Many cultures have a social hierarchy ingrained into their society. For example, the caste system in India which has four different levels. Historically, Egypt also had a social hierarchy which, as you will see, was quite progressive for its time.

Levels of the Social Hierarchy

The social hierarchy of Egypt consisted of, from top to bottom: the pharaoh, the vizier, members of the pharaoh’s court, scribes and priests, regional governors, generals of the military, artists and craftspeople, government supervisors of worksites, peasant farmers and slaves. As the pharaohs were unable to oversee every aspect of Egyptian society, the pharaoh delegated some of their tasks to the vizier.

You may wonder why scribes and priests were placed so high on this list. Scribes were some of the only people who could read and write during this time. They were responsible for delivering messages on behalf of the court. Priests were essential because Egyptians were very religious and priests could help transfer religious knowledge to believers. Gods, such as Osiris and Isis, were considered to be superior to everyone including the pharaohs themselves, although pharaohs were considered gods on earth.

Slaves were positioned at the very bottom of the hierarchy. As in most cultures, slaves were considered property of their masters. As such, they were barely even considered human and were far inferior to all other people. Slaves could be enslaved for a variety of reasons including: being a prisoner of war, a criminal or a citizen who was unable to pay off their debt.

How Does the Social Hierarchy Function?

People of the lower classes must provide for the people higher up in the hierarchy, right? Well, yes. But the Egyptian hierarchy was so effective because the people at the top of the hierarchy provided jobs and distributed food to those of lower classes.

Maat is an Egyptian concept based off the Egyptian goddess known as Ma’at. Ma’at was the goddess of truth, justice, harmony and balance. The concept of maat arose from the Egyptian belief that everything in the universe is logical and orderly. For example, the seasons and the rising of the sun all occurred because of this natural order. Maat was the practice of keeping order and balance in one’s life to adhere to the wishes of the gods. It was an essential concept in everyday life, as to act in opposition to Maat would incur the wrath of the gods. Living a full life and contributing as much as possible to one’s community were only possible if an individual was following maat.

The peasant farmers accounted for nearly 80 per cent of the Egyptian population. This high percentage of farmers was needed to produce the resources that would allow Egypt to flourish for over 3,000 years. As the pharaoh represented the gods, he held ownership over all Egyptian land. In keeping with maat, the king was only able to receive resources through taxation. Taxes refer to goods, not money, that were collected by the vizier. Once all the taxes were received, the vizier redistributed the goods back to the people.

At no point in ancient Egyptian history was there a shortage of jobs available, either. All labour was considered noble and the redistribution of taxes was the wage for one’s labour.

For its time, Egypt had progressive views toward women. Women were granted the same rights as men. They were even allowed to own their own businesses and serve as witnesses in cases. Egyptian women could divorce their husbands and were then entitled to one-third of their then ex-husband’s property.

If you want to learn more about the Egyptian social hierarchy, visit the article on the topic by the Ancient History Encyclopedia.

Liam Konrad

Liam is an avid reader, with a thirst for knowledge and a desire to learn from our past. He is often found exploring other worlds during his time spent reading. He is currently a second-year student in the Professional Writing program at Algonquin College..