05 ANCIENT EGYPT

ANCIENT EGYPT

The rise of Ancient Egypt

Egypt was said to be the gift of the Nile. Each summer the Nile flooded and provided water to grow crops. For irrigation Egyptians used a device called shaduf. it was a 'see-saw' with a leather container at one end, which was filled with water and a counterweight at the other.
When the Nile flooded it also deposited silt over the land near the banks, which made the land very fertile once the water had subsided.
The Nile also provided a way of transporting people and goods. Prevailing winds in Egypt blew south so boats travelling in that direction used sails. Boats heading north used oars.

Society in Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was ruled by a king. By about 1500 BC he was called the Pharaoh (from the word per ao meaning great house. Originally it meant the palace he lived in but it came to mean the ruler himself).
The Pharaoh was assisted by a kind of prime minister called a vizier (sometimes there was more than one). Furthermore for administration Egypt was divided into areas called nomes.
Below the Pharaoh were the nobility, priests, scribes and merchants. Then came soldiers and craftsmen then peasants and finally slaves. A slaves life was very hard.
Ordinary Egyptians who were not slaves also had to some work for the Pharaoh each year building or mending irrigation canals. This was done when the Nile flooded and farm work was impossible. Farmers also had to pay part of their crops to the Pharaoh in tax.
This great civilization lasted for more than 3,000 years before it was finally absorbed into the Roman Empire after 30 BC.

BRIEF HISTORY OF SLAVERY

Slavery in the Ancient World

In the distant past people often slaughtered their enemies but sometimes they were taken prisoner and used as slaves. In the ancient world slavery was common. The great civilizations of the Middle East, the Sumerians, Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians and Israelites all kept slaves. Slavery was also common in ancient India and China. The Celts who lived in Western Europe also kept slaves. The main source of slaves was prisoners of war. However slavery was usually hereditary. A slave's children were also slaves. Slavery was hereditary. Some people sold themselves or their children into slavery to avoid starvation.
As society became more advanced slavery became a huge business and buying and selling slaves became a thriving industry. (In the old Testament around 1800 BC Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and was taken to Egypt).
The Greeks and the Romans too kept huge numbers of slaves. Some slaves were household slaves who worked in their master's homes. Others worked on farms and some were skilled craftsmen. Slaves who lived in mines probably had the harshest and most unpleasant lives. (Their lives were often short too).
Under Roman law there were limits to how cruelly slaves could be treated but it must have been difficult to enforce that. Most slaves were probably reasonably treated just to keep them working efficiently. Some Roman slaves were freed when they were older and others managed to save up and buy their freedom.
Even so there were several slave rebellions. Slaves in Sicily rebelled in 133 BC but the most famous slave rebellion was led by Spartacus in 73 BC. However slave rebellions were eventually crushed and slavery went on.
Life in Rome
After the end of the Roman Empire in 476 AD slavery did not disappear from Europe. It continued for centuries (although the Church disapproved). The Vikings and other nations kept slaves and there were slave markets in towns like London, Dublin and Rome. In Saxon England slaves were called thralls. They did the hardest and dirtiest work. At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 there were about 10,000 slaves in England.
Nevertheless slavery gradually declined and by the mid-12th century it had vanished from Western Europe.

Food and Farming in Ancient Egypt

The staple diet of the ordinary people in Ancient Egypt was bread and beer. Bread was baked outside. Because of the desert sand was often blown into dough. In time eating bread with grains of sand in it wore down peoples teeth.
In Ancient Egypt as in all early civilizations meat was a luxury and only the rich could afford to eat it frequently. The Egyptians ate sheep, pigs, cows and goats but meat often came from ducks and geese. However fish were plentiful in Egypt.
The Egyptians ate many vegetables including, marrows, beans, onions, lentils, leeks, radishes, garlic and lettuces. They also ate fruit like melons, dates and figs. Pomegranates were quite expensive and were eaten mainly by the rich. The Egyptians also grew herbs and spices and they made cooking oil.
Beer was made from crumbled barley bread and barley with water so it was lumpy. It was strained before it was drunk. Even so it was still lumpy so it had to be drunk through a wooden straw with a filter. Better off Egyptians drank wine.
Ancient Egyptian farmers dug irrigation canals to take water from the Nile when it flooded and to hold it when the flood subsided.
In Ancient Egypt oxen pulled plows and farmers used simple tools such as hoes, sickles, rakes and winnowing fans (used to throw wheat into the air to separate light chaff from heavier grain).
In Ancient Egypt there were three seasons. From July to October was the season when the Nile flooded. Seeds were planted from November to February. The harvest lasted from March to June.
Egyptians divided days into 24 hours and they measured time with water clocks. (Water was allowed to drip into a container at a stead rate. The container was marked at intervals and it took one hour for the water to rise from one mark to another).
Like all early civilizations Ancient Egypt was an agricultural society. Most people lived in the countryside and made their living by farming. The most important crops were wheat and barley.

Food In Ancient Egypt

For most people in ancient Egypt food was plain and dull. The staple food of the Egyptians was bread and beer. Bread was baked outside and because of the desert sand was often blown into dough. In time eating bread with grains of sand in it wore down peoples teeth.

In ancient Egypt as in all early civilizations meat was a luxury and only the rich could afford to eat it frequently. Nevertheless the Egyptians ate sheep, pigs, cows and goats but meat often came from ducks and geese. However fish were plentiful in Egypt.

Egyptian food included many vegetables, such as marrows, beans, onions, lentils, leeks, radishes, garlic and lettuces. They also ate fruit like melons, dates and figs. Pomegranates were quite expensive and were eaten mainly by the rich. The Egyptians grew herbs and spices and they made cooking oil.