Egypytian Government
By: Giselle Vallejo
Government Officials
In ancient Egypt, the head of government was Pharaoh. Each pharaoh had an army, a police force, and a huge number of ministers and government officials to help him rule the country. The most important of these helpers was Pharaoh's right hand man, his Vizier. The Vizier received reports from every top official every day.
Law and legal system in Ancient Egypt
The ancient Egyptian legal system was based on common sense. The ancient Egyptians did have a court system. There was a lower court and a high court. When a dispute was settled in lower court, both sides were heard, and a common sense decision was made by the lower court based on the facts presented. A serious case would be if you were found guilty of something and your punishment was exile.
Grain Banks
The grain banks worked like this: First you deposited grain into one of the huge state grain warehouses. Then, when you wanted to purchase something, you pulled some of your grain out of the grain bank. Basically, food moved around as payment for services and goods, which is one reason no one went hungry in ancient Egypt.
Pharaoh
Pharaohs were the kings of ancient Egypt. A couple were women, but most pharaohs were men. People referred to Pharaoh, not "the" pharaoh, but simply as Pharaoh. There was only Pharaoh was a living god. He ruled by divine right. Even thought Pharaoh was a living god, in the beginning of ancient Egypt, the people could talk directly to Pharaoh.one pharaoh (at a time) and in ancient Egypt, everything belonged to Pharaoh.