Gender Roles In Ancient Egypt

Payton Stanaway
History 102-01 4:40-5:35
Based on evidence in The Instructions of Ptah-hotep and The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, information can be inferred from a number of different aspects involving the way of life in Pharonic Egypt. These texts offer an insight into the world in which these ancient Egyptians lived. Through a complex and diverse system of government, these people were able to maintain a stable and successful civilization for many years. They had profound ideals of behavior that, when applied to their way of life, proved to be very influential. They adopted their beliefs and traditions that were passed down from generation to generation. They were also part of a complex hierarchal system of government that allowed
The first comes from The Instructions of Ptah-hotep. In this text we see the ways in which these people were expected to act towards others of different and similar social classes. We find that Ptah-hotep refers to a number of different examples that his son may come into contact with. First, he addresses the poor and explains that if you are a poor man, you should be serving a man of wealth, you should respect what he has acquired. He was not just given wealth, he had to work for it. Even though man was required to work for their possessions, Ptah-hotep explains that “it is the god who makes him worthy and protects him while he sleeps” (Ptah-hotep 10). When we refer to a complex system of social and gender relations, we often base our ideas off of what we know today as a complex society. This was much different in Pharonic Egypt. These people were indeed advanced, however, in ways we must be careful when connecting them to todays way of
The peasant came to petition the high steward Rensi nine times using the same concept that, “crime does not attain its goal; he who is helpful reaches land” (Eloquent Peasant 181). Having to petition this nine times could imply that this form of government and judicial process may not be working for the Egyptians. If it takes nine petitions to resolve something as small as this, you could infer that they are having even greater difficulties involving trade and violence with other cultures. It is only evident when you read closer as to why the king and Rensi are doing what they are. The king made up his mind at the first petition but he does not do what we would expect him to do. He has the peasant perform multiple petitions. The king feels so strongly about this mans ability to speak and how he is able to move people with his eloquence of speech, that he uses him to play a large role in the public sphere of Egyptian society. The king and Rensi respect this man to a level that allows him to serve as an example for how their judicial process works. Either way the peasant would have had his possessions returned and his life would have carried on. However, the king was very clever and turned a simple trial into something he could use to strengthen his ties with his people and add power to his legal