The most exact data he was able to collect is on the ration of fish available to necropolis workmen in Deir el-Medina. At a certain period a workman was allowed to receive for himself and his family 92 deben (18.5 pounds) of fish every month. Janssen further notes: "There are also references to a similar quantity of vegetables, but since they are throughout measured in 'bundles' of an unknown size, and it is never stated what kind of vegetables are meant, the implications of the figures are uncertain" (166). For other periods or regions, the materials available may be even less.
Not only the amount but also the kind of food given to workers in wages reflected the receivers' social status. While some workers were paid in fish, others were paid in oil, and they could also be paid in bread, beer, and various fruits and vegetables. Members of higher social statuses could receive wages in wine and meat products. Sometimes, the types of food given as wages could be based on receivers' nationality. For example, workers in a Fayum agricultural estate in the third century BCE received their wages in wheat, while a group of Syrians working for the same estate received their wages in barley, which was, as noted earlier, a product normally given to animals (Crawford). In other words, food in the form of wages was a marker of not only economic and social but also cultural relations.
Indeed, as Samuel (1999) explains, "The central role which food plays in all human societies means that food impinges on many aspects of culture" (122). Samuel studied food preparation and distribution in Amarna workmen's village in Egypt, dating around 1350 BCE. He notes the importance of preparation stage for understanding social and cultural relations since those who prepared food were also engaged in market and labor relations. They could influence market prices, wages, negotiate relations with members of higher or lower social classes, and they could influence the manner in which members of other nationalities were fed. Samuel focused on free workmen's preparation of bread, but when we consider that slaves and servants also participated in preparation stages sometimes, the whole process becomes interesting enough to warrant further investigation. That is, even slaves, depending on the occupations they held, could influence economic, social, and cultural relations in ancient Egypt.
Egypt under the rule of Pharaohs was a sophisticated society. It was highly stratified, dividing the population along class, race, gender, economics, and religion, but it...
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