The Ancient Egyptian social class
and the Ancient china social class are much more similar than we could even
imagine. They both use a pyramid. The most power position being the top, the
least power position being the bottom. In my paper I will explain each social
class in Ancient Egypt and Ancient China.

            The
Ancient Egyptian Social class is made up of eight different class levels. The
highest and most powerful is the Pharaoh. “The most powerful person in ancient
Egypt was the pharaoh.”(The British Museum, n.d.) The Pharaoh assigned all of
the social classes. The class underneath the Pharaoh is the Nobles and Priests.
These people were the only people who could hold a government position. “In
these positions they profited from tributes paid to the Pharaoh.”(“Egyptian
Social Structure ushistory.org,”2017) The third social class is the soldiers.
These men were the military of that time. When they were not at war they were
in charge of looking over the peasant, farmers and slaves.(“Egyptian Social
Structure ushistory.org,” 2017) The fourth class is the scribes. These people
are the few people who knew how to read. These people recorded everything from
letters to keeping track of and ordering supplies for the soldiers.  (Barrow, 2013) 
The fifth class was Merchants and Artisans. “Merchants carried products
such as gold, papyrus made into writing paper or twisted into rope, linen cloth
and jewelry to other countries.” (“ODYSSEY/Egypt/People,” n.d.)
Artisans are people who made stuff with their hand. These include Weavers,
metal workers, leather workers and any job having to do with working with
materials to make Products. (“Ancient Egyptian Artisans,” 2013) The
last social class people were the farmers, slaves and servants. “Farmers tended the fields, raised animals, kept canals
and reservoirs in good order, worked in the stone quarries, and built the royal
monuments.” (“Egyptian Social Structure ushistory.org,” 2017)
Slaves and servants where those people who took care of the pharaoh, and built
most of the standing monuments of today in Egypt.

Like
Egypt, Ancient China used a pyramid to show what power a person hold in their
social class. At the top of the Chinese pyramid is the king. These people have
the most power, own the most land and ruled over the people. The next class in
the Chinese pyramid is the Shi class. These people were known for their warrior
skills and were giving civil service jobs. The next class is the Nong class.
Peasants and farmers make up this class. They were considered very valuable
because they are those people whom kept the classes feed and clean. The next
class is the Gong class. This class was made up of the craftsmen and artisans.
Those people were labors. They created goods and services that the people needed
at the time. The last class in the Chinese pyramid is the Shang. It is the
lowest class of the ancient Chinese classes. They are not able to obtain land
or own businesses. They were the traders and merchants. They took the goods and
services that other people provide and sell them. They did not hold a
respectable position in society.  (“Social
Hierarchy of Ancient China – HierarchyStructure.com,” 2017)

As
you can read the Egyptian pyramid has many more levels than the Chinese social
classes. They were also tread somewhat different. The ancient Egyptian social
classes had slaves and servants, whereas the Ancient Chinese social classes
made no mention of slaves or servants. Was it because they did not think of
them as people or they did not have them. It would be nice to know the answer
to that question.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Ancient Egyptian Artisans. (2013,
December 13). Retrieved from
https://prezi.com/dpkhi8ngjter/ancient-egyptian-artisans/

Barrow, M. (2013). Ancient
Egyptian Scribe. Retrieved from
http://primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/egypt/scribes.htm

The British Museum. (n.d.).
Pharaoh. Retrieved from http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/pharaoh/home.html

Egyptian Social Structure
ushistory.org. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/civ/3b.asp

ODYSSEY/Egypt/People. (n.d.).
Retrieved from http://carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/EGYPT/merchants.html

Social Hierarchy of Ancient China –
HierarchyStructure.com. (2017, November 13). Retrieved from

Social Hierarchy of Ancient China