Ancient Egypt

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Ancient Egypt

• Economy

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? Essential Questions ?

• How was the economy of ancient Egypt different
  and how was it the same as our economy today?
• If you were Pharaoh what are some changes you
  would make to the economy?
• Do our taxes help the same people today?

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Economy

• Our economy today is very important to how we
  live and it was not any different for the ancient
  Egyptians.
• The economy of pharaonic Egypt could be called a
  command economy. They did not have much of a
  choice.
• A specialized bureaucracy monitored or controlled
  much of its activity
• A site for an overall review

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Population

• 9/10ths of the people lived off of the land.
• The land they worked belonged in theory to the
  gods.
• When the Pharaoh came along, land could be freely
  bought and sold.
• Apart from tenant peasants, a large section of
  the population worked as farm labourers on the
  estates of noblemen and of the temples.

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Egyptian Social PyramidIn the social pyramid of
ancient Egypt the pharaoh and those associated
with divinity were at the top, and servants and
slaves made up the bottom.
Pharaoh
Government Officials
Soldiers
Scribes
Merchants
Artisans
Farmers
Slaves and Servants
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Sources of WealthA site about trade

• Agriculture is where Egypt received most of its
  wealth.
• Grain
• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Fish from the Nile
• Cattle, goats, pigs and fowl were grown or
  caught, taxed and sold in the markets.
• A site about agriculture

• A great deal of the manufacturing was done by the
  people who grew the raw material.
• Men grew flax and the women wove into linen.
• A great deal of the grain was for beer.
• The fish were caught by the men and then cleaned
  and dried by the women.
• In towns, small factories opened and were
  financed by rich noblemen.

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More Sources of WealthA site to look at for the
cashless society

• Mining
• Most of the things mined were of little interest
  to anyone but the rich people.
• Precious metals were not in circulation until
  later periods.
• Metals used for tools were expensive and most of
  the people could not afford them.
• Gems too were only for the rich.

• Commerce and Banking
• Most of the produce was consumed by the
  producers.
• The things that were left after the landlord and
  the tax collectors had taken their share, could
  be sold on the free market.
• Grain was stored in grain banks and was used
  like currency.

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Energy

• The main source of energy at this time was muscle
  power provided by humans.
• Animals were also harnessed with yokes.
• Vehicles with light spoked wheels came into use
  during the New Kingdom
• These vehicles were used mostly for warfare and
  sport.
• Anything transported was either carried by humans
  or donkeys, or dragged on wooden sledges.

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More Energy

• Wind
• Used only by ships
• The Egyptians were lucky that the Nile flowed
  from the south to north.
• The winds blew north which made it easy for the
  ships to sail up the Nile.

• Fire
• Needed for cooking and baking food, smelting and
  casting metal.
• A high temperature could have been achieved by
  using charcoal, but coal was not found in Egypt.
• Wood was not plentiful
• They could have used dry vegetable matter or
  animal matter that was at hand
• The heat of the sun was used for making mud
  bricks.

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Taxation

• Considered to be the most heavily taxed nation.
• With all of the taxes the society seemed to exist
  peacefully with only a few minor interruptions.
• The state relied on revenues from labor and
  taxes.
• Grain was the most important tax because it could
  be stored with relative ease.
• A site on taxes

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Economy Websites To Look At

• Site 1
• Farming and Tools
• Ships and taxation

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Todays Activity
In the Ancient Egyptian times they used grain as
a source of payment for taxes. Today we use
money as a way of paying our taxes. If you were
Pharaoh what would use use as a payment of taxes
and why? You will need to create a list of taxes
that you would charge if you were Pharaoh.
(Minimum 8 items) What will you use for payment,
and how will you collect the tax? Use a separate
sheet of paper to show the tax and payment.