Regardless, tax records provide valuable information about how the Egyptian Jewry was employed during the Ptolemaic Period. Based on the taxes Jews paid, they worked in a large variety of professions. Jews are named with respect to paying a dyer’s tax (CPJ No. 65), shoe-makers tax (CPJ No 66), fisher’s tax (CPJ No. 61), and wine tax (CPJ No. 48-49). There are also multiple occurrences of Jews paying a pasture tax. One tax receipt shows Abramos (a Jew) and Diokles paying it (CPJ No. 50). Another shows Simon also paying a pasture tax for using the land at Thebes (CPJ No. 108). These tax records show that the Egyptian Jewry were a part of the Egyptian economy in a variety of professions, not exclusively constrained to one particular form of employment
In Myne Owne Ground, Breen and Innes write about being a “tithable”. A tithable is “someone obliged to pay taxes”. In 1645, an act regarding tithables stated,
It is a well-established fact that the population of Ancient Egypt was a multicultural one, and that the nation's history is closely linked with that of it's neighbours. `It has been recognized since the early years of Egyptology that by New Kingdom times the population of Egypt was liberally sprinkled with families of foreign origin.' (Ward: 1994.). These `foreigners' included groups such as Nubians, Canaanites, `Asiatics,' (people of Semitic origin to the north-east of Egypt), and Libyans.
Brier, Bob, and A. Hoyt. Hobbs. "Chapter II: Religion." Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1999. 36-37. EBSCO. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. .
Daily Life in Ancient Egypt was an excellent choice for this course. The information supplements the in-class lectures by providing sufficient information into the life of the mundane versus the life of the rulers and the pharaohs. It provides information that is clear and concise so the reader doesn’t need to dissect the information and gains a clear understanding of real life for the Ancient Egyptians. In addition, this book is a good reference for other classes in ancient civilizations as well as a reference
The term Predynastic denotes Egypt before the historically recorded sequence of kings and dynasties that starts ca. 3050 b.c. (see egypt: dynastic). Although there is no official beginning to the Predynastic, in Egyptian archaeology the term usually refers to the period that follows the appearance, ca. 5000 b.c., of a Neolithic food-producing economy in the Egyptian Nile Valley proper (as distinct from the Sahara at large). Evidence for reliance on food production using domesticated plants and animals (principally sheep, goat, pigs, cattle, wheat, and barley) occurs late in the Nile Valley relative to the fertile crescent of the Near East, possibly suggesting that hunting/gathering remained viable for a longer time span in the rich environment of the Nile floodplain. Once adopted, however, food production is linked with a long-term process of population growth, sedentism, and increasing social complexity in Predynastic cultures in the Nile Valley. The study of Predynastic Egypt has primarily been focused on the development of a series of different cultures in both northern and southern Egypt during the course of the two millennia from ca. 5000 to ca. 3000 b.c. The Predynastic period culminated in a process of political and territorial conquest during the second half of the Fourth Millennium b.c. (ca. 3400–3050) that included the expansion of the southern Egyptian cultural tradition over the rest of the country. The emergence of a politically powerful elite, governmental institutions, royal artistic and architectural styles, and the hieroglyphic writing system can be traced during the terminal stages of the Predynastic period, setting the stage for Egypt’s transition to the Dynastic period.
Instead of money, the people were taxed by labor. They had to work for the empire as a tribute.
“The Hawwara, Ashraf, and Ja'afrah Bedouins in Upper Egypt.” Your Egypt. PhpBBGroup, 6 Aug. 2004. Web. 13 Dec. 2011
Scott, N. The Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, Vol. 31, No. 3, The Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians (Spring, 1973), pp. 123-170
trade tax was also instilled upon the peasants where they would be taxed from province to
The Epic of Gilgamesh does just that: It serves as a model for the warrior, the king and the tragic hero and the standards for divine right, friendship, brotherhood and loyalty. Finally, it becomes evident from the beginning of a higher consciousness that justifies love, brotherhood and loyalty in the midst of this need for war and gods.
Most Egyptians were farmers. The river Nile encouraged agriculture by providing a source of irrigation and also fertile black soil. Agriculture created most of Egypt’s wealth. Grain, vegetables, fruit, cattle, goats, pigs and fowl were grown, and fish from the Nile were caught, and eventual surpluses, after deduction of the various taxes, were sold on the markets. The main crops grown in Egypt were wheat, barley, lettuce, beans, onions, figs, dates, grapes, melons, and cucumbers. The pharaoh was the controller of the jobs.
Ancient Egypt's religion was a major part of what made them such a unique civilization. Although they began like many other ancient civilizations, on a river side, they quickly became one of the longest lasting empires the world had ever seen. Their religion helped to create this by introducing an unchanging element into their culture. Religion was also a very strong part of their government. Both of these factors helped to add to their stability and adaptability which was one of the most impressive in both the ancient and the modern world. Ancient Egypt's culture, government, adaptability and overall stability came from their extremely intricate and ever present religion.
There have been many prosperous civilizations throughout the history of the world. Many of them became very large, and lasted for a countless number of years. The most successful and large scale civilization, however, was that of Ancient Egypt. Although it lies in the middle of the largest desert in the world, egyptians were able to use their intelligence to utilize the Nile River and cultivate the surrounding land for farming. They came up with very unique conceptual ideas that benefitted them greatly, and discovered many new things that would impact society around the world to this day. For all of these reasons and many more, Ancient Egypt was the most advanced civilization of its time.
Few bygone civilizations fascinate us as much as that of the ancient Egyptians. The kingdom along the Nile River has been the subject of countless books, magazine articles, movies, and television shows and documentaries. There is even a hotel in Las Vegas with an ancient Egyptian theme! Museums all over the world dedicate entire galleries to excavated Egyptian artifacts, and Egypt itself receives millions of tourists flocking to photograph its ruins each year.
The pharaoh was the supreme ruler of Egypt. The people believed the pharaoh was a god among men. He had a divine contract among the god to which he would build monuments to them, and in return the gods would protect Egypt and regulate the flooding of the Nile River (“Egypt, Ancient: Social Organization”, 2004). The contract of the gods came as a great responsibility to the pharaohs. They must keep order of their subjects and the records. Pharaohs proclaimed laws and duties to citizens. Egyptian Social Structure says that the laws were enacted at the discretion of the the pharaoh (2013). Also, pharaohs must control the surplus of food and the Nile River in order to remain the supreme ruler. The pharaohs would proclaim taxes to benefit the entire the kingdom. The surplus of food was maintained by the lower classes, such as the farmers paying grain for their taxes (“Egyptian Social Structure”, 2013). This would help the compensate food for the kingdom in c...