Gr 5 Farmers, Peasants, and Slaves - G06: Ancient Egypt - Social Stability and Change - ASD Libraries at American School of Dubai

Main Topics

Seasons of the Nile - they govern our lives!
Farming in ancient Egypt
Building the Pyramids - and much more!
- Organization of workers
- Living areas in the Valley of the Kings
- Don’t give aliens the credit we deserve!
  - Moving huge limestone blocks
Animal experts and trainers
Tomb robbers!
Normal, everyday life in ancient Egypt
Slavery in Egypt:
- Not as much as people used to think!
- Where we came from
- Buying our freedom

Try these online resources

Slavery in Ancient Egypt
The word translated as "slave" from the Egyptian language does not neatly align with modern terms or traditional labor roles. The classifications of "servant," "peasant," and "slave" could describe different roles in different contexts. Egyptian texts refer to words 'bAk' and 'Hm' that mean laborer or servant. Some Egyptian language refers to slave-like people as 'sqrw-anx', meaning "bound for life".
Slaves and Slavery in Ancient Egypt
For many years, it was presumed that in ancient Egypt, the Great Pyramids at Giza were built by many thousands of foreign slaves, toiling under very harsh conditions over a period of decades. Today, many scholars refute this picture of ancient Egypt, believing instead that they were built by the free Egyptians themselves, some perhaps as seasonal conscripts with other artisans consigned permanently to the projects. One must also consider just how the Egyptians would really control so many slaves in one location with the rudimentary weapons of the Old Kingdom.
Ancient Egyptian Agriculture
The civilization of ancient Egypt was indebted to the Nile River and its dependable seasonal flooding. The river's predictability and fertile soil allowed the Egyptians to build an empire on the basis of great agricultural wealth. Egyptians are credited as being one of the first groups of people to practice agriculture on a large scale.
Ancient Egyptian Agriculture
Agriculture was the foundation of the ancient Egyptian economy and vital to the lives of the people of the land. Agricultural practices began in the Delta Region of northern Egypt and the fertile basin known as the Faiyum in the Predynastic Period in Egypt (c. 6000 - c. 3150 BCE), but there is evidence of agricultural use and overuse of the land dating back to 8000 BCE.
Why was farming important to the ancient Egyptians?
The ancient Egyptians based their farming around the annual flooding of the River Nile.
To make the most of the annual rising and falling of the Nile, the Egyptians dug channels and walls to divert flood water away from cities and towards fields for farming. This was called basin irrigation.