Social Hierarchy in Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt is a civilization that passed through different periods. Each of these periods had a relatively distinct political and social structure. However, due to the relative similarities between Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom periods and their significance in developing Egyptian History, the period of the third millennium BC of the Egyptian civilization will be discussed in this paper. To ensure authority and control over their state, rulers create social and political boundaries that are designated to standardize their society and make them easier to manage. Part of facilitating the management of their state is creating sub-authorities that can be viewed as an intermediary institution between the ruler and the commoners.

The first tool in reducing a complex society to a manageable one is to develop a common identity. This common identity includes the emergence of an ethnic common ground that’s associated with pride and traditions such as festivals, rituals and royal ceremonies. For example, they provided prehistorical narratives of Egyptian Kings (which possibly never existed). In other words, the Egyptian kings sought to create a national identity. This identity excludes certain people from Egyptian society. Moreover, Pharaohs developed the concept of Egyptian Civility: To be civilized, is to be Egyptian. Pharaohs extended this concept and applied it to establish their absolute authority. Naturally, to achieve a civilized society, your state must be in peace and order. To avoid chaos and obtain order you thus have to seek the loyalty of the Pharaoh who represents the land and people of Egypt. The pharoses are the protectors of Egypt who are responsible in maintaining the survival and prosperity of Egypt. The pharos also used the intermediary periods as learning lessons to the people of Egypt through which they recognized the disadvantages of competing kingdoms and the damages of chaotic politics. In those periods of political disunity, famine and drought broke out through Egyptian land. Using these cases, Egyptian pharos established their role in maintaining cosmic balance which is symbolized in the integrity of Egypt and the control of the Nile.

Due to the large extent of Egyptian land, Pharos developed a complex administrative system and regional authorities that ensure their control. Those governmental systems would require a large number of administrators, clerics, and court officials. At this point, the Pharaohs develop the most distinguished characteristic of Egyptian civilization which is social stratification. Egyptian society in this period is marked by a hierarchal system headed by the absolute authority of the Pharaoh. A class of ruling elites was developed to fill in the different administrative positions. On top of those Elites is the Vizier who resembles an intermediary between the pharaoh and the rest of Egypt.

Different Bureaucratic institutions developed to manage the economy, which is central to every emerging state. The first step was to develop royal foundations which collect and accumulate resources from different parts of Egypt and send them to the central government. Then the central administration redistributes and allocates the food and goods to different regions. This concept of the “provider state” was also confirmed in terms of trade. However, controlling trade strengthened the power of the elites. For instance, not only the accumulation of resources was now in their hands, but also communication via trade became exclusive to them.

What’s more, the development of the Egyptian writing system expanded the gap between the commoners and the elites. The writing system produced a “high exclusive culture” that’s very distinct from the rest of society. Further, to be in an administrator position meant literacy and knowledge. Administrators developed records that keep precise numbers of farms and locations of resources so that they ensure that everyone is paying tax-money.

One of the most significant visual mechanisms that the Egyptian kings devised to remind the people of the centrality of the state, which is represented in the Pharaoh, was the development of huge monuments, which glorify the Pharaoh. Initially, taxation money was needed to fund those huge projects. This taxation money gradually increased corresponding to the need of building bigger monuments. This processes developed a greater social stratification.  The hierarchy of Egyptian society is analogous to their favorite structures, the pyramids. On top of the pyramid sits the Pharaoh, and on the bottom the commoners. In the beginning a lesser social stratification was presented depicted by the step pyramids. Gradually, greater social stratification developed and with that the Giza Pyramids came to existence

Comparing Ancient Egypt to Mesopotamia

Every society is greatly influenced by the environmental setting it emerges in. Although there’re some similarities in the paths of development between different civilizations, great differences may exist. Political systems in Mesopotamia and Egypt differed and so did their environmental settings.                                   

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To begin with, the natural fertility of Mesopotamian land was vital to the emergence of its civilization. Although the climate is generally hot and arid, the existence of the Tigris -Euphrates reveries made the land more fertile. In effect, the two rivers became critical in the development of the irrigation system that farmers established around different parts of Mesopotamia, especially in the South. Incidentally, although Mesopotamia is generally fertile, the Northern and Southern parts differ in their climate. The North part is cooler and has greater rainfalls, while the Southern part is arid and hotter. Because of the hot weather in the South, early settlements there exploited their proximity of the Euphrates River and developed an irrigation system that would later prove to be vital in the development of the first civilization of the world. The irrigation system was easy to develop because, at that time, the Tigris and Euphrates topography were more complex and interlinked than they’re now. Also, the Persian Gulf coast was much closer to the earlier settlements in the South, contributing to Marine and fishing industries as well as further trade.

Initially, the establishment of the irrigation system attracted more people to settle and farm. Gradually the population increased and community leaders gained greater authority. The people of the Ubaid period took advantage of their geographical position and interacted with other neighboring areas. The need for raw materials that the fertile plains of Mesopotamia lacked sparked the Ubaid to establish an exchange system of trade with Iran, Oman, Anatolia and Dilmun. This would intensify the population of the villages, and eventually this cluster of Villages would be dominated by a more significant village, which would later develop into an urban center. The Ubaids were just the first to exploit the geographical features of their land. The Uruks and the following periods of Mesopotamian civilization developed more sophisticated irrigation canals and trade networks.

The Egyptian land was far simpler than that of Mesopotamia. The arid climate and the deserts that surround Egyptian land contributed to their veneration of the sun; it reflected a spiritual significance. For instance, just as the sun provides light and warmth and is associated with the hot nature of the desserts, the desserts, at the same time, protect Egypt from foreign invasions.

However, the most vital feature of the landscape of Egypt is the Nile River. The Nile to Egypt was as vital as the irrigation system to Mesopotamia. The Nile provided food into ways. First, fishing developed. Secondly, the inundation of the Nile was essential to the Egyptian agricultural industry. Every year, the annual flood would end a hot arid summer and start a cool autumn in which crops can be developed. On the other hand, the Nile was a means of travel and trade. The Nile stretched from the middle of Africa to the Mediterranean Sea. Hence, it crossed different civilizations that Egypt can trade with; most notably Nubia.

What’s more, the Nile provided a means of communication and unity between Upper and Lower Egypt, which symbolize the dualistic aspects of Ancient Egyptian philosophy. To maintain the balance of the cosmos, there had to be a consolidation of the two parts. That consolidation is strongly influenced by the Nile and is then accomplished by the Pharaohs.

Moreover, to build their huge monuments the Pharaohs needed raw building materials that the Nile area lacked. Hence, they would go to the desserts through different expeditions to find rocks and precious stone. Through the Nile and the desserts, Egypt was both united and isolated by its geography.

In conclusion, the numerous Mesopotamian city-states reflect the diversity and complexity of the Mesopotamia landscape. On the other hand, the unity and the establishment of the Egyptian nation-state are reflected in the uniformity and simplicity of its environment. In addition, the Nation-state experience in Mesopotamia eventually failed. This could possibly be attributed to the difficulty of controlling a diverse landscape under one rule.