Ancient Egyptian social structure was built on a social class system. At the top was the pharaoh and at the bottom were the townspeople. Below is a chart I created to show the hierarchy.
Pharaoh means “Great House.” Their duties were very vast as well as important since they ruled the civilization. What they said was the law. They watched over the courts, were the chief of the temples, the leader and commander of the army, they were in control of trade and the economy, and possibly one of the more important tasks was supervisor of food storage. They were able to track the food available from the bountiful crops produced by the Nile River and could command more crops be produced for the land. The pharaoh was believed to be a living god so what they did directly affected how the gods favored the land and people. If the pharaohs pleased the gods then they would have good fortune.
Below the pharaoh was the vizier, who was the overseer. Essentially their task was to execute and fulfill the orders and decisions of the pharaoh, he served as a diplomat in court, was in charge of tax collection and public works.
Next in the social structure were the nobles. They were the overseers of the land worked by the peasants in Egypt. Directly below the nobles were the scribes. They were the keepers of the records. Besides the priests, scribes were the only ones taught to read and write so in a way they held a lot of power
Cited: "Merriam-Webster 's Learner 's Dictionary." Merriam-Webster 's Learner 's Dictionary. Merriam-Webster 's, 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/hieroglyph>. "Mummification Story." Introduction. The British Museum. Web. 30 Oct. 2011. <http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/mummies/story/main.html>. Rymer, Eric. "Ancient Egypt Culture." Untitled Document. History Link 101, 2010. Web. 12 Oct. 2011. <http://historylink101.net/egypt_1/index.htm>. Spielvogel, Jackson J. "The Ancient Near East: The First Civilizations." Western Civilization to 1715. 8th ed. Vol. 1. Boston: Wadsworth, 2012. 20-27. Print. "Study Egypt." St. Petersburg Times Online. 1999. Web. 12 Oct. 2011. <http://www2.sptimes.com/Egypt/EgyptCredit.4.html>.