Egyptian Social Hierarchy
Describe the social structure of ancient Egypt as a pyramid-shaped hierarchy: the pharaoh at the top, then priests and nobles, followed by scribes and soldiers, then craftworkers and merchants, and farmers and labourers at the base — understanding that a person's position was usually inherited and determined their whole way of life
What a learner can do afterwards
- Draw or describe the social pyramid with at least four levels correctly ordered
- Explain that most people were farmers and had very different lives from the pharaoh
- Give an example of how social position affected someone's daily life (e.g., only scribes could read)
1 · Read
In ancient Egypt, the job your family had could shape your whole life. Egypt sorted people into a strict order, like a pyramid: only a few stood at the top, and lots and lots filled the bottom.
Meet two children from ancient Egypt. Tia's father is a scribe, so Tia is learning to read and write hieroglyphs at school. Nefer's family are farmers, so Nefer spends her day working in the fields, and she never learned to read at all. Most families were farmers like Nefer's. The pharaoh ruled in wealth while farmers worked hard in fields. Their lives were shaped by the job their family had.
In ancient Egypt, you usually grew up to do your parents' job. A farmer's child grew up to be a farmer, and a scribe's child often trained to be a scribe too.
Egypt's pyramid put the pharaoh at the top and thousands of farmers at the base, and the job your family already had usually decided your whole way of life.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.