Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt - Book Report/Review Example

Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt Introduction Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt by Lionel Casson presents a vivid of the Egyptians and their way of living during the New Kingdom, 1550 to 1075 B.C. Revised and published in the year 2001, this book shows us the sketches of how this civilization flourished through the years. It gives us a background on the pharaohs and the nobles inside the living rock, and how the daily lives of the rich and the poor are on a day to day basis; the structure of the family and the place of women in the society; their professions which included engineers, doctors, craftsmen, and most especially farmers who has the credit of the country’s wealth. A picture of the everyday life in Ancient Egypt is thus illustrated. As said in the preface, “This was a time of extended peace and great prosperity” (Casson). Blessed is the Dry Land “In Upper Egypt, the sun shone all day all year, while Lower Egypt received hardly more than a touch of rain…” (Casson 3). The author clearly emphasizes in this part of the book that the successes of the Egyptian Civilization depended mainly on how they were geographically consecrated. As quoted above, Upper and Lower Egypt had nothing but the slightest touch of rain. It was also stated that that Ancient Egyptians had water due to the due to the scheduled flood that comes every season and the reason behind why they built canals and dikes to conserve these for future use. Aside from this, the author recognizes the triumphs of the land through its geography when he stated that, “One reason for this was the very special geography of the land. The valley of the Nile was in truth the cradle of civilization, a place which assured the society that arose there an infancy snug and secure, unaffected by what went on in the regions roundabout” (Casson 3). This is one main reason why the Egyptians had preserved their civilization through and through the ages. As we could see, they had the same political forms, style of art, and social structure for three thousand years. And because their land was closed from all the influences outside and protected with all the barriers surrounding it, the Egyptians had a state of mind that the gods have clearly presented and given them a world of their own, and the pharaoh was treated as a living god on earth that would rule the Upper and Lower Egypt, and keep them in order. The Dramatic Overturn Stable as they may be, still, Ancient Egypt experienced an impossible overturn in their society. After three centuries of a secured community, the order became a disorder. Their living god no longer ruled the land, and Egypt became a cluster of reduced, little states—each independent from the other. As to summarize the entire picture of this huge overturn that has impacted their lives, a writer from the twentieth century A.D. as the twentieth B.C. wrote these lines: “…To whom can I speak today? (Though) a man should arose wrath by his evil character, He (only) stirs everyone to laughter, (so) wicked is his sin…. To whom can I speak today? Face s have disappeared: every man has a downcast face toward his fellows.” (Casson 6) The overturn has been settled after about a century and a half, which is known as the Middle Kingdom. Unfortunately, settled as it may be, Egypt had been wounded deep that it could not anymore bring back the original Old Kingdom where everything flourished and everything was unwavering. The Middle Kingdom was then brought to a close when they experienced what they never imagined—invasion. Still, the leaders overpowered the foreign invaders, the Hyskos, and managed to unite Egypt again. Thus, started the New Kingdom—the most powerful kingdom of all, less isolated, but still preserved the Egyptian root. One of the Basic Institutions “If thou art a man of standing, thou shouldst found thy households and love thy wife at home as it fitting. Fill her belly; clothe her back. Ointment is the prescription of her body. Make her glad as long as though livest” (Casson 17). This was the introductory lines by the author on the third chapter of the book, which tackles about the family. At first, the reader may have a perception that the Ancient Egypt civilization is a patriarchal one, as Egyptian men are advised to adore their wives and un order to please the women, they should offer them “…good food, clothes, perfume and money” ( Casson 17). From the article of Douglas J. Brewer and Emily Teeter entitled Ancient Egyptian Society and Family Life, they have lifted a quote from the Bible which depicts the way of living of the Egyptians. It states that: The Egyptians appear to have reversed the ordinary practices of mankind. Women attend markets and are employed in trade, while men stay at home and do the weaving! Men in Egypt carry loads on their head, women on their shoulder. Women pass water standing up, men sitting down. To ease themselves, they go indoors, but eat outside on the streets, on the theory that what is unseemly, but necessary, should be done in private, and what is not unseemly should be done openly. (Herodotus II: 33-37) The Egyptian Women The rights of the women of Egypt are equal to the rights of the Egyptian men. An Egyptian woman has the right to say no to man when he offers her marriage. Once married, an Egyptian woman is obliged and takes the responsibility of raising and taking care of the children. Children are important to Egyptians. When it comes to it comes to finances, along with taking care of the children and running the household, women are allowed to get a job and be paid for it. Just like everyone else, a n Egyptian women has every right to go to the court if she has to defend herself. One of the biggest rights of an Egyptian woman is that she could file a divorce from her partner. Once her divorce was granted, she could remarry someone else or stay single, and she will take full custody of her children, take even all of her personal properties and wealth, and one-third of her husband’s wealth. This is done so that she would have all it takes in order to raise her children well. The Egyptian Boys Women take the responsibility of taking care of the family as men are obliged to protect the family. “Boys from noble families spent a good deal of time in various forms of athletics, particularly running and chariot driving, but these were as much training to develop their physical endurance as pastimes” (Casson 48). For the poor men, according to Casson, they “…use to indulge in horseplay, trying to knock each other off balance into the water” (Casson 48). Boys always have physical, strenuous activities— these serve as a training ground for their life as men. A Student’s Critique The book has taught me a lot about the everyday life in Ancient Egypt. I would like to commend the author of this book, Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt, Mr. Lionel Casson for such a vivid description of the ancient day to day basis kind of lives that the Egyptians had. Though he may have some generalizations of what Egyptians may be (for example, about the lives of poor Egyptian men, on how they wait for certain festivities to entertain themselves, I think that may be too general as various people have various ways to find entertainment), I think being too specific could also somehow give us a very clear representation or depiction on how their lives are. Another thing that I would like to put emphasis is how the author wrote every chapter in a way that the reader is required to delve more into the subject and not just merely read the introduction. I could set Chapter One, The New Kingdom, and Chapter Three, The Family, as examples. In The New Kingdom, Ancient Egypt was clearly represented as a perfect, isolated world—a world that cannot be penetrated by any other culture, having its own unique features; a world blessed by the gods, allowing no hint of waters to destroy it, a world guided by a living god on earth. But while going deeper into the chapter, the once impenetrable society was invaded by Asians, and impossible it may seem, also experienced downfall. As of Chapter 3, I had this impression at first that Egypt was a patriarchal society, but then, after reading every word of it, I could say that because of the non-patriarchal structure of the society, Egypt has succeeded in its goal of becoming successful because no gender serves as barrier and everyone has an equal right to work, to play. One may think on why I focused more on the first three chapters of the book. This is because the first three chapters already include concise pictures of Egypt’s everyday life and therefore the other chapters could be derived from it. Works Cited Casson, Lionel. Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt. Revised Edition. United States of America: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. Print. Read More