Egyptian Social Hierarchy · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

The Egyptian Social Pyramid

History · Ancient Egypt · ages 7-9
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. How many groups are stacked in Egypt's social pyramid in this lesson?

    Answer: ______________

  2. The lesson uses a shape to describe how Egypt's people were ordered. Which shape?

    • Pyramid
    • A circle
    • A square

  3. In ancient Egypt, a farmer's child could easily grow up to become a priest.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. Which group filled the base of the pyramid, with the most people in it?

    PharaohPriestsScribesCraftersFarmers
    • Farmers and labourers
    • Craftworkers and merchants
    • Priests and nobles

  5. Which group came right below the pharaoh in the pyramid?

    • Priests and nobles
    • Farmers and labourers
    • Craftworkers and merchants

  6. Which group sat in the middle of Egypt's pyramid, below the scribes and above the farmers?

    • Crafters
    • The pharaoh
    • Priests

  7. Why is a pyramid a good shape for showing Egypt's order of people?

    • Few fit at the small top; most fill the wide base
    • Because the Egyptians built real pyramids out of stone
    • Because a pyramid is an easy shape to draw

  8. Which group sat between the priests and the crafters on Egypt's pyramid?

    • The pharaoh
    • Scribes
    • Farmers

  9. Nia writes the pyramid from top to bottom: pharaoh, scribes, priests, crafters, farmers. What did she mix up?

    • Farmers should be at the very top
    • She swapped priests and scribes
    • Nothing, her list is in the right order

  10. Malik says the widest layer of the pyramid must belong to the priests, because priests were so important. What is wrong with his idea?

    • Nothing is wrong, priests were the biggest group
    • The widest layer belongs to the pharaoh
    • The widest layer holds most people: farmers
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

The Egyptian Social Pyramid W1-mt_bEvMBUv4eG-s1

  1. 5 · The lesson's pyramid stacks five groups: pharaoh, priests, scribes, crafters, and farmers.
  2. Pyramid · Egypt's people were ordered like a pyramid: a few powerful people at the top and lots of people at the bottom.
  3. False · Children in ancient Egypt usually grew up to do their parents' job, so jumping from farmer to priest was not easy at all.
  4. Farmers and labourers · Farmers and labourers made up most of Egypt's people, so they filled the wide base of the pyramid.
  5. Priests and nobles · Priests and nobles helped run the country alongside the pharaoh, so they ranked just below him.
  6. Crafters · Crafters sat in the middle layer of the pyramid, below the scribes and above the farmers.
  7. Few fit at the small top; most fill the wide base · A pyramid has a small point at the top and a wide base, just like Egypt had a few powerful people at the top and crowds of farmers at the bottom.
  8. Scribes · The order from the top is pharaoh, priests, scribes, crafters, farmers, so scribes sit between the priests and the crafters.
  9. She swapped priests and scribes · Priests rank just below the pharaoh, above the scribes. Nia swapped those two layers.
  10. The widest layer holds most people: farmers · The widest layer holds the most people, not the most important ones. Farmers were by far the biggest group.
Worksheet · LightMySky