Awesome Ancient Egyptian Homes By: Isabel Kapustka
Have you ever thought about if in ancient Egyptian times people had different homes? Well, they did. Some people, such as slaves, did not even have a toilet. Instead they had holes in the ground. The major categories of ancient Egyptian homes are huts, townhomes, and villas. If you keep reading you will learn all about these homes and much more.
Huts: Homes for the Poor
Servants and slaves did not have their own house. Instead they lived with other slaves in their owner’s house. The only people who had huts to live in were workers, who were poor but could, still afford a house. Huts looked like a small square or circle room and poor people lived there. Servants and slaves were not treated well. Imagine if all you got to do all day was chores. All different kinds of chores, inside, outside, simple or hard, servants and slaves had all of them. Even though their owners were wealthy, that didn’t mean they got the same luxury as their owners had. Not all but most people had at least 1-2 servants or slaves. Most middle class Egyptians and all wealthy people had them. It was like they were the dogs, and they had to obey their master. Servants were for the middle class and wealthy people, but slaves were for the farmers who could afford them. Servants lived in the servant’s quarter of the house. Although neither a servant nor a slave was necessary, people still had them.
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This is a picture of a one room hut. These homes are not very nice they are small and had dirt floors.
Townhouses: Homes for the Middle Class The people who lived in town houses didn’t have the time to sit around all day. These people were usually a worker or a farmer. The husband would go to work and the wife would do house chores. City homes were usually 1-3 floors and had at least 3 rooms. A big townhouse would be about the equivalent to what you or I live in today, but it wouldn’t be as nice as our house. A smaller townhouse would be about the size of our first floor. Homes in the country were bigger than the ones built in the city. It was mainly up to the people who built the home who decided how big it was because the Nile River had the necessary materials that were needed to build the homes. Nobody cared how big your home was. All you had to do was build it yourself and in your free time. Ramps led you from floor to floor and to the roof where many people slept at nights for the cool air. Quite a few people were middle class. They were fortunate to live the way they did even though it wasn’t luxury.
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These are pictures of Middle class homes. They are a decent size and are pleasant to live in.
Villas: Where Wealthy People Lived Villas were where wealthy people lived. They were the nicest homes except for the pharaohs. Wealthy people could afford homes with up to 70 rooms, more than what most people live in today! They were made of slabs of mud and plaster. The floors were made of mud and gypsum. In order to keep out snakes, the house was raised on beams made of mud and linen. After built, villas were often painted with patterns or nature scenes. These homes were 1-3 stories
tall and had bathrooms and toilets. Unlike homes today, kitchens were built in a different building to keep away smells. Here are some of the rooms in a villa main bedroom, robing room, bathroom, and an office. They had many more rooms but those are some of the most important. These houses had a separate domain for mothers and children. They even had a separate area for everyday chores. Statues of household Gods and Goddess were used to scare away evil spirits. Having a bed meant you were wealthy; some people even had furniture with gold on it. Usually furniture was made of wood leather or rope. As you can see, these people had the nicest lives and things.
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This is a model of an ancient Egyptian Villa. As you can see they had very nice homes and were huge.
These are the 3 types of Egyptian homes: huts, townhomes, and villas. It’s amazing that so long ago people could make such good homes, even though they weren’t as good as the ones they make today. Now that you have learned all about Egyptian homes, you are now an expert! Nobody knows exactly how the ancient Egyptians lived, but Egyptologists are working on it.
Glossary Chores- A chore is something you have to do. Domain – A domain is an area in a house. Hut- A hut is small type of home in Ancient Egypt. Luxury- Luxury is a nice place or things. Owner- An owner is someone who owns something. Servants- a servant is someone who does chores for a rich person. Slaves- A slave is worker for a farmer who can afford one. Statue- A statue is a model of something. Townhouse- A townhouse is a house in town. Wealthy- Being wealthy means you have lots of money. Worker – A worker is to do something for someone.
Bibliography Ancient Egypt Homes For Kids. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2013, from http://egypt.mrdonn.org/homes.html. Smith, M. (2010). Ancient Egypt. New York: Kingfisher. Solski, R. (1993). Ancient Egypt. Napnee: Learning Materials. Steele, P. (2009). Passport To The Past Ancient Egypt. New York: Rosen Central.