Daily Life in Ancient Egypt (Clothing)

Egypt is a very warm country which means the Egyptians wore very few clothes. The fabric that most of the cloths were made of was linen and sometimes they imported silk, cotton, and wool. 

Women wore long thin dresses, and at festivities they wore head dresses and some head dresses had scented fat that melted in the sun (this made them smell nice).

Both women and men shaved their heads because the weather was to warm and then they wore wigs.

Men wore wrapped skirts that varied in length depending on the time of year and the fashion of time.

Children did not wear any clothes until they were about six years old and then they wore the same clothes as women and men.

Footwear: the Egyptians wore mostly sandals or bare feet. The sandals where made from various sources- Papyrus and wood (bark), and the richest wore gold sandals. 

Makeup/Jewellery was common in Egypt and showed wealth

Ancient Egyptian Daily life (Religion)

Religion was very important to the ancient Egyptians. They had a different and separate religion aside from other countries and cultures.  Their religion affected their entire daily life because it was influenced by tradition which caused the Egyptians to resist change.  They did not question the beliefs and myths that were passed down to them, they also never changed any of the beliefs.  Many of their myths were intended to explain the gods’ actions and roles in nature. 

The religion of Ancient Egypt was a polytheistic (many gods)  with one short period of monotheism (one god).  There were hundreds of different gods and goddesses.   The primary focus of the Egyptian religion was between the humans and the gods.  There was a god for every aspect of the natural world.  Some gods had the heads of animals that they defied.  The Pharaoh and the priests held a lot of power in Egypt.  The Egyptians believed that when things were going well, the leaders were doing their job well.  But when things were going bad, the pharaoh and the priests were to blame. 

Temples existed in almost every town, there were temples to serve the spirits of deceased pharaohs and temples dedicated to the patron gods.  Not all gods however, had temples dedicated to them.  The temples were supposed to be houses for the gods. 

The Egyptians believed in afterlife, they believed that the physical body of the dead (person) had to be preserved to allow a place for their spirit to live in the afterlife.  This created to process of mummification to preserve the body.  They preserved bodies of pharaohs then buried them in pyramids (except King Tut who was buried in the Valley of the Kings). Isis is an ancient Egyptian goddess that was worshiped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic (the goddess of motherhood, magic and fertility).  Isis had many friends  which include slaves, sinners, artisans, the downtrodden, in addition to listening to the prayers of the wealthy, maidens, aristocrats and rulers.  Isis was the first goddess of Geb ( god of the Earth). Her name means she of the throne. Her original headdress was a throne. 

Ancient Egyptian Daily life (Education)

Education

The first knowledge and information the child would have is from home, as the children used to stayed home with their mother to learn how to speak, walk, listen etc.  During this the children grew very close to their mother and had a strong respect for them.  Once a boy has reached the age of four, he is passed on to his father to learn more about his father’s job and how it was done because the boy was most likely to have the same job as his father.   

The girls stayed home with their mothers to learn more about caring for a family and a household.  Poor families were always just educated at home. 

There were not many children who actually went to a school, the only children that attended a school were those of wealthy families who are intending on their children to be like them, educated and wealthy.   For families that were wealthy but not at the top of the chart they would send their children off to learn to read, write, learn about trade and more.  

Most of these children went to a scribal school.  However, it was normally males who went to school even if the girl’s family was wealthy.  The royal family had their own special tutors come to them.  Most lessons would begin early in the morning and finish up in mid afternoon.

Daily Life in Ancient Egypt (Marriage)

In Egypt marriage was a very symbolic time in life and was considered to be a blessed bond. Since in those times death occurred earlier in life, a bride would be around the age of 13-15 years old and her husband would be around 17-20 years old. In an ancient Egyptian marriage if both of the husband and wife decide to get a divorce they will agree (similar to a contract) to share equally what they keep (Dowries) and what they give to the other person. In ancient Egypt marriage was very similar to today’s marriages, since they included requirements similar to a contract.

In ancient Egypt, give birth and pregnancy were a very important and difficult process which most of ancient Egyptian families were afraid of all the time. Many spells and many medicines where made in order to make the whole process go well. In Egypt since children were considered to be a blessing it was very important that the child got delivered healthy and alive but, since then there were less medications and less health care more children died of infection and diseases. Many gods and goddesses were a part of the pregnancy and birth some of the gods and goddesses include Bes (who is the god of protecting households and the mother and child), and Hathor (is the goddess of love, motherhood, and joy). Without many of the medicines and great beliefs of the ancient Egyptians childbirth would be very hard for the mothers. 

Childhood - Children were never given a voice in ancient Egypt. 

Small Children lived with their mothers and other female relatives in a special part of the house.  Many babies and small children died at birth due to the lack of knowledge and health care.  But the parents tried to prevent any accidents and illness by using special spells and charms.  During the first years of the children’s life they spend a lot of time learning basic skills such as walking, speaking and playing, no economic role.     

Boy’s heads had to be shaved, leaving only one plated lock.  But this was cut off when the boy reached twelve.  When the boys are only four years old their fathers start training them on the job that the father currently has. 

Girls were raised to get married and look after the house and their children (when they are older).  The Egyptian girls married very young at about 12. 

Children had many different toys and games that they often played.  If the children died young, some of these toys were buried in their graves with them.  Some of the toys include dolls, balls, tops, animal toys, and board games that resembled checkers.  Some children made their own toys, but there were also toy makers.  Many Egyptian families had a household pet that the children played with and helped look after, most families had a cat.

Children of wealthy families had more time to play, unlike poor families who had to have their children work with them in the fields with their father or at home with their mother.  

Ancient Egyptian Daily life (Food)

Food 

As advised most of Egypt land is desert, therefore the only land could be suitable for agriculture is the land nearby the River Nile (which is where most of Ancient Egyptian civilization was built near). Every year the Nile River would flood leading to very fertile soil, which is perfect for agriculture. 

From the silt and the river some substances of food would include wheat also used to make beer, fish, grapes where a very popular source of fruit and were fermented to make wine, and river birds. Since Egypt doesn't have that many substances of food/supplies most of their necessities where brought from faraway places and traded

Ancient Egyptian Daily life (Family Life)

Family life

Egyptian society revolved around the family

The women ran the household and the family; most women devoted their lives to their families and did not work while men would work to earn money to protect their family from starving, the jobs vary depending on how wealthy the family already is.  

Poor families struggled to keep their families together, fed, and educated because they had very low paying jobs and did not receive all their rights that wealthy families would do.  On the other hand, wealthy families really didn’t need to work, they had a much better life than the middle class and the poor families.  They were more educated, relaxed, and their children had a better life.  

Sizes of the families varied depending on the wealth of the family.  Also included in the family was pets, most were cats, it was the children’s responsibility to look after them.  

Daily Life in Ancient Egypt 1

The books are full of information and dates about ancient Egyptian kings and queens, also full of politics, wars, agreements as so on, BUT we all suffer lack of information about the daily life of an ancient Egyptian, how they live, how they work, how were their relationships, how they work and so on... in the coming articles we will try to put some lights on the daily life of ancient Egyptian.

Egypt has been remarked on its strong beliefs that still carry on till today. Most of Ancient Egyptian Civilization was built near the Nile River that is still flowing and holding most of civilization nearby. From Egyptians food to their religion, there are so many wonderful and extraordinary ways the Egyptians have followed.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt.

The ancient Egyptian social structure the Pharaoh was always at the top of the pyramid along with anyone of his relatives.  The Pharaoh is a human being that Egyptians believed on him as the god.  He had all the power and control of the whole country. Some of these responsibilities include protection (the pharaoh directed an army in case of any threat or conflict), food (each farmer paid taxes in the form of grain, which were stored at the pharaoh’s warehouses.  This grain would be used to feed the people if there was ever to be a famine).  Of course the Pharaoh would not do all of these on his own, so he used some assistants  which brings us to the next level  who was reporting to the pharaoh  called the viziers.  

The vizier basically supervised the running of the country.  Some of his duties were making sure that the tax collectors and scribes reported to the vizier.  The Vizier sat in the highest part of the judicial court system.  Sometimes the vizier would have to supervise the security on the pharaoh’s house.  The third level contains powerful nobles and priests.  Only nobles could hold government posts; in these positions they profited from tributes paid to the pharaoh.  This made nobles very wealthy.  The priests had the responsibility of pleasing the gods.  The fourth level becomes the soldiers.  

The soldiers fought in wars or other huge conflicts from foreign countries.  But when there was peace, soldiers would supervise the peasants, farmers, and slaves who helped build structures such as pyramids, temples and palaces.  Nowadays during your Egypt travel you would not see this structure of course, however believe it or not Egyptian still like to put their leader or presidents near the God level.