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Similarities Between Ancient Egypt And Ancient Athens

Decent Essays

A Comparison of Societies in Ancient Egypt and Periclean Athens

Midterm Essay Maureen Cairns

In comparing and contrasting the societies of Periclean Athens and ancient Egypt, we must first mention some of the characteristics of an actual society: a society has a stable food supply, social levels and classes, specialization of labor, a system of government, and a highly developed culture. Both the societies of ancient Athens and Egypt fit into these parameters. In this essay we will explore social classes, gender relations, social inequality, and hierarchy as they apply to these societies. Both ancient Athens and Egypt adhered to a strict hierarchical framework, ranking people as superiors or inferiors. Old Kingdom Egyptian hierarchy is described as having the king and queen at the top, with priests, administrators, governors and army commanders coming second, then the commoners who worked mostly in agriculture, and finally, slaves, who had been captured in war. (Hunt, pg. 22). According to Esolen, (pg. 35), Egyptian society was structured as such: the Pharaoh came first, and was believed to be God on earth. Next came the “Vizier”, who was the pharaohs chief advisor. Nobles were next in the hierarchy, responsible for making local laws. Priests came next, and were responsible for performing rituals and ceremonies. Scribes were a very important group, as they were the only ones who could read or write, so they were the record keepers. A small percentage

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