The Ancient Egyptian Economy essays

The Ancient Egyptian Economy essays Ancient Egypt had a large range of resources at its disposal varying from food and Cloth to Metals and Gems. A small list of some of Egypts resources are as follows grain, vegetables, fruit, fish, cattle, goats, pigs and fowl were the primary food resources and Flax was also grown to be spun into linen. A large proportion of the grain grown was used for beer production. Natron was also produced for use in embalming but was too expensive for all but a few. The metals of Egypt were quite varied but only a small number were used they included copper, bronze and iron. Gems for the upper classes and the pharaoh and much stone was quarried for the construction of temples and of course the pyramids. The majority of the population more than nine tenths lived on the land in mostly village communities. The land they worked belonged in theory to the gods and in particularly the gods Osiris and Horus and his earthly incarnation or Avatar if you please, the pharaoh. Apart from the tenant peasants a large section of the population worked as farm laborers on the estates of noblemen and of the temples. During the New Kingdom perhaps a third of the land was in the hands of the priesthood with a large number of workers and slaves. Administrators, priests, traders and craftsmen lived mostly in the cities along the Nile, which could be supplied with provisions relatively easily and cheaply by boat. This Pie chart is a rough estimate of the social class of Ancient Egypt and what proportion of the population is in each. Vehicles with spoked wheels came into use during the New Kingdom and served mostly for warfare and sport and horses were introduced soon after but were never a major economic commodity. Poorer people continued to use Stone and wooden tools for most crafts well into the bronze and even Iron Age. The harnessing the Egyptians used on animals were extremely inef ...