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.