INTRODUCTION
In the unit you have just studied, you learned about a narrow strip of land on both sides of the Nile River which was surrounded by a vast desert. The civilization that developed here was to become one of the most wealthy in the ancient world. At one time, even with its limited amount of farmable land, ancient Egypt became one of the largest grain producers. As you learned, everyone's life was centered around the Nile. The Nile was also a unifying force in ancient Egypt, and control of this powerful river led to the development of a government controlled by one person.
As you have studied, much of what we know about daily life in ancient Egypt comes from the tomb paintings and ancient texts. Your job in this task will be to examine tomb paintings and complete a short reading. Then, you will imagine that you are an Egyptian farmer. Your final task will be to make a decision about a situation which you might face in ancient Egypt, and then to explain your choice.
PRE-ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY
Examine the picture and its caption and answer the questions that follow.
1. What does the caption tell you about the relationship between the ancient Egyptian gods and the pharaohs?
2. Where did the pharaohs get their power to rule Egypt and how was this power maintained?
ACTIVITY 1
Step 1
Examine the picture and answer the questions that follow.
SOURCE: Casson, Lionel. Ancient Egypt, Time-Life Books, 1971, pp. 108-109
Part A
1. What is the basis for the Egyptian economy? Is it shown in this picture? (Geo #21)
Part B
2. Paintings can tell a story. This painting illustrates the daily life of Egyptian farmers. Choose one object that the Egyptians are using in this painting and describe how this object could make the farmer more efficient, and make him grow more wheat. (Econ #31)
Part C
3. In the left corner of the middle register of the painting, scribes are tallying the amount of grain being harvested. Why would scribes be recording this information? (Econ #29)
Part D
4. How did the farmers pay their bills in ancient Egypt? Why didn't they pay with gold or silver? (Econ #26)
ACTIVITY 2
Step 1
Create a diagram on a piece of scrap paper which describes the social structure in ancient Egypt.
Step 2
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.
The Egyptian village, lying between fertile fields of the riverside, and a rust-red expanse of desert, was a crowded, busy center of people eking out a simple existence. For men and women alike, daily rounds of toil lasted from dawn to sunset, with a respite at midday when the sun was too hot to bear. Most men worked in the fields. In times of flood, however, they were drafted for such public works as raising dikes or constructing pyramids.
One writer gave a dour view of peasant life:
"Mice abound in the field, locusts descend and animals eat the crop...what remains...is taken by thieves. The hire of oxen is wasted because the animals have died...then the scribe arrives at the riverbank...to register the tax on the harvest."
In about 1170 B.C., the government fell two months behind in the payment of wages. Suddenly one day the workers at the Necropolis in Thebes threw down their tools and walked off the job, chanting: "We are hungry! We are hungry!" They marched to the Ramesseum, the mortuary temple of Rameses II, and sat down outside the walls, on the edge of the cultivated fields. They refused to move, even when three officials pleaded with them to go back to work. The next day they marched out again, and on the third day they invaded the enclosure around the temple. They were orderly, but determined. That day their rations for one month were delivered, but they continued to strike for eight days, until the full payment for both months was delivered. This was the first recorded strike in history, and it is an indication that the people in Egypt may not have been so timid as they have sometimes been described.
There were other strikes in the month that followed, but when the people did not get their rations, they turned more and more to robbing the tombs by night and selling the loot for grain. Tomb robbing had always happened to the pharaohs, but by the reign of Rameses IX, when the people were desperate, it had become a way of life. It was done with the knowledge of many government officials, who fattened their own incomes by accepting bribes to "look the other way." Tomb robbers were periodically arrested, but they often bought their way out of jail and returned to robbing.
from Casson, Lionel, Ancient Egypt, Time-Life Books, 1971, pg. 44, 101.
Part A
3. Who controlled the land in ancient Egypt? Why was the land so valuable? (Econ #28)
Part B
4. What did the farmers do when the annual flooding of the Nile occurred? How did the government take care of the farmer's basic needs? (Econ #27)
Part C
5. What rights did the farmers have in Egyptian society?
(PS #4)
Part D
6. Who do you think bought the "loot" that was stolen from the tombs? (Econ #26)
Part E
7. Why would tomb robbing be an alternative for the farmers,
rather than simply keeping the grain for themselves? (PS #3)
ACTIVITY 3 -- Writing
(PS #3)
Now that you have read about the two choices faced by Egyptian farmers when they did not get paid -- striking or tomb robbing -- you are ready to make your choice. Imagine that you are an Egyptian farmer who has to feed a family of six. Your wages have been late for two months. Your children and your wife are hungry! What should you do?
Your task is to decide between striking or tomb robbing and then to write a script of an imaginary conversation between an Egyptian farmer and his wife. Before you begin to write, think about:
- the relationship between the gods and the pharaoh
- the role of the pharaoh in Egyptian society and how that role was maintained
- the relationship between the pharaoh and the farmer
- the rights of the farmers in ancient Egyptian society
- your opinion about whether you should strike or turn to tomb robbing to support your family.
Now write the script of your imaginary conversation. Use your own paper to write the script.
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Last updated by Robert V. Jervis, Lisa Kissinger, and James F. Adomanis, 11/31/97