Mary Kate Stringer Written Qualifying Exam: History field The relationship between the socio-economic and political

structure of Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and the Native American Mississippian culture of the south-east and their respective religions is evident through the interpretation of material culture remains and other primary sources from the individual civilizations. Social structure, economics, politics, and religion were inextricably tied to one another within these cultures. The similarities and differences among these groups, as well as explanations and definitions of their structures, are explored in the following essay. A proposal for an exhibit about these cultures and their characteristics is also included. Social Structures The social structures of these civilizations were very complex and generally ordered. Egyptian social structure centered on a hierarchy of beings. The top of the chain of command was made up of the most important gods, followed by the lesser gods. The king, as a divine ruler, came next, followed by the highest elite. The vizier, royal treasurer and court comprised the highest level of elites, and regional leaders such as nomarchs or governors were next as lower elites. Craftsmen and artisans were next in the hierarchy, and still be considered to be elite because of their status with the king. They were essential to tomb building and decoration for the king and elites, and scholars know a lot about them because of the preservation of Deir el-Medina, a workers village near the Valley of the Kings. Lastly, the largest group of the population was also, as is the case with many ancient civilizations, the poorest. In Egypt, the peasants, or rekyht, were depicted by a glyph of a bird with its wings clipped. This represented their lack of freedom and their dependence on the king who was to provide for their bodily and spiritual needs. Unfortunately, we know very little about this largest part of the population, because they lived near to the Nile River in dwellings made of organic material that has been lost to time and the countless inundation cycles of the river. Because the king held what was essentially a monopoly on the economy of Egypt, there was little opportunity for social advancement or independent economic gain with which to propel ones self higher in the hierarchy. Evidence from tombs, burials, and archaeological sites do show an advanced social life among the elites. Artifacts include makeup and other implements to improve personal appearance, jewelry, and other markers of status. Women in Egypt held an interesting place within the social structure. They were responsible for the home, the family, and the tombs of family members. As with men, women generally had limited individual economic opportunity. There were some opportunities that women could take advantage of, such as jobs as professional mourners, weavers, priestesses, wet nurses, or servants. Women did have some freedoms in their lives, but their marriages were most likely arranged by family members. Egyptians did not have a marriage ceremony, or even a word for marriage. Women were attached to a husband or their father for much of their life. They could be divorced for not producing male children or for adultery, but in

many cases, as seen in court cases that still exist, women would often retain at least onethird of the joint property from the marriage. Relationships between men and women are found in the literature, primary documents, and art of the Egyptians. Examples of love poetry are available to scholars; these poems express the feelings between men and women from ancient Egypt and help to show the humanity held by these people from so long ago. Additionally, information about the treatment of women and the way a wife should be treated can be gained from Letters to the Dead, a religious phenomenon. One letter in particular is written by a husband to his dead wife, who he believes is haunting him. In the letter he details all the reasons that she should stop bothering him, including the ways he treated her as a respectable Egyptian man should. Throughout the literature of Egyptian history women are portrayed in many ways. During the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom, many sources, such as the Wisdom text of Ani proclaim that men should provide for and respect their wives. During the Second Intermediate Period, however, a shift occurs, and women are portrayed as deceitful adulteresses throughout much of the literature. This is particularly evident in the Westcar Papyrus, in which a woman deceives her husband and commits adultery, only to be burned in the desert as punishment for her deeds. In the Tale of Two Brothers, the story is similar; a woman deceives her husband and commits adultery with his brother. Women are never portrayed as intellectually inferior in the literature but rather as clever in their deceit. One exception to the post-Second Intermediate Period depiction of women as adulteresses is in the Tale of the Doomed Prince. In this story the woman is almost a savior to a man. One explanation for this deviation from the norm is that the woman in the story is not Egyptian, but from a near-Eastern culture. There may be several explanations for the shift, including a lack of sources from the Old and Middle Kingdom when women may very well have been seen in the same way as they were later. Regardless, the literature and primary sources provide a look in to the social structure and gender relations of the ancient Egyptians. Greek social structures were varied throughout the poleis. The geography of Greece resulted in secluded areas that developed somewhat independently before the Hellenistic period. Each city-state, or polis, had its own characteristics due to the degree of isolation. Two of the most well-known are Sparta and Athens. The two poleis had several similarities and differences in socio-economic and political structure. To both groups, and in Greece as a whole, periokoi, or outsiders, were not officially included in the social structure of the poleis. Outsiders could include any foreigners, slaves, noncitizens, and sometimes even women and children. Spartas social structure was largely egalitarian with a socialized military culture. Male citizens were expected to be a part of the army, and were trained as such from the age of seven. The periokoi made this lifestyle possible. Essential to the social structure of the Spartans were the helots. These people were essentially slaves from subdued areas around Sparta. Helots were responsible for farming the land for the Spartans in an almost feudalistic style. Because of this bondage, the hoplites, or soldiers, were free to train and build the military. Women in Sparta generally held a high status because they were the mothers of citizens and soldiers; they even underwent physical training to build strength for pregnancy and childbirth. Because men were constantly training with the military or at war, women had some degree of independence and freedoms.

The social structure of Athens was quite different from that of Sparta. There was a hierarchy with an aristocracy at the top and the poor and slaves at the bottom. Before the Democratic Revolution the aristocracy alone chose the magistrates and government officials. Citizenship in the polis was important, and land was not a requirement for a person to be considered a citizen. After the Fifth Century, however, there was a requirement that ones parents must be a citizen for that person to claim citizenship rights. The poor, who did not own land, while citizens, many times were in a feudal system with the landed aristocracy. In some cases, the poor could fall so far in to debt to the richer aristocracy that they became slaves. Slaves in Athens, and much of Greece, were brought in to the home through a ceremony and cared for in many ways throughout their lives. They by no means had an easy life, and many times their lives, especially those of women slaves, were brutal. Women in Athens were not as free as those in Sparta, thought they did many times hold citizenship. After the Democratic Revolution, women were still considered citizens, but could not vote or hold an office. Much of what scholars know about women in Greece comes from dramas, written by men. Even so, they seem to have had a degree of empathy for women, and they portrayed women as strong characters, such as Antigone and Medea. The elite women were generally kept inside, particularly when they had slaves or servants to run outside errands. Because of this, their pale skin is thought to have been prized. Heretai, or courtesans, were probably more free than the elite women in Sparta; however, any children they had with male citizens would be denied citizenship in the polis. Women were often married early and to older men. They were always attached to a man, either their father or husband, and any property they owned was held in trust by a man. Women were not considered weak, and on the contrary they were believed to have had strong desires that must be suppressed. Romes social structure was very hierarchical with at least two very distinct classes that existed throughout much of the Republic. Patricians and plebs were both political and social designations given to people from birth during the era of the Republic. The patricians were the upper elite class, while the plebeians were those who were not considered part of the aristocracy. Plebeian, which means the many, made up the largest part of the population, but they were afforded the least amount of influence in society and government. Plebeians could become rich and rise in status, but their station at birth would always define them as a plebian. The patrician class held offices in the government that were not open to plebs, and had several opportunities open to them that were not available to the plebian people. This would change with the Struggle of the Orders, as seen below. Patricians and plebeians often had relationships as patrons and clients. This system allowed a plebian to ask favors, money, and assistance from a patron, generally of the patrician class. In return, the plebian would vow loyalty and subservience to the patron as a client. Clients would generally go before their patrons every day in an act of subservience and assist them with anything the patron saw fit. As the plebeians fought for rights within the government, a social upheaval began. They demanded a place in the government, and created their own governmental office of tribune as seen below in an explanation of political structure. At the end of the Republic and in to Imperial Rome a class of nobiles arose. This class was made of the families of consuls, and they were a new aristocracy made up of

both patrician and plebian families. No longer did the designation of patrician or plebian matter as much as the extent to which a family member had completed the cursus honorem. Slavery was prevalent in Rome, especially after the Punic Wars when an estimated 50,000 Carthaginians were brought to Italy as slaves to the Romans. Poor who retreated in to debt could also become slaves in the Roman Empire. The influx of slaves with the empire expansion and subduing of distant cultures had an unfortunate effect on the poor citizens of Rome. Many times jobs that would be available to those citizen laborers were instead given to slaves. However, in some cases, the expense of caring for a slave outweighed the pay for a laborer on a short contract. As the poor class grew and more slaves entered Italy, the cities grew and were filled with jobless unfortunates. One of the essential components of the social structure of Rome was the paterfamilias. This was the concept that the man, husband and father, was the head of the family and small social unit that made up an extended family in a Roman household. The paterfamilias ruled over the immediate family, including women and children, as well as any slaves, and in the case of patricians, clients that had been taken on. The concept of paterfamilias was seen in the home as well as in the social phenomenon of patrons and clients. Women in Rome were held to several ideals, one of those being univiri. This was the concept that women who were married would only ever take one man as their partner, even if he died. Women that had more freedoms included prostitutes, which have been studied extensively, and the Vestal Virgins. Vestal Virgins were chosen at puberty to serve for 30 as celibate priestesses who tended the flame of Vestus in the Forum. They had liberty over their finances more than women who were married. Native American social structures varied throughout eras and among each different cultural group. The Mississippian culture, or mound-building culture, was prevalent in the Mid-South and South-eastern United States. Generally these groups, which are grouped together by their chronology and characteristics, exhibited social stratification. Though there are not any known written primary sources from this era or these people, scholars have used archaeology and anthropology to piece together the story of this ancient culture. One example of social stratification was in the mounds themselves. While many mounds were used for burials, in most Mississippian settlements there is a large residential mound, which archaeology shows contained a house and/or temple. There was most likely a king or leader who had a religious component to his role. The residential mound likely housed the leader and his family. Each time a new leader was chosen or ascended to power in the village, a new layer of dirt was added to the mound, making it taller and presumably suitable for the new leader. Mississippian sites generally contain a central plaza, or gathering area, where they could trade amongst themselves, and hold meetings, games, or ceremonies. Near this central plaza, the elites, usually the best craftsmen and artisans lived, in close proximity to the leader. The rest of the people lived away from the central plaza and elites, and as with many other ancient cultures, this was the largest class of people. There is evidence that among Mississippians, that the women were responsible for farming and the care of the home and children. Women could likely serve as craftspeople and artisans, particularly with basketry and pottery.

Economic Structures Economic structures are also essential to understanding ancient civilizations. As seen above, social structure, economics, politics, and religion are generally all tied together in an inextricable bond. The economy of Egypt was largely based on the Nile River and the harvests resulting from annual inundation. The King, as a divine leader, chief priest, and provider for his people, had a monopoly over virtually all economic enterprise. The Nile River generally has a regular flooding schedule that it follows, making farming and agriculture essential to the Egyptian economy. Any surplus that was farmed was saved for times of trouble or gifted to elite nobles by the king. As the Egyptian empire grew, trade became prevalent in spite of the desert restrictions on travel. Manufactured goods as well as raw materials from mines were traded for items such as timber from Lebanon. There was little opportunity for individual economic gain, but as evidenced in Deir el-Medina, craftsmen and artisans were generally given one day off for every ten days of work, and they could use that time to create things for themselves or to barter, or to save as part of a dowry if they had daughters to arrange in marriage. The Greek economy was based largely in agriculture, fishing and sailing, and trading as their influence grew in the Hellenistic age. Slavery was important to agricultural life as cheap labor. Because of the arid land, sporadic rain, and rocky soil, grapes and olives were the crops of choice for many farmers. Barley, rather than waterreliant wheat, was the cereal of choice. Sparta, as a socialized and militarized civilization was largely self-sufficient. Athens was famous for its marble which is exported, as well as clay used for making pottery, and various grains grown on their plains and hillside terraces. Sheep, goats, and cattle were raised for their raw materials, such as hides, skins, and wool, as well as for meat and milk. These animals were also important in the economy as sacrifices for religious rituals. Coinage was introduced in the 5th Century as trade and expansion grew throughout Greece. In Rome, agriculture was one of the most important facets of the economy. Grains, grapes, and livestock were important to the economy. Slavery, as in Greece, was essential to farming for the landed aristocracy. The influx of slaves after wars and with imperialism resulted in urban growth and a lack of jobs for the poor. During the Republic and times of instability, such as during wars, farming was difficult and not always successful. With the Pax Romana, agriculture became more stable and the Villa system gained popularity, especially among the aristocratic classes. Latifundia grew during the Republic as cattle and sheep ranches for grazing. As in Greece, the livestock were used both for raw materials and meat, as well as sacrificial beings for religious ceremonies. Imperialism brought the agriculture products and goods of various colonized areas, and possibly led to the decline of Rome and the Italian peninsula. The economy of Mississippian cultures was largely self-sufficient. Trade with South American Cultures resulted in corn being brought to North America and harvested by Mississippians and future Native American cultures. Farming was essential, and the Three Sisters were one of the key components to survival. Corn, beans, and squash, grown together, provided essential nutrients to the civilization. Hunting and livestock contributed to the economy as well, and bartering or trading was likely among the craftsmen and artisans.

Political Structures Egyptian political structure revolved around a divine king. This concept is deeply intertwined with religious beliefs. The king was thought to have been legitimized through the divine royal ka, or part of the soul, which inhabited rulers. The king served as the chief priest to the gods for his people, the army commander, and executive ruler. The concept of divine kingship legitimized the ruler as chosen by the gods. Greek political structures are, again, variant by poleis. In Spartas militarized society, a king was chosen as a chief commander of the army and political leader. There was also a gerousia, an assembly made up of thirty elders who advised the king. Additionally, ephors were citizens who were chosen to advise the king and make decisions in his absence. Athens was subject to tyrannical rule by kings or dictators early in the centuries of its existence as a polis. The Democratic Revolution, led by Pericles, took the powers from the aereopagus and gave those powers to the Boule and Assembly. The Boule was a group of 500 citizens chosen to prepare business for the assembly and run the state when the assembly was not in session. The assembly was made up of any male citizen over the age of 18 who could attend its meetings. Roman political structures varied throughout its history from monarchies, to republics, to imperialistic dictators. The early monarchs were opposed by the aristocracy who were threatened by tyrannical complete power. They were overthrown to begin the Early Republic. During the Republic, political life was structured with the cursus honorem, or honorable way. Men who wanted to advance politically were required to follow this path which started at the bottom and worked up to the highest political position, consul. The Senate was formed, and contained 500 men at its highest point; these men were chosen because of their supposed auctoritas, or power through knowledge. They advised the magistrates who ruled with imperium or absolute power. At the top of the cursus honorem was the position of consul, of which there were two; this position held executive power. A dictator could be chosen in times of crisis or war, but his tenure was never to last more than six months. The Struggle of the Orders, in which plebeians demanded more political power and a higher place within society led to a new office of Tribune, which was exclusively plebeian. This position was sacrosanct, and one could be killed for hurting or going against the word of a tribune. Tribunes also held the power of veto over the senate and could, if they pleased, inspire a gridlock in voting within the senate. As plebeians gained power in the world and the class of nobiles arose, the cursus honorem became less important to people. With the Pax Romana and dictatorship of imperial Rome, aristocratic men instead hoped for peace and prosperity on a farm or villa. Mississippian political structures were, as stated above, largely religious in nature. The leader or king was likely a priest of their religion as well. There was likely a tribal council or elders who advised the king, but largely it seems that the leader was inspired by the religion and possibly even a divine leader as in Egypt. Religion and the Socio-Economic and Political Structures As has been seen above, religion infiltrated most every aspect of life in these ancient cultures. In Egypt, the King was divine and chosen by the gods. This permeation

of religion is seen in every aspect of life, from the Temple structure, to the Nile and its inundation, as well as in personal religion. In Greece the culture is wrapped up in religion as well. Gods existed for virtually every part of life and the natural world as a way to explain life. Games, festivals, and ceremonies were a major part in all Greek poleis. Oracles and spirits were consulted by the political units as well. Roman religion, similar to Greek, was also a part of daily life, and also essential to political structure. Divination and auspices were used by the political entities, and many offices of the government were considered sacrosanct. In Mississippian cultures the political leader was also a religious leader, and ceremonies were an integral part of daily life. Religion based off of animism and nature was likely, as an explanation of the natural world, and it integrated farming and agriculture as well as other daily life tasks. There are many differences and similarities among these groups and their religions. Each cultures uses religion to relate to almost every aspect of life and living in the natural world. Every civilization has a pantheon of gods and spirits that explain natural phenomenon. Each of the civilizations also legitimizes the rule of their leaders and the political entities gain strength through religion or divine means of some kind. In Egypt the King is chosen by the gods and his divinity is shown through his titulary. Greeks consulted oracles and elders, and Romans used magic, or auspices, to make decisions. The Mississippian culture chose one person as a religious and political leader. Each of these groups had elaborate ceremonies and rituals that were used in their religions, and Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans used sacrifice in their religious rites. While on the surface these groups all seem to have similar religious values, there are differences as well. In much of the history of Egypt the King is the only individual, aside from priests, who may have contact with the gods directly. This changes in the New Kingdom when letters to the gods from elite people are found. Greeks and Romans seem to have all taken part in religious ceremonies and rites, including the festivals and games that were prevalent throughout their histories. Though there is not as much evidence for Mississippian cultures, it seems that the leader also served as a high priest for the rest of his village; however, there is also some evidence of personal piety. The Romans were undoubtedly influenced by the Greeks and Egyptians, and the Greeks likewise by the Egyptians, while the Egyptians were influenced by Near Eastern and African cultures and Mississippians by neighboring cultures and previous Woodland and Archaic cultures. In spite of this the cultures retain remarkable similarities in regards to the fact that aspects of life, including social and political structures, economy, and religion are all intertwined. While there are differences among the groups, the fact remains that each group relies on religion to define its culture through social structure, politics, and the economy to an extent. Key Issues and Problems in Studying and Comparing These Societies One of the main problems in studying ancient cultures is the lack of sources or lack of proper interpretation of sources. Being ancient cultures, many sources and material culture have vanished because of time. The study of these cultures must be multi-disciplinary, using art, archaeology, anthropology, and science to glean information from the people who lived in ancient civilizations. Even more problematic is the fact that

many of the sources that scholars are able to gain relate to the elite classes; the peasant or lower classes remain a mystery in many regards, and information about them must be inferred. Chronological rather than thematic presentation of themes is also problematic. Many times details and comparisons can be lost in the chronology of these civilizations. When looking thematically at topics related to each culture, one can begin to make comparisons and see the differences among each culture. Barry Kemp, an Egyptologist who studies the social history of Ancient Egypt, has defined this as a problem and tries to combat chronology in his Anatomy of a Civilization. Bruce Trigger also attempted to compare ancient civilizations through themes rather than chronology. Scholars and popular audiences often overlook the fact that these cultures contained actual people with the same physiological and psychological characteristics that humans today have. Many times these cultures are presented as mystical pasts that are unattainable or as opulent civilizations that are the glorious past for Western civilizations. These people can be personified through their cultures, arts, fine arts, music, literature, poems, food and recipes, languages, artistic representations, letters, diaries, tombs and burial remains. Rather than presenting these cultures as something of a myth, they should be shown as the people they were, with humanity. Mary Beard, author of Fires of Vesuvius, offers a great humanitarian look at the Romans who were found at Pompeii and the stories that can, or can not be, learned from them. Her book is a great model for others hoping to personify a culture. Repatriation and cultural identity also remain problematic for the study of many cultures, particularly Native American. With the passage of the Native American Graves Protection Reptatriation Act (NAGPRA) the information that can be gained about the ancient Native American cultures through archaeology was diminished. This act demands the return of all human remains and grave goods to each tribes respective council for reburial and repatriation. While this is obviously a great step towards reparations for Native Americans, it has greatly reduced the scientific communitys ability to learn about past cultures through archaeology. This is particularly problematic with groups like the Mississippians; modern day tribes do claim ancestry and identify with this culture, but the Mississippians as a group do not survive today as a tribe. Cultural repatriation is not just a hot topic in Native American studies, but also in Egyptology and Classical studies. Zahi Hawass has famously demanded that Egyptian antiquities be returned to their rightful place in Egyptian museums, and Yannis Hamilakis, a classical historian, has expounded upon the rightful place of the Athenian Parthenons Elgin Marbles. The question of owning antiquity was raised by James Cuno in Who Owns Antiquity; he claims that no one can own the past, instead it belongs to everyone, and any claims to own it are purely political in nature. The use of the past by popular culture, political advocates, and others can also be problematic. Throughout time cultures have used the Greeks and Romans as a beacon for the right to own slaves; dictators and military depots have looked to Sparta as examples of past militarized societies; early America even used Classical imagery to define its republican idealism.

Exhibit: Relationships between socio-economic and political structures and religion in the ancient world: Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Mississippian Native Americans Audience: 7-8th graders Venue: Tennessee State Museum temporary exhibit space; large space size, accessible to many people (museum is free to the public) Displays: The displays throughout this exhibit will be thematic rather than chronological or culturally based. Additionally, an emphasis on the personalities within each culture will be prominent. Each display will contain information about Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Mississippians, and each will contain a specific artifact or person that defines that topic through material culture or biography. Interactive components and multimedia will be utilized when appropriate to enhance visitor experience. Displays will include: geography, trade, political structure, social hierarchies, women, music, food, arts, religions, archaeology, literature, death and the afterlife, and popular culture. Artifacts: As stated above, each display will contain an artifact and/or biography of a person that is definitive to that topic. In many cases reproductions will be necessary, and in the telling of stories about common people much information will be inferred speculation, as most information is about elites. Examples of articles that may be used in displays are as follows: - Geography: topographical maps and pictorial representations of climates, sand pit to simulate Saharan desert - Trade: Example of a Greek boat- reproduction so visitors can experience it for themselves, Egyptian story of the Shipwrecked Sailor excerpts, corn, squash, and beans (Three Sisters) of Mississippians - Economy: Greek and Roman coinage, Egyptian crafts and arts of Deir elMedina, Mississippian trade route maps, stories of Roman sailors - Political Structure: Roman fasces, Egyptian crook and flail, various Egyptian crowns, Greek rhetoric examples, Mississippian temple mound reconstruction - Social hierarchies: Primary source examples of slavery from Greece, patron/client agreements from Rome, Egyptian elite makeup pallette examples with stories to go along with each from a specific person. - Women: Egyptian birth bricks or Bes figures, stories of specific women from each culture, farming implements used by Mississippians, Greek home reconstruction, example of Roman womans clothing available to touch/try on - Music: musical instruments used by each culture, sound bytes of possible songs they may have heard, lyrics from hymns of Egypt shown in glyphs and English - Food: examples of recipes from each culture, possibly, if budget allows, examples to taste (or buy in the gift shop!), info on bakeries & breweries in Egypt - Arts: Egyptian tomb art and statuary, models from middle Kingdom to show daily life, Greek vases and sculpture that show people as humans/daily life, Roman frescos showing daily life, and Mississippian inscribed pottery - Religion: recreation of an Egyptian temple to show the connections between primordial mound cosmogony and the construction of a temple; Roman and

Greek pantheons with interactive display to compare/contrast the gods and goddesses and their natural world components, Mississippian temple recreation - Death and the Afterlife: Parts of the Egyptian persons soul: representation of the journey of the akh, or glorified spirit, through the underworld; Greek river Styx, Roman catacombs representation, re-created cross-section of a Mississippian mound - Popular Culture: Egypt and Egyptomania and esoteric phenomenon (Omm Sety and followers), Greek and Roman architecture in America, Fraternities and Sororities in American culture, Native Americans as environmentalists and good Indians in popular culture today, Intended outcomes for students: Students should realize that these were people, not cold stone. Each of these cultures is distinct, but they are related in some ways while dissimilar in many others. Students should come away with a basic understanding of the religions, social structures, economics, and politics and how they are intertwined within each culture and among each other. How they will learn concepts through the exhibit: The exhibit will be entertaining and interactive to stimulate learning. The student will remain engaged throughout the exhibit. The displays mentioned above will contain text but also video and interactive portions to engage the student through multimedia and interdisciplinary approaches.