Ancient Egyptian Economy

 

 

 

               If you were to ask someone what information they know about Ancient Egypt the answer would probably be minimal for the general public/anyone who isn’t already interested in Egypt. What most people can tell you is that Egypt is known for their pyramids and the Nile River. What I am interested in is how these two commonly known facts can be related to each other. It’s a thin relation but a vast area of the history of Ancient Egypt. The relation of the economy of Ancient Egypt leads to the question of how the economy mainly functioned.

            The number one way of payment in Ancient Egypt was through trading. This is how the pyramid builders were paid, how land was paid for, and usually how personal and social payment methods were taken care of. Some of the items that were traded for were: grain, cattle, barley, and emmer (Baer, p.28-29). Another way of payment was through copper and silver (Baer, p. 28). To see the difference in cost and trade here is Table II pulled from (Baer, p. 29). This table shows you the prices of land, grain, slaves, and cattle (all of which could be traded for at a like or lower value) at different times throughout the history of Ancient Egypt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            Trading as the main function of economy can be connected to the pyramids and the Nile River for two simple reasons. One, until they were eventually slaves being commanded to build the pyramids, the builders were given their wages through grain. Two, the Nile River had a rise and fall that was able to be predicted and used to the best possibilities of growing crops and providing drinking water (Hoyt, p. 3).  This information can sometimes be seen within texts of the Ancient Egyptian culture but not in all cases was it documented. Sometimes, the trade was too small to be seen as important so most of the documentation shows debts, rent, etc. In the most popular trading incidents though, it was simple grain and food that was being traded for which can show you how the necessities of daily life were obtained (Janssen, p. 136).

            In the instance of personal and social trading it would depend on your class as to what you are trading for. But, of course, the social trading would be between Upper and Lower Egypt and/or with Egypt and other surrounding areas. This can be proven through the many gravegoods found within excavated tombs (Kaatz, class discussions).  Most often, trading was used for payment(s); in one example, emmer, barley, vegetable, and an expensive garment was used for repayment (Janssen, p. 130). In most cases, the labor of which you were known for doing was a popular personal trade.

            The basic function of Ancient Egyptian economy can be traced and related to the pyramids and the Nile River through the levels of labor and trade. There are intertwining facts throughout the economy, pyramids, and the Nile and it all comes down to the hard workers at the bottom of the system. The ancient civilization was an interesting weave of labored people who learned how to thrive off of what they were given. Ancient Egypt was a beautiful world pieced together by the eccentricities in the details which include, but are not limited to, the people, government, and economy.

 

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• Baer, Klaus. “The Low Price of Land in Ancient Egypt.” Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Vol. 1 (1962): 25-45.

• Bleiberg, Edward. “The King’s Privy Purse During the New Kingdom: An Examination of INW.” Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Vol. 21 (1984): 155-167.

• DePauw, Mark. “Tax Receipts, Tax Payers, and Taxes in Early Ptolemaic Thebes by Brian P. Muhs.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, Vol. 50, No. 1 (2007): 80-82.

• Hoyt, Alia. “”How the Nile Works.” HowStuffWorks, 07 April 2008. <http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/nile-river.htm>

• Janssen, Jac. J. “Debts and Credit in the New Kingdom.” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 80 (1994): 129-136.

• Stevenson, John T. “Egypt- The Land of the Nile.” Angelfire, 2000. <http://www.angelfire.com/nt/theology/06egypt.html>

 

 

Final Edit: November 1, 2014