42 Chapter 2

Work and Play inAncient EgyptFor ancient Egyptians, life often involved hard work. Whenthe weather was good, most worked in the fields, producingfood for their families and for export. During flood season,thousands of these farmers were called upon to help buildthe pharaohs’ temples.

But life was not all about work. Archaeological digsoffer evidence that both upper-class Egyptians and thecommon people found ways to enjoy themselves.

▼ GamesGames were popular with all classes of Egyptian society. Theboard shown below is for the game senet—also depicted inthe painting. Players threw sticks or knuckle bones to movetheir pieces through squares of good or bad fortune. A playerwon by moving all his or her pieces off the board.

▲ FarmersThis detail from a tombpainting shows Egyptianfarmers at work. Egyptiansgrew enough wheat andbarley to have food reservesfor themselves and for exportto other civilizations. Theyalso grew fruit and vegetablesin irrigated fields.

RESEARCH LINKS For more on life inancient Egypt, go to classzone.com

http://www.classzone.com/books/wh_survey/

MORE ON WORK

• Surgeons Ancient Egypt hadskilled surgeons. Writtenevidence shows that Egyptiansurgeons knew how to stitchcuts and set broken bones.Some Egyptian mummies even show evidence of beingoperated on. We know thenames of about 150physicians—2 of them were women.

• Papyrus Growers A largeindustry was built around theharvesting of papyrus. Papyruswas used to make the materialEgyptians wrote on. Scrolls ofvarious sizes could be madeOne mathematics papyrus was15 feet long and 3 inches wide.

MORE ON PLAY

• Pets Egyptians kept variousanimals as pets. Nobles wouldeven have their petsmummified and buried withthem. A single pet cemeterywas discovered that contained1,000,000 bird mummies.

• Royal Dogs The Pharaohhound was very popular inancient Egypt. Artifacts from4000 B.C. show images of thebreed. Today, a Pharaoh houndpuppy bred for competitioncan cost up to $1,500.

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▼ Temple BuildersThe artist’s colorful drawing of what the Karnak Temple Complex might havelooked like explains why Egyptian pharaohs needed thousands of laborers tobuild their temples. Some historians believe the laborers may have been partof a rotating workforce drafted from the agricultural classes around Egypt—aform of community service. The photo at lower left shows the temple as it istoday. Although faded and eroded, the temple still inspires awe.

1. Making Inferences From what youhave read here, what inferences canyou make about Egyptian society?

See Skillbuilder Handbook, page R10.

2. Comparing and Contrasting Howare the work and leisure activities ofancient Egypt different from those inthe United States today? How arethey similar?

▲ CosmeticsAncient Egyptians used cosmetics for both work and play. They protected fieldworkers from sun and heat and were used to enhance beauty. Egyptian menand women applied makeup, called kohl, to their eyes. They made kohl fromminerals mixed with water. They also soaked flowers and fragrant woods in oiland rubbed the oil into their skin. The dark eye makeup softened the glare ofthe sun. The oils protected their skin from the dry air. Egyptians kept theircosmetics in chests such as the one shown above.

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