Question | Answer |
New Kingdom | (1600 - 1100 BCE) |
Opet Festival | Festival honoring the pharaoh and the god Amon-Re. Priests decorated the god's statue, the statue was put in a Barque and carried through town on poles. People at all levels of society participated together, no matter what class they belonged to. |
Barque | A ceremonial boat. |
Social Pyramid | The tiered structure of Egyptian society, with the Pharaoh at the top and the peasants at the bottom. A pyramid outline showing the positions of social classes according to their status in a society |
Supreme | Highest, best. E.g., "Supreme ruler" = the highest ruling level |
Social Classes | a group in a society that is ranked by factors such as wealth, property, and rights |
Status | Importance |
Pharaoh | Highest class in Egypt's social class. Supreme leader. |
Government Officials | Next after the Pharaoh in class. Carried out the orders of the pharaoh. Most came from noble families. They were powerful and wealthy, and they enjoyed a high quality of life. |
Priests | Under government officials in class. They were in charge of the temples and religious rituals. They also oversaw the important ceremonies surrounding death and burial. |
Scribes | Under priests in class. They held a respected position in society. They recorded information for government and religious leaders. Only men could be this. |
Artisans | Beneath scribes in class. Included craftspeople like carpenters, metalworkers, painters, sculptors, and stone carvers. They were highly skilled, but they had little social status. |
occupied | To take up or fill. E.g., "Occupy space" |
Peasants | Largest social class, and the lowest. They worked the land, providing the Egyptians with a steady food supply. When not farming, worked on the pharaoh’s massive building projects. |
Rigid | stiff; unable to bend |
Roles | a position based on socially expected behavior. |
Men's Roles | Heads of their households. They worked to support the family. Began to train their sons at a young age to take on their line of work. in charge of Egyptian society |
Women's Roles | managed the home & raised children. Upper-class ones had servants/slaves to help them. Lower-class did the work themselves. could own land and run businesses. Could ask for divorces. Some middle and upper classes worked as doctors, government officials |
Visier | A government official who was the chief treasurer (keeper of money, tax collector) and general of armies. Advised the pharaoh and out his commands. Served as chief judge. |
Neutral | not taking sides or getting involved in disagreements |
General of Armies | Top military commander in Egypt was the general of the armies. He advised the pharaoh in matters of war and national security, such as how to protect Egypt’s borders from invaders. He also helped the pharaoh make alliances with other kingdoms. |
Banquet | Big meal. Guests wore fine clothes, offered lengthy blessings to the host. Men/women seated on opposite sides of room. People ate with fingers. Musicians, dancers, and acrobats were entertainment. |
High Priest | advised the pharaoh and oversaw all religious ceremonies. |
Temple priests | in charge of the temples scattered throughout Egypt. Every temple was home to one or more Egyptian gods. This priest’s primary job was to take care of his temple’s special god in a variety of ways. A temple’s god was thought to live in a statue. |
Afterlife | an existence after death. Egyptians believed a person’s body remained with his or her dead spirit. For this reason, the Egyptians embalmed bodies to preserve them from decay. Priests oversaw this sacred ritual. |
hieroglyphs | a symbol used in the Egyptians' system of writing developed around 3000 B.C.E> Students had to memorize over 700. |
Work of scribes | recorded accounts of the grain and food supply. Wrote down results of government census, calculated and collected taxes. recorded court cases and helped enforce laws.kept track of soldiers and food supply, and the number of enemies killed in battle. |
Scribe tools | For pens, they used finely sharpened reeds. For paper, used a sheet of papyrus on a writing tablet. Tablets were made of wood or stone. Each a well for black ink and one for red ink. A small container held water that was used to wet the ink. |
papyrus | Paper made from the papyrus plant. |
Types of Artisans | included carpenters, metalworkers, painters, potters, sculptors, jewelers, leatherworkers, stone carvers, and weavers |
3 seasons of the Nile | the flooding season, the planting season, and the harvest season. |