Introduction
The Ancient Egyptian government was ruled by the Pharaoh. However, the Pharaoh couldn’t run the government all alone, so a hierarchy of rulers and leaders below the Pharaoh ran different aspects of the government. Political systems such as the monarchy and government officials, legal codes, agriculture, economic provisions like goods trading, taxation, property ownership, and other aspects of governance owe their basis to programs implemented during the rule of the Ancient Egyptian empire.
Egyptian society was structured like a pyramid. At the top of the pyramid were the gods. No person by themselves could manage all the duties without assistance. The pharaoh appointed a chief minister called a vizier as a supervisor. The vizier ensured that taxes were collected. The viziers worked with scribes who kept government records. These high-level employees had mastered a rare skill which was reading and writing. Right below the pharaoh in status were powerful nobles and priests. Only nobles could hold government posts. In these positions they profited from tributes paid to the pharaoh. Priests were responsible for pleasing the gods. Soldiers fought in wars or quelled domestic uprisings. During long periods of peace, soldiers also supervised the peasants, farmers, and slaves who were involved in building such structures as pyramids and palaces. Skilled workers such as physicians and craftspersons made up the middle class. Craftspersons made things such as jewelry, pottery, papyrus products, tools, and sold them. Naturally, there were people needed to buy goods from artisans and traders. These were the merchants and storekeepers who sold these goods to the public. At the bottom of the social structure were slaves and farmers. Slaves were those captured as prisoners of war. In addition to being forced to work on building projects, slaves toiled at the discretion of the pharaoh or nobles. Farmers tended the fields, raised animals, kept canals and reservoirs in good order, worked in the stone quarries, and built the royal monuments. Farmers paid taxes that could be as much as 60 percent of their yearly harvest. Social mobility was not impossible. A small number of peasants and farmers moved up the economic ladder. Families saved money to send their sons to village schools to learn trades. These schools were run by priests or by artisans. Boys who learned to read and write could become scribes, then go on to gain employment in the government. It was possible for a boy born on a farm to work his way up into the higher ranks of the government. Bureaucracy proved lucrative.