How the economy of the ancient Egyptians was linked to the construction of pyramids

In the shadow of the Pyramids of Giza, in Egypt, are the tombs of the courtiers and officials of the kings who are buried in these enormous structures.

These men and women were responsible for the construction of the pyramids: architects, soldiers, priests and high officials.

It was these officials who ran the country and made sure that the finances were healthy enough to build these monumental royal tombs which, they hoped, would last forever.

In the Old Kingdom, a period of about 500 years (2686-2181 BC), the economy was predominantly agricultural and depended heavily on the Nile.

The river has flooded the fields along its banks making the land fertile. It has also allowed the transportation of goods throughout the country.

Research suggests that most cultivated soils were part of large haciendas that were under the control of the crown, several temples, and wealthy owners, who were usually royal officials.

These holdings should not be considered as completely separate but intertwined units. They were often part of the same network of redistribution, ultimately belonged to the king and, to a certain extent, depended on the central administration of the state.

This system could also have involved networks of redistribution and formal and informal favors. The society of this period was compared to a feudal system, similar to that which existed in medieval Europe.

Complex tax system

In general, the estates, together with the cities, were the basic units of the economic and social organization.

Research suggests that the Crown has not charged taxes to individuals, such as farmers, because the administration does not appear to have been able to handle the details of such a task throughout the entire country. country.

Instead, he charged the heads of these estates, who were personally responsible for returning the goods to the crown coffers and ensuring that the supervised field provided the expected surplus. Otherwise, they could receive a physical punishment.

To calculate the income and thus the amount of taxes that would be paid to the royal administration, the Crown conducted periodic censuses. Individuals are not counted but are subject to taxes, such as cattle, sheep and goats.

It is also evident that other products, such as fabrics and other types of manual labor, have been collected.

Taxes collected by the state were kept in granaries and treasures, and then redistributed to farms or used for construction projects of various types, such as a royal tomb and the maintenance of their mortuary worship.

At Abusir, outside of Cairo, evidence has been found about how this type of royal morgue worship was carried out.

The found texts allowed historians to know how were the daily activities of the priests and to understand how the worship of the deceased king was related to the royal administration and to several areas belonging to the temples.

Well oiled system

The chiefs of the haciendas were rich, but they worked to make a success of their fortune. They were responsible for the proper functioning of their properties and the fact that their staff – who worked under the Corvea Real – was nurtured, clothed and provided shelter.

In the pyramidal cities of Giza, they even received premium meat, fish and beer. This may be one of the advantages of being part of the Corvea labor force, whose workers come from farms all over the country and have been asked to make real monumental buildings.

An inscription from Weni, judge and military commander of Abydos, in Upper Egypt, indicates that the soldiers were recruited into the same group of people as the workers of Corvea.

They participated in several state-sponsored expeditions on mineral-rich land bordering ancient Egypt.

Raw materials such as copper and hardwood (which was needed for larger construction projects) were imported into Egypt. They also brought luxury items to the Nile Valley, including exotic animals, plants and humans, for the pleasure of the yard. The latter were clearly slaves.

In Wadi al Jarf, on the Red Sea coast, which served as a port during the Old Kingdom, documents were found on Khufu-era papyri.

These texts contain information about a captain named Merer and his activity of transporting men and goods to and from Egypt.

The documents also explain how he and his 40 men participated in the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza, by sending stones from quarries to the construction site of the pyramid.

The hypothesis is that these projects have refined the administrative apparatus and boosted the Egyptian economy.

Merer, like estate officials, worked for the Royal Building Department, which was responsible for all major construction work in the country and probably also for erecting the Great Pyramids of Giza and Sakkara, at the same time. South.

The Egyptian labor force – whether it be a royal administrator or a worker who dragged the stones to the construction site – provided services to the crown.

In turn, the crown was a redistribution of food and other commodities to the bosses, who in turn spread it down the social ladder.

But only the highest-ranking people could be rewarded with a state-sponsored funeral service next to the King's Tomb.