Life as an Ancient Egyptian

My daily life in ancient Egypt revolved around the Nile and the fertile land along its banks. The yearly flooding of the Nile enriched the soil and brought good harvests and wealth to the land. It was not an easy life yet it was not so bad, we built mud brick homes in villages and in the country. We grew a lot of our own food grew some food and traded in the villages for the food and goods they could not produce. I was a field worker but we had farmers and craftsmen; we also had what was termed a scribe for people who could not read or write. Very few if any of us could read or write me amongst them, our noblemen of course were treated very well compared to us; it was a much harder life for us particularly our wives. When I arose I simply washed and shaved dressed and had a meal prepared by my wife; usually bread and fruit then toddled off to work in the nearby fields. These noblemen had a life of Reilly by comparison; linen sheets plus a servant, this guy helped him to wash and shave. His good lady supervised preparations for a banquet she was hosting later whilst hubby had a bit of tucker with his overseer plus grog, beer was plentiful in ancient Egypt at that time. Thinking about it now life was not too bad, we had no distractions way back then. On the other hand It wasn’t an easy living either; I usually walked or bummed a ride on ferries to go somewhere Much of my life was coping with the annual flood of the Nile River no schooling but this kept us ignorant. We did have a clock though, run by water or the sundial and we barbequed in the evening so we did have entertainment. I was responsible for providing for my family. My wife stayed home and raised the children. Small children and other female relatives lived in a special part of the house. Much of the children's time was spent in training for their adulthood. By the age of four my children would help my wife or me in the field or train as craftsmen; this was not so easy to do. Most of us usually had black hair and dark eyes. My skin was tanned we all wore very simple clothing. The clothes were made of linen. Linen was made from the flax that grew in the fields. It was woven into cloth. The rich wore finely woven linen while the workers wore a more durable material. I usually wore a loincloth. Many times I wore no clothing at all. Don’t laugh but we all wore eye make up. I do believe my wife called to say supper is ready so goodbye for now