What If You Lived in Ancient Egypt?

imagine a time of scientific and mathematical innovation magic and fertile land irrigated by the great nile river ancient egypt was a successful and intelligent civilization that lasted for 3 000 years what do you think your life would be like if you were an egyptian during this time period and let's pretend it's a good period no droughts locusts plagues or famine for you what kind of food would you eat how were women treated and did slaves build the pyramids this is what if and here's what would happen if you lived in ancient egypt ancient egyptians believed in strict social structures depending on the class or trade you were born into your life would be vastly different the hierarchical pyramid of social status and wealth was composed of slaves and servants tenant farmers specialists like sailors soldiers educational professionals and finally the elite who would you be at the bottom of the social pyramid were slaves they came from foreign lands but were not of a single race and while they could negotiate their contracts they were still bonded laborers and worked in exchange for food and shelter at the very top of the pyramid was the ruler who reigned over everyone there were 300 rulers throughout ancient egypt's existence while we call them pharaohs today that wasn't their actual title in ancient egypt [Music] rulers did not necessarily have to be men or egyptian but they were seen as divine liaisons between the gods and the people life would be drastically different depending on your gender like many ancient civilizations egypt had strict gender roles but you still had the same legal rights women could own property and live alone if they chose to however marriage was seen as a social and economic necessity no matter your gender so if you lived in ancient egypt you'd probably be married and have a brood of children you would live in a house built of mud bricks with a stone oven and pits dug into the ground for food storage if you were an elite family then lucky you as a nobleman or woman you would be waited upon by your servants after a breakfast of bread and fruit the man of the house would take his chariot down to his estate on the banks of the nile after touring the grounds and maybe meeting with the estate overseer about the year's harvest you might take a quick nap once you're rested you would meet up with a friend to hunt wildfowl on your estate [Music] at home as a woman you would spend the day supervising plans for a banquet before the banquet begins you would adorn yourself with gold and semi-precious stones to further show your wealthy status now you're ready to greet your guests as they arrive in chariots and litters which were wheel-less enclosures carried on the shoulders of servants nobleman or woman you feast on geese duck fish ox and gazelle followed by grapes figs dates and melons once the party is over you head to bed while your servants clean up life as a farmer is not nearly as grand if you're a man you spend the day working in the fields and tending to cattle or ducks on tax day you would pack up some of your harvest and bring it to the temple as payment for the land if you're a woman you spend the day grinding wheat making bread and raising children for food you mainly eat bread beer garlic and if you're fortunate a little bit of meat maybe you're neither part of the elite or a farmer but a pyramid builder you wouldn't be a slave but you would live a life of hard labor you would be one of 10 000 devoted workers since it took 30 years to build one pyramid you would probably work on the same monument for your entire life which would be shorter than your fellow ancient egyptians because of all that hard labor at least you get to eat meat regularly and get an honorable burial once you die no matter your status you would worship several thousand gods and for fun you would play board games such as men or senate to pass some free time overall the quality of your life would drastically depend on your ruler and the time period there were three periods of prosperity and two periods of instability during this civilization fear of famine caused by droughts or locusts was a constant threat but you'd still have better luck living a good life in ancient egypt than you would in the middle ages [Music] very few people fared well in those diseased and poverty-ridden times but that's a story for another what if and if you want to know more check out what if discussed just tap on the link [Music]

Channel: What If

Views: 818,210

Rating: 4.9115167 out of 5

Keywords: what if, what happens if, scifi, science documentary, what if scenario, mysteries, ancient egypt, egypt, ancient egypt gods, life in ancient egypt, pharaons, pyramid, mummy, ancient egypt documentary, egyptian civilization, ancient egyptians, egyptian pyramids mummy, who built the pyramids, world history, egypt mummies, valley of the kings, sphinx, mummified, archaeology, cleopatra

Id: WqJd8slanIo

Length: 6min 41sec (401 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 18 2020