Slaves in Ancient Egypt
Posted on 22nd December 2020
There were many ways to end up in slavery in Egypt. Prisoners of war were bought to Egypt and used as slaves, people who could not afford to pay their debts became slaves, poor families, to make money would even sell their children into slavery.
Although slaves were the poorest people in Egypt, they were well fed and cared for, therefore, some even chose to become a slave.
Slaves worked in many jobs including:
House Servants covering cooking, cleaning, childcare
Gardeners and Field Hands
Musicians and Dancers
Scribes, if they were able to read and write
Labourers
Slaves were valuable if they had a trade, and could become scribes if they were well educated and could read and write. Some are even believed to have taken management of the master’s estate.
The worse job a slave could be given was to work as a labourer in the quarries and mines. This was back breaking work and the slaves, even though well cared for, died young.
Slaves are responsible for the building of many pyramids and temples, some of which still remain today.
Tagged as: Junior Ancient Egypt
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