Unit 2: Ancient Egypt and the Near East
Chapter 9: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt
The Satire of the Trades
Chapter 9 discussed the social pyramid of Egypt. You learned about the work and daily
lives of several groups of people. Scribes were one of these groups. They were well paid
and highly respected because they were Egypt’s official writers and record keepers.
Becoming a scribe was a difficult task. Classes lasted from dawn until sunset. Teachers
were strict and often treated their students harshly. Still, learning to be a scribe meant
that you would be better off than other social classes in Egypt.
Below is an excerpt from an ancient Egyptian poem, The Satire of the Trades. Historians
believe that young students in scribe school were forced to copy this piece over and over
again. In this way, they could practice their writing and learn how much better it was to
be a scribe than be a peasant or artisan. As you read the excerpt, think about these
questions: What are some other jobs mentioned in the poem? What was life like for
those professions?
The jeweler drills in bead making using all of the hardest hard stones. When he has
completed the inlays [pieces], his arms are destroyed by his exhaustion. He sits at the
food of Ra [dinner] with his knees and back hunched double.
For the carpenter with his chisel, life is utterly vile [completely disgusting]. Covering
the roof in a chamber, measuring ten cubits by six to cover the roof in a month after
laying the boards with cord of the weaving-house. All the work on it is done, but the food
given for it isn’t enough for his children.
The gardener has to carry a yoke pole [pole over his shoulders] and all his shoulder
bones age, and there is a great blister on his neck, oozing puss…. He has spent over a
day and now his belly aches. So it happens that he rests dead to his own name. He is
aged by it more than any other profession.
As for the charcoal-worker, his fingers are rotted, the smell of them is as corpses [dead
bodies], and his eyes are stinging from the smoky fire. He can never be rid of his
charcoal, spending his day cut by the reed; his own clothing is his disgusting.
The washer man does the laundry on the shore next to the crocodiles. “Father is going
to the canal,” he says to his son and his daughter. Is this not a profession to be glad for,
worse than any other profession?
Look, there is no profession free of directors, except the scribe—he IS the director. If,
though, you know how to write that is better life for you than these professions I show
you…. A day in the school chamber [room] is more useful for you than an eternity of its
toil [lifetime of work] in the mountains…. Look, no scribe will ever be lacking in food or
the things of the House of the King, may he live, prosper and be well!
Ancient Egyptian Help Wanted Ad
Create a job posting for the “Help Wanted” section of The Daily Sun, a fictitious
ancient Egyptian newspaper. Use information from The Satire of the Trades and
your Chapter 9 Reading (pages posted to my website). Each job posting should
include:
• the job’s title.
• three descriptive details about the job’s duties. (One sentence each)
• two benefits of the job. You may want to estimate a yearly salary based on the
social class of that job or discuss other reward that might come with the job.
(One sentence each)
• a helpful full color illustration for each ad.
•
correct grammar and spelling.
Finishing touches to make your ad stand out.
Your help wanted ads will be on a page of plain (unlined) white paper. We will add color
to ‘age’ the paper and give it the look of papyrus when finished.