SS 7 – Unit 1-1



SS 7 – Ancient Egypt 03

- Ancient Egypt – A Closer Look

Ancient Egypt – A Closer Look

Most of history is often defined or described by those important leaders, activists or heroes. What is often neglected is the everyday life of the ordinary citizen. This is especially true for the ancient cultures. This is probably because those archeological items that have survived for thousands of years could only be afforded to be recorded by those with wealth and power. This was true for Egypt as well. We have learned a lot about the Pharaohs of Egypt because they could afford to build massive monuments to themselves, and could afford to have their stories recorded and etched in stone with hieroglyphics so that this information could be preserved for thousands of years.

In the past century archeologists have been using new techniques and are looking in different places to learn more about the common person. Specifically, they are looking at the housing that supplied the workers for the pyramids and examining things like the garbage they left behind, in order to better understand what their day-to-day lives were like.

The Egyptian Family

The family unit is, and always has been, the basic building block of a culture. In Canada, where hockey is a huge part of our culture, you were probably first introduced to it at home. The same is true for Ancient Egypt. The Egyptian family provided food, security and shelter and it is where children learn how to behave, how to appropriately interact with others and learn the beliefs, customs and traditions of their country or civilization. Families that are new to a culture or simply have difficulty teaching their children how to interact positively with the values and practices of a culture find themselves constantly having problems and struggle with how to “fit in” or be successful.

As you have already learned, Egypt operated on a class system with the majority of the people being either slaves or peasants. The slaves lived in the homes of their owners, but other ordinary people lived with their families in simple homes. Wood was very rare in Egypt so people instead built their homes out of bricks of sun-dried mud called Adobe. These homes were usually two to three stories high. They would often have stairs or a ladder that would enable the family to go to the rooftop to enjoy the cool night air after the sun went down. Adobe style or mud brick housing is common among many civilizations found in most continents such as North and South America as well as Europe and Africa.

Benefits of an Agricultural Society

Because the Egyptians were a well established agricultural civilization they were a people that had plenty of food. Most Egyptians enjoyed a healthy diet of bread, beans, onions and other vegetables as well as fruit and fish.

People would cook in clay ovens or over outdoor open fires. They would make bread by first grinding wheat into flour and would often add sesame seeds, honey, fruit or butter to make it taste better.

In an ordinary family, the mother would raise and care for the children. Sons would learn their father’s trade and the daughters would learn the skills needed to run a household, but neither sons nor daughters would ever learn to read or write. This was not the same for the upper classes of Egyptian society, to be poor was to be illiterate.

Those with money or privileges would have lots of slaves to do the work of running a household, and the children went to school or were tutored by private teachers. This made sure that those who learned (reading, writing, arithmetic), had the skills needed to insure that they stayed in the upper classes.

In Canada, we have learned this lesson and have expanded its idea to create one of the highest standards of living in the world. In Canada, we spend a considerable amount of time, effort and money to insure that all citizens are educated. The result is that on average, because we are highly educated, the regular Canadian has better health and wealth than other citizens in other countries in the world. This is because in Canada, as a society, we believe strongly in educating everyone. Unlike the Egyptians, we do not discriminate or say who or who should not be educated. We strongly believe that a well educated population helps the country as a whole. That is why teachers always tell you that education is not only important, but it always results in a better life for not only you, but the country as a whole. In order to insure that Canada remains one of the wealthiest and healthiest countries in the world with the highest standard of living, your sole responsibility as a citizen is to work hard at being the best student you can be.

SS 7 – Ancient Egypt 03

- Ancient Egypt – A Closer Look

Ancient Egypt – A Closer Look

Directions: READ the handout entitled ” Ancient Egypt – A Closer Look” and then answer the following questions;

1. Use your textbook, the internet or a dictionary to provide definitions for the following terms; (1 mk each)

Hieroglyphics Archeologist Adobe

Illiterate Standards of Living Discriminate

2. On a separate piece of paper, answer the following questions using COMPLETE

SENTENCES;

a. In your own words, describe why we have so much information about kings and rulers of Ancient Egypt. What are archeologists doing now to better understand the whole culture of Ancient Egypt? (2 mks for quality of response and inclusion of details)

b. In your own words, describe why families are the “building blocks of society” and describe the average Adobe style house of Ancient Egypt. (2 mks for the quality of your response and evidence of thought and effort)

c. In your own words, describe how the upper classes of Egypt ensured that their children would be as successful as they were. What has Canada learned from this. (2 mks for quality of response and inclusion of details)

3. Use the internet and a document to create a collage of 10 different images of Egypt society. Be sure to include images of how people lived on a day-to-day basis in ancient Egypt.

You will be marked out of 5 for your ability to create a collage how people lived during Ancient Egypt

Total: ____ /17

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Hieroglyphics – an early form of writing that uses pictures to create words.

Archeologist – scientists who study the history of people and civilizations

Adobe – a style of building that is based upon sun-dried mud bricks, common in many civilizations

[pic]

[pic]

An Egyptian Adobe House

Illiterate – being unable to read or write.

Standards of Living – the means in which we measure the ability of a civilization to provide the quality and quantity of the basic needs of life. High standards of living provide even more than the basic needs.

Discriminate – the tendency of humans to judge people based on certain criteria such as how much money they make or even how they act, behave or look.

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