Gender Roles In Ancient Egypt

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In middle kingdom Egypt, there was a force even more powerful than the gods. This force was deeply ingrained into the Egyptian’s lifestyle since the Pharaohs emerged. Class. As depicted in The Eloquent Peasant and Ptah-hotep’s Instructions, primary documents from the time, almost all social dynamics in Pharonic Egypt were characterized by rigid class hierarchies, ranging from the Pharaoh, down to peasant women. In the Egyptian pyramid-like class system, each subservient demographic offered service to the higher classes. In return, individuals in power were expected to wield their position with benevolence and strive for public stability. Social mobility was very low, and in most instances impossible for individuals to rise beyond their birth…show more content…
How were they able to sustain this stability for thousands of years? To a certain degree, this can be attributed to the general morality of the nation. The Instructions of Ptah-hotep, detail numerous morality issues, and aren’t legislative in nature. This suggests that citizens are not necessarily forced into behavioral roles, but assume them as society expects them to. For example, Ptah-hotep states “Do not scheme against people” and later adds “People’s schemes do not prevail” (Ptah-hotep 6). He is exposing the negative nature of the act, and that retribution will be elicited of its own accord not from a law’s punishment. This system of morals revolved around keeping balance within each individual’s soul, known as “ka” (Ptah-hotep 7). The Instructions of Ptah-hotep constantly reference the state of people’s ka – “the ka abhors it” (Ptah-hotep 8) “it offends the ka” (Ptah-hotep 11) “there will be peace from his ka” (Ptah-hotep 26) – characterizing it as a moral backbone of the nation, that all people should strive for a peaceful ka. If a population is constantly attempting to perfect their ka, according to these instructions, the nation will be a stable, peaceful society even within the class…show more content…
The peasant, no matter how much he pleaded for justice, had no apparent legislated rights and was completely at the mercy of the high steward (Eloquent Peasant 172). In another instance, the King orders Rensi to manipulate the peasant into petitioning for their entertainment on a whim (Eloquent Peasant173). Ptah-hotep adds that you should “stand and sit as fits your rank, which was assigned you the first day” (Ptah-hotep 13). The hierarchy did not allow for any major mobility, and seemed divinely aspired and permanent from birth. However, Ptah-hotep writes about some mobility. The lines “If you are great after having been humble, having gained wealth after having been poor… Which came to you as gift of god” certainly implies that people could rise in standing during their lives (Ptah-hotep 30). It appears that any mobility is attributed to the god’s magnanimity, though, and not of one’s own personal ability. This is clearly evident in the lines “it is god who gives advancement, he who uses elbows is not helped” (Ptah-hotep 13). Thus, even though there was some minor mobility, Egyptian social mobility as a whole was certainly not
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