Ancient Civilizations Social Hierarchy
In the past each of the ancient civilizations of India, Egypt and Greece had an organized system of social hierarchy. Many of these countries suffered from a very wide wealth gap between their classes of people. While all of these three countries had many similarities, there also were many differences amongst them with the distribution of wealth and the way people were treated in their social class.
In ancient India during the time of the Mauryan empire they had a system of social classes that prevailed amongst them. This was called the caste system that separated India’s citizens into four main classes and one class of “untouchables”1 .
These classes are the Brahmins, Kshatryis, Vaishyas and Shudras. The four classes of the caste system all live dramatically different lives with each class having a wide distribution of wealth.
The top class considered in the Indian social hierarchy and caste system is the
Brahmins. These were some of the most respected people in India mostly because they were the highest educated. This group consisted of the priests and most religiously prestigious people2. The next class in line was the Kshatryis. This class consists of the rulers and warriors. Many of the people in the Kshatryis class belonged to royal families.
Because of this they were very respected. Below the Kshatryis is the Vaishyas class.
The Vaishyas class had the landowners and merchants. They were sort of known as the common people, yet they had very little rights. The last class is the Shudras. This class
1
The History of the Caste System in India tells that cast system tells a specific social rank you are in. The History of the Caste System in India explains that the Brahmins may not be the most powerful but they were the most respected.
2
was filled with the laborers and poor peasants. Though it seems like it can’t get much lower than the Shudras there is a class that is not clearly defined in the boundaries of the caste system but it is the Chandalas3. The Chandalas were commonly known as the
“untouchables”. They did such things as clean toilets and pick up garbage all day.
These people are not allowed to associate with others and were not even allowed in many public areas.
The next ancient civilization is Egypt. They had no exact number of social classes but there still was an order. From research I have noticed that they were broken down more in depth amongst themselves with more specific classifications of people and their roles in society.
The top of the social hierarchy is the Pharaohs. There was only one Pharaoh at a time. They were like a king accept for they were even more to their people. They were considered as living gods and they had the most power.4 They were responsible for implementing the rules and regulations for the people. The next in line is the Vizier. The
Vizier was the government official that is appointed by the Pharaoh. The Vizier did many things like ensure taxes were being collected and keep track of documents. He also had to resolve problems between the nobles5. The nobles are the next in line. Their main job was to keep peace in the society. They made local laws and most of the government posts. The nobles were also very wealthy. After the nobles there was the priests. The priests were in charge of satisfying the gods. They spent almost all of their time
3
According to History of the Caste System in India the Chandalas were considered impure. The Egyptian Social Structure tells that Pharaohs were looked at as gods so they were trusted to protect the people.
5
The article Egyptian Social Structure explains that the Vizier was a chief minister.
4
performing rituals and ceremonies in temples. The next lowest is the scribes. The scribes were all of the educated people that were not nobles or priests, but could still read and write. They worked with the Vizier and kept track of all of the
