House of an Egyptian nobleman description. Life of a nobleman in ancient Egypt

The ruler had priests and courtiers. Life of a nobleman ancient Egypt walked next to the king. The pyramid was completed by a single pharaoh, equal to god a ruler with unlimited rights.

How was life different for nobles in ancient Egypt?

The Egyptians deified the figure of the king, their pharaoh, that is, they considered him infinitely superior ordinary people. The nobles, as those close to the god-king, occupied special place in the ancient Egyptian hierarchy.

The pharaoh devoted a lot of time to traveling around the country. He ordered the construction of new and restoration of old temple buildings, the decoration of altars and sacred statues depicting gods. In addition to peaceful affairs, rulers waged wars. The nobles helped their master in carrying out his plans. Some looked after the treasury and the receipt of taxes, others managed the work of extracting stone for the tombs, others carried out trials over the conspirators, others raised armies and controlled guards.

Nobleman and agriculture

Life was not spent relaxing on a couch near the pool. Those close to the king led the same active life as he himself. As a reward for carrying out his assignments and orders, the pharaoh presented those close to him with lands with peasants. In the future, these possessions could be sold, donated, or bequeathed to heirs.

In addition to personal possessions, the pharaoh's associates had at their disposal official property and state lands, the income from which went to the treasury. The life of a nobleman in Ancient Egypt depended not only on his position in society, but also on the performance of state duties.

Each nobleman had several managers who monitored the safety of property and agricultural work. Subordinate to him were people who directly managed the entire process with full, strict accountability to the “housekeeper”:

scribes of a nobleman's personal house;
record keepers;
grain measurers and counters.

They inflicted reprisals and punishment on the guilty, supervised production workshops, monitored the progress of field work and the movement of livestock. All lower employees were subordinate to them.

The reporting was provided to the manager, who, to the fullest extent possible, did
statements for its owner. Information for the entire period was presented by the keeper of the business books.

In the house of a noble Egyptian

The life of an Egyptian nobleman, in the absence of military campaigns, took place in beautiful large houses built of stone. A garden with fruit trees and flower beds was usually laid out around the building. There was a terrace attached to the flat roof. Since Egypt is a country with a hot climate, a pond was always installed in the garden, which created coolness.

The interior of the house was striking in its luxury, although the furniture was quite simple: armchairs, chairs, a bed for resting and sleeping, a round dining table and a square one for household or kitchen work. Archaeologists have found that the birthplace of chairs and armchairs is Ancient Egypt. The dwellings of nobles serve as proof of this fact.

Interior architecture home is refined, rich and colorful:

the ceilings are supported by luxurious columns;
the walls are covered from top to bottom with bright frescoes;
there are carpets with exquisite patterns and fabric curtains everywhere;
at the top, near the ceiling, there are small windows through which sunlight enters the house;
The entrances to other rooms are closed with double doors.

The life of a nobleman in Ancient Egypt was filled with various events: from wars,

to managing state and private enterprises.

Briefly about Egyptian culture

From ancient Egyptian times, not only monumental cultural monuments, such as pyramids and architectural structures, but also other inventions and achievements have survived to this day. Among them are bronze mirrors, polished to a shine and having a handle for holding. Not only the life of an Egyptian nobleman, but also the life of priests, peasants and even slaves of this country was connected with special irrigation technology and medical, astronomical, and mathematical knowledge.

State administration apparatus and idea social laws began their development in the ancient country of the pharaohs.

Ancient Egypt is one of ancient civilizations world, which originated in northeast Africa. The ruler of Egypt was considered the pharaoh, who was served by nobles. Craftsmen and farmers represented a large segment of the population of Ancient Egypt and were subordinate to the nobles. In the gradation of the inhabitants of Ancient Egypt, these two classes occupied low positions. Next we will tell you how farmers and artisans lived in Egypt.

Working days

Farmers and artisans fed not only themselves, but also the nobles, scribes, and warriors of the pharaoh. Most of what farmers and artisans produced went into the state treasury. A farmer's day in Ancient Egypt began at sunrise and ended at sunset. The whole life of the farmer was closely connected with the Nile - one of the greatest river systems in the world. When the river flooded, it was necessary to ensure that not only the fields and lands near the Nile remained irrigated, but also those that were some distance away. In fields that were located far from the Nile River, the ancient Egyptians dug canals that were blocked with special dams. When the Nile flooded, the dams were opened.

After the watering process, the peasants began sowing. The soft, fertile Egyptian soil was fertilized with silt and did not require any colossal efforts during cultivation. Egyptian farmers and peasants reaped with wooden sickles, where silicon inserts were used as the cutting part. Subsequently, sickles began to be made of bronze. The peasants took the first harvested ears of corn to their master, the nobleman.

Another large stratum of society in Ancient Egypt was made up of artisans: potters, tanners, weavers.

They did not sell the products of their labor, since at that time there were no commodity-money relations. However, historians have opinions and hypotheses that there was a certain measure of value; in ancient Egyptian images you can see how some buyers carry small boxes with them. Presumably these were boxes for measuring grain. The exchange process often involved not only goods, but also services. For example, one rich nobleman very generously rewarded the craftsmen who built him a luxurious tomb.

Housing

How was the life of artisans and farmers in Ancient Egypt from a daily point of view?

It should be said that the houses of artisans and farmers could not boast of particularly exquisite decoration. The main purpose of their home was protection from heat during the day and from the piercing cold and wind at night. As building material It was not stone that was used, which is strange, since Egypt is a country rich in stone, but clay. Moreover, the brick was made from a mixture of clay and reeds with manure. This gave additional strength to the structure. To get into the craftsman's house, you had to go down a couple of steps, since the floor level in the house was lower than the ground level. They did this to ensure that the house was always cool.

Food

Craftsmen and farmers ate rather tasteless but satisfying food - barley cakes. They rarely ate meat and vegetables and, as a rule, received them from nobles. The main food product of the artisan and peasant classes was papyrus rhizome, prepared in a special way and acquiring a starchy taste during the cooking process. As for the drinks of the common people, beer was the main one. During agricultural work, there was a special person who made sure that the farmer was served the drink on time. Many scientists believe that it was not beer, but kvass.

Appearance

The clothing attributes of farmers and artisans were not particularly diverse. The standard costume looked like this: a loincloth or knee-length skirt, a headband. Peasants walked barefoot, sandals began to be used in Ancient Egypt in more late period the flourishing of civilization.

Egyptian pharaohs. The Egyptians believed that their rulers were descended from mighty god The suns of Ra are themselves deities. They believed that the pharaohs could communicate with the gods as equals and through them the gods communicated their will to people. Therefore, the orders of the pharaohs were carried out unquestioningly.

The pharaoh had unlimited power over his subjects. In his hands was the life and death of any of them, including the most noble nobles. It happened that the kings of Egypt elevated people from the common people for their merits. But it happened that the most noble nobles, having fallen out of favor, were deprived of all wealth and titles and exiled to the quarries.

Rice. Pharaoh and his wife. Image on the wall of the tomb

The power of the pharaoh was inherited. He owned all the land in the state. He bestowed part of it for service to soldiers, officials, and nobles. Along with allotments of land, the pharaoh also gave them workers-farmers who cultivated this land.

Egyptian nobles. The most notable and influential among the nobles were the rulers of homob. After the unification of Egypt, the nomarchs lost their previous independence, but retained power over their lands, as well as the right to transfer them by inheritance. On behalf of the pharaoh, they administered justice, kept order and ensured that taxes regularly entered the royal treasury.

Rice. Noble Egyptian. Wood sculpture

Many noble nobles lived at the court of the pharaoh, making up his retinue. They served as treasurer, manager of feasts and entertainment, keeper of the royal sandals, and many others. Nobles of lower rank commanded troops, monitored the construction of fortresses, canals and roads, and managed work in the royal workshops, mines and quarries.

Rice. In the house of an ancient Egyptian nobleman. Modern drawing

On behalf of the Egyptian poor man, come up with a story about how he came to the luxurious palace of a nobleman to borrow some money. Imagine what he could tell in the evening with his family.

The nobility owned hundreds of slaves, huge herds and vast lands with farmers working on them. The nobles dressed in luxurious clothes made from the finest linen fabric. They wore expensive jewelry made of gold, silver and precious stones. They had many servants. The chefs were cooking gourmet dishes, hairdressers looked after hair, doctors looked after health, servants with fans protected from hot sun rays. If a nobleman left his home, he was carried on a stretcher so that the dignitary’s feet would not touch the road dust.

The work of farmers. The main occupation of the inhabitants of Egypt was agriculture. To combat waterlogging, the Egyptians built dams along the banks of the Nile. Through the holes in them, as much water as was required for irrigation passed into the fields. Canals stretched into the interior of the country. They contributed to more uniform irrigation of the entire valley. Over time, the entire valley of Egypt was covered with a dense network of irrigation structures.

Rice. Ancient Egyptian farmers. Image on the wall of the tomb

Egyptian farmers learned to irrigate even the highlands and hillsides that surrounded the valley. They supplied water there using special devices - shadufs. The shaduf resembled a well crane: a leather bucket was tied to its end, which was used to scoop up water from a reservoir, and then lift it and pour it into a reservoir located higher up the slope. There was another shaduf that supplied water even higher, and so on.

In ancient times, the Egyptians cultivated fields with hoes, then they began to use a wooden plow with a copper tip.

How did farmers live? Simple Egyptians lived in small houses built of sun-baked bricks and covered with palm leaves. Small gardens were laid out near the houses. Pomegranate trees, fig trees, date palms and grapes grew there. The fruits of fig trees, dates and grapes were eaten fresh and dried for future use. Wine was also made from dates and grapes.

Each family had a small garden where onions, beans, cucumbers, and melons grew. There were also domestic animals on the farm - cows, pigs, goats, sheep. They provided milk, wool, and meat. In addition, animals were used for agricultural work. They also bred birds - pigeons, ducks, geese, even cranes.

Ordinary Egyptians wore clothes made of coarse linen. Due to the hot climate, men wore only loincloths made of bleached linen, and women wore straight, narrow dresses.

Craftsmen of Ancient Egypt. In Ancient Egypt there were many different crafts. Blacksmiths made tools and weapons from copper. Weavers spun and wove linen. Potters made beautiful dishes from clay. There were artisans of other specialties: builders, carpenters, shipwrights, tanners. Egyptian jewelers were especially famous. They knew how to make magnificent jewelry from precious stones, gold, and silver. But there was no silver in Egypt; it was brought from distant countries.

Rice. Ancient Egyptian clay vessel

Therefore, it was valued even higher than gold. For a long time Iron was also considered a precious metal in Egypt. They did not know how to smelt it, but obtained it from found meteorites. Therefore, in ancient times iron was called the “heavenly metal” and, as the greatest jewel, was framed in gold and silver.

Rice. River hunting. Drawing on papyrus

Craftsmen agriculture did not engage, devoting their time only to their craft. They exchanged the food they needed from farmers for dishes, copper tools, fabrics or inexpensive jewelry. There was no money at that time, and therefore various products and items were simply exchanged for each other. Craftsmen, like farmers, had to pay taxes and bear duties to the pharaoh. They gave away part of their products to pay taxes.

Rice. Ancient Egyptian artisans. Image on the wall of the tomb

Slaves in Ancient Egypt. The most difficult life in Ancient Egypt was the life of slaves. Usually these were foreigners captured during the war. The Egyptians themselves were extremely rarely enslaved. Slaves were used to perform the most difficult jobs. They built canals and roads, worked in mines, and were porters and rowers on ships. Female slaves were used as servants in the homes of wealthy Egyptians. They looked after the children, served at the table, and helped with housework.

Rice. Slave figurine

What kind of work do you think this slave does?

Slaves had no property and belonged to their master. He was free to do whatever he wanted with them: sell them, punish them, even kill them.

Let's sum it up

Egyptian nobles were the richest and most noble people of Ancient Egypt. With their help, the pharaoh ruled the state. Farmers, artisans and slaves made up the largest, but also the most powerless part of the Egyptian population.

Dam- earthen embankment.

Meteorites- small celestial bodies, sometimes falling to the ground.

Questions and tasks

What power did the Egyptian pharaohs have?
Who are the nobles? What was their role in the state?
Why did the Egyptians build dams and canals?
Tell us how ordinary Egyptians dressed, how they lived and what they ate.
What crafts did the ancient Egyptians know? In which of them did they achieve the highest mastery?
What place did slaves occupy in ancient Egypt and what types of work did they perform?

They are considered one of the most developed and interesting. In terms of its social structure, it can be compared to a pyramid. At the very bottom were slaves, above them were peasants, farmers and cattle breeders. Then artisans, above them scribes - accountants, scientists. At the next level were officials. The priests and courtiers were very close to the ruler. The life of a nobleman in ancient Egypt passed next to the king. The pyramid was completed by the pharaoh - a single ruler equal to God with unlimited rights.

How was life different for nobles in ancient Egypt?

The Egyptians deified the figure of the king, their pharaoh, that is, they considered him infinitely superior to ordinary people. Nobles, as those close to the god-king, occupied a special place in the ancient Egyptian hierarchy.

Nobleman and agriculture

The life of a nobleman in Ancient Egypt was not spent relaxing on a couch near a pool. Those close to the king led the same active life as he himself. As a reward for carrying out his assignments and orders, the pharaoh presented those close to him with lands with peasants. In the future, these possessions could be sold, donated, or bequeathed to heirs.
In addition to personal possessions, the pharaoh's associates had at their disposal official property and state lands, the income from which went to the treasury. The life of a nobleman in Ancient Egypt depended not only on his position in society, but also on the performance of state duties.

scribes of a nobleman's personal house;
record keepers;
grain measurers and counters.

The reporting was provided to the manager, who, to the fullest extent possible, did
statements for its owner. Information for the entire period was presented by the keeper of the business books.

In the house of a noble Egyptian

The interior architecture of the house is exquisite, rich and colorful:

the ceilings are supported by luxurious columns;
the walls are covered from top to bottom with bright frescoes;
there are carpets with exquisite patterns and fabric curtains everywhere;
at the top, near the ceiling, there are small windows through which sunlight enters the house;
The entrances to other rooms are closed with double doors.

The life of a nobleman in Ancient Egypt was filled with various events: from wars, to managing state and private enterprises.