3 Daily life
The life-world of most of the population of ancient Egypt would have differed quite considerably from the image conjured up by museum exhibits of the glittering wealth of royal and elite burials, and indeed from the image promoted by Hollywood films. This is the case at both ends of the social spectrum. Gold tiaras were doubtless always at a premium, but Egyptian workers were not slaves either, lashed up and down the slopes of a pyramid by cruel overseers.
Because so much that has survived from ancient Egypt has been from elite burials, our picture of Egyptian life has been inflected in a particular direction. The truth is that until recently comparatively little was known about how ordinary people lived their lives. A better picture is beginning to emerge, both with the development of improved archaeological techniques but even more so with a disposition to ask the right kinds of question.
Watch this video in which Richard Parkinson and Paul Wood talk about daily life in ancient Egypt.
