Kasia Szpakowska’s book takes a look at what the life of a middle-class inhabitant of the settlement of Hetep-Senusret, better known as Lahun, would be like in the Late Middle Kingdom. Although this book is a nonfiction informative text, Szpakowska uses a fictional family constructed out of what were once real people as a model to recreate the daily life of an Egyptian living in ancient times. Szpakowska focuses on the character of a young girl named Hedjerit, who serves as a virtual example of how the stages of adolescence would occur and how the practices of the Twelfth Dynasty would influence her life. Each chapter begins with a short account of what is going on in Hedjerit’s life in relation to what the following chapter will be about.
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As he emerged from between her thighs, and his cord was cut with the pesesh-blade, he wailed with a great cry of “ny!” But the blood that emerged with him – it did not stop. It pooled like the inundation that satiated Sekhmet in the midst of her fury. The healer had used the ivory tusk and had placed the threads of the border of a knotted jaa.t-fabric in my mother and over it recited: “Anubis has come forth to keep the inundation from treading on what is pure – the land of Tait. Beware of what is in it!” But the gods did not hear, and when the day had dawned my mother had reached her final …show more content…
Each chapter of Daily Life in Ancient Egypt focuses on a different aspect of Egyptian life and culture all the way from birth to death. Although the pharaoh was seen as a divine being and even considered a god by some, he was no less dependent on the common citizens who put in hard labor and worked to maintain the order of maat in Ancient Egyptian society. According to Szpakowska, maat is a fundamental religious concept that embodies the concepts of justice, truth, right, and order on both a cosmic and social scale. It is a crucial factor in understanding the day-to-day lives of Ancient Egyptians. “Cultural values, traditions, norms, beliefs, and practices begin to be instilled in children from the moment of their birth, and are refined and further transmitted year after year. The continuation of life, the passing of beliefs, practices, customs, and knowledge from one generation to the next, is the single most critical factor for the preservation of a civilization.” (p.
As he emerged from between her thighs, and his cord was cut with the pesesh-blade, he wailed with a great cry of “ny!” But the blood that emerged with him – it did not stop. It pooled like the inundation that satiated Sekhmet in the midst of her fury. The healer had used the ivory tusk and had placed the threads of the border of a knotted jaa.t-fabric in my mother and over it recited: “Anubis has come forth to keep the inundation from treading on what is pure – the land of Tait. Beware of what is in it!” But the gods did not hear, and when the day had dawned my mother had reached her final …show more content…
Each chapter of Daily Life in Ancient Egypt focuses on a different aspect of Egyptian life and culture all the way from birth to death. Although the pharaoh was seen as a divine being and even considered a god by some, he was no less dependent on the common citizens who put in hard labor and worked to maintain the order of maat in Ancient Egyptian society. According to Szpakowska, maat is a fundamental religious concept that embodies the concepts of justice, truth, right, and order on both a cosmic and social scale. It is a crucial factor in understanding the day-to-day lives of Ancient Egyptians. “Cultural values, traditions, norms, beliefs, and practices begin to be instilled in children from the moment of their birth, and are refined and further transmitted year after year. The continuation of life, the passing of beliefs, practices, customs, and knowledge from one generation to the next, is the single most critical factor for the preservation of a civilization.” (p.