Ancient Egyptian Government
Ancient Egyptian Government
The Ancient Egyptian government was headed and dominated by the Pharaoh.
His was the ultimate and greatest power. The 'right hand man' of the
Pharaoh was the Vizier (equivalent to a Prime
Minister). Court officials and nobles held high office in Ancient Egypt
and these, together with the Pharaoh and the vizier, governed the
country. The central ancient
Egyptian government was responsible for legislation and the
administration of certain functions on a national basis, but delegated
some responsibilities to local, or provincial administration.
Ancient Egyptian Government
- Definition
The definition of a government is described
as institutions and officials which
enact laws and enforce public programs thereby exercising overall
control and direction of a country. The government sector is usually
broken down into central government and local government as was the
Ancient Egyptian government.
Ancient Egyptian Government
- Provincial Administration in the Districts
The land of Ancient Egypt
originally consisted of two halves, which were called Upper and Lower
Egypt. Upper Egypt was the valley area in the South and Lower Egypt was
the delta area in the North. Upper and Lower Egypt each had their own
government and rulers. Upper Egypt was divided into 22 districts. Lower
Egypt was divided into 20 districts. Upper and Lower Egypt were eventually united in
3118BC. The framework of the earlier Ancient Egyptian government were
the districts, each of the districts had a nomarch, or governor, who was
the chief of the provincial administration. The provinces, or districts,
were called nomes and the governor, or head, of the provincial
administration was called a nomarch.
Responsibilities &
Tasks of the Ancient Egyptian Government
At the height of the New Kingdom the population of Egypt was estimated
at about 3 million. To govern this number of people demanded a strong
government and a well organised bureaucracy.
The tasks of the Ancient Egyptian Government were varied and included
exercising control and direction in various
area and tasks including:
-
Controlling
civil order, the police force was called the Medjay
-
The army
consisting of the commanders and conscripted soldiers
-
Building the
royal monuments including the organisation of labor and
resources
-
The
legal process with courts, judges and law enforcement
including imposing fines, corporal punishment and capital
punishment which included burning alive, decapitation,
drowning or impalement on the stake
-
Controlling the
food supply and distribution
-
Conducting a
census of the population in order to collect taxes
-
Levying and
collecting taxes
-
Managing
important industries
-
Developing the
Archives - All important legal issues were documented
including wills, trials, deeds, census lists, conscription
lists and inventories
-
Recording
rainfall and water levels of the Nile - Nilometers were
gauges which were set up to measure water levels by
government officials. Levels
above and below the average indicated catastrophes such as
floods or famine. Good years indicated the level of taxes
which could be obtained from the farmers
Ancient Egyptian Government
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