Arynofer.
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use, and according to the Harris papyrus Ramses III gave to the Amen priests, ‘Papyrus
sandals: 15110’4 However it is also interesting to note that medical papyri from that time
period, indicate that food complaints were also very common during this time. Clothing
styles were chosen for comfort, rather than aesthetic purposes, because of the hot, dry
climate of Egypt.
Using the skeletons and remaining framework of houses left behind at Deir el-Medina,
we are able to draw reliable conclusions as to the format of housing during the Ramessie
period. Wealthy Egyptian people had spacious estates with comfortable houses. We can
form some idea of the eternal appearance of houses belonging to noble’s, the wealthy etc,
from the reliefs which Apouy and Neferhotep had carved in their tombs. However, if we
wish to learn about the internal arrangements, we must visit the excavations at el Amarna.
The houses had high ceilings with pillars, barred windows, tiled floors, painted walls, and
stair cases leading up to the flat roofs where one could overlook the estate. There would
be pools and gardens, servant's quarters, wells, granaries, stables, and a small shrine for
worship. The wealthy lived in the countryside or on the outskirts of a town. Made from
bricks of sun dried mud, called adobe, because wood was scarce, a nobleman's home was
divided into three areas: a reception area, a hall, and the private quarters. The windows
and doors on the house were covered with mats to keep out the flies, dust, and heat. The
ancient Egyptians, even the wealthy ones, had a very limited assortment of furniture. A
low, square stool, the corners of which flared upwards and on top was placed a leather
seat or cushion, was the most common type of furnishing. Chairs were rare and they only
belonged to the very wealthy. Small tables were made of wood or wicker and had three to
four legs. Beds were made of a woven mat placed on wooden framework standing on
animal-shaped legs. At one end was a footboard and at the other was a headrest made a
curved neckpiece set on top of a short pillar on an oblong base. Lamp stands held lamps
of simple bowls of pottery containing oil and a wick. Chests were used to store domestic
possessions such as linens, clothing, jewellery, and make-up.
4
Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Four
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Thanks to the fabulous preservation of ancient sources such as tomb scenes, papyri,
octrica and Deir el-Medina in its entirety, we are able to draw conclusions on the way
nobles lived during the Ramesside period. Being generally wealthier, they perhaps had
more leisure time, more luxurious clothing, housing and food, however were still hard
workers. Even during the general decline of the Ramesside period, nobles continued to
live wealthy, and it is only because of their ambition of re-create their daily existence in
the afterlife, that we are able to understand exactly, the standard of which they lived their
lives.
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Bibliography:
Sources:
David, Rosalie
Handbook to Life in Ancient Egypt, Oxford University Press, 1998
Brier, Bob and Hobbs,
Hoyt
Daily Life of The Ancient Egyptians, Greenwood Press, 1999
Callender, Gae
The Eye of Horus- A History of Ancient Egypt, Longman Australia Pty
Limited, 1993
Hennessy, D (ed)
‘Studies in Ancient Egypt’, Nelson, Melbourne, 1993
Herodotus
‘The History of Herodotus- Volume II’ Written 440 B.C.E . translated
by George Rawlinson
Montet, Pierre
Everyday Life in Egypt, In the Days of Ramesses the Great,
Greenwood Press, 1958
Other Sources:
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http://www.sis.gov.eg/pharo/html/front.htm
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http://www.carnegiemuseums.org/cmnh/exhibits/egypt/dailylife.htm
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http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/egypt/dailylife
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http://www.terraflex.co.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/index.html
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http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/