Many of the ancient ruins of Egypt which have been found to date are the grand pyramids and tombs of the kings and queens, yet recent excavations have shed light on how the common people lived in Egypt. In 1990, a worker cemetery was discovered in the ancient ruins of Giza, Egypt. This excavated cemetery dates back to 2575-2134 BC and is a good example of how the lower classes of Egyptian society lived (Reid, 2007). There is only so much information which can be gleaned from focusing on the small percentage of upper class social elite, and it is important to learn how most people in ancient Egypt, the people in the lower levels of socioeconomic status conducted their lives.
Many people look to the glory of the pyramids in awe and honor the grand tombs of the ancient Egyptian royalty, it is important to recognize that a great many workers were responsible for the intense labor of constructing these elaborate burial places. In a recent excavation of a worker cemetery, it was found that thousands of workers were buried in mud-brick structures located south of the Great Sphinx. Laborers and their supervisors were buried in humble replicas of the grand edifices they erected for kings and queens. Inscriptions and bones tell tales of the workers and how physically arduous it was to construct a pyramid (Reid, 2007). Masses of workers were buried together in very small and modest tombs, the remains of their words and bodies sharing their lives of hard labor.
It is important to recognize that not all people in ancient Egypt were afforded the luxuries enjoyed by the upper class elite. Egyptian royalty used their workers to complete the work which they did not want to engage in themselves, and enjoyed the fruits of their workers labor. It is important to recognize that for some people to live in high luxury, other people are most certainly toiling on a daily basis. A main reason why the tombs of the Egyptian kings and queens are so opulent is because the lower classes were straining to provide this to them.
Many people look to the glory of the pyramids in awe and honor the grand tombs of the ancient Egyptian royalty, it is important to recognize that a great many workers were responsible for the intense labor of constructing these elaborate burial places. In a recent excavation of a worker cemetery, it was found that thousands of workers were buried in mud-brick structures located south of the Great Sphinx. Laborers and their supervisors were buried in humble replicas of the grand edifices they erected for kings and queens. Inscriptions and bones tell tales of the workers and how physically arduous it was to construct a pyramid (Reid, 2007). Masses of workers were buried together in very small and modest tombs, the remains of their words and bodies sharing their lives of hard labor.
It is important to recognize that not all people in ancient Egypt were afforded the luxuries enjoyed by the upper class elite. Egyptian royalty used their workers to complete the work which they did not want to engage in themselves, and enjoyed the fruits of their workers labor. It is important to recognize that for some people to live in high luxury, other people are most certainly toiling on a daily basis. A main reason why the tombs of the Egyptian kings and queens are so opulent is because the lower classes were straining to provide this to them.
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