in number than a band (hundreds of individuals) that is
composed of subgroups united by associations or social con-
structs, such as councils of elders who are members of the
same age set, secret societies, warrior societies, and religious
cults. Tribes oft en have a lead headman or less commonly
headwoman, although this person may not be occupied with
the task of leadership full time. Th e application of tribe and
other terms to describe the social organization of human
groups has oft en served as the focus of strife and confl ict and
may not be useful. Th ese terms can hide unifying character-
istics between groups and overly accentuate irrelevant diff er-
ences. So although the perception of Africa as a multitude of
competing tribes seems to be one that has stuck to the con-
cept of Africa’s ancient history, it is diffi cult to assess the ac-
curacy of this picture.
Th e age-set system (known as gerontocracy) draws lines
of distinction based on gender and age. It is a social, political,
and economic system in which elders hold power. Among the
modern Masai in East Africa, one age set is responsible for
cattle and community safety. Th e individuals that carry out
this service are supervised by the elders, who are male. Indi-
viduals move from one age set to another as a group, oft en
in a very ceremonious fashion known to anthropologists as
a rite of passage. For many ethnic groups in African history
circumcision has been a manifestation of movement from one
age set to another. Most commonly, the consensus of the en-
tire age set determined those individuals who would emerge
as leaders to act on behalf of the age set. In this system, which
was and is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, age is highly
respected. Th is system balanced a system in which family lin-
eage might concentrate power in a way unrelated to individ-
ual skills recognized by the group. Despite the fact that upon
European contact with Africa there were many examples of
age-set social systems, which may indicate a long history of
this type of social organization, it is not known whether this
system dominated the social organization of ancient sub-Sa-
haran African human groups or how far back it dates.EGYPT
BY WILLIAM H. PECK
Th e social structure in ancient Egypt, like almost every other
aspect of Egyptian life, underwent changes over 3,000 years
of history. However, the general structure of the society can
be visualized as a pyramid, with the ruler at the top supported
by progressively larger groups underneath. Directly below the
ruler were the royal family and kin and then, in progressively
larger groups, the high-level administrators, middle-level
functionaries, supervisors of labor and craft s, specialized
craft speople, and fi nally the peasant class, made up mainly of
agricultural workers, who were the base of the pyramid. Th is
multilevel society refl ected the complex bureaucracy that had
begun to develop in the country as early as the emergence of
a unifi ed Egypt and was well established by the beginning of
the Old Kingdom (ca. 2575–ca. 2134 b.c.e.)KING, GOVERNMENT, AND EXTENDED
FAMILY TIES
Th e concept of kingship is central to any discussion of Egyp-
tian society and Egyptian civilization. Th e king was the abso-
lute monarch, supreme ruler, considered a personifi cation of a
god on earth and inheritor of his position by divine right. He
was not only chief executive, head of state, and commander of
the military but also the chief priest and main intermediary
between humankind and the gods. Th e king was considered
responsible for guaranteeing the cosmic order of the universe
by his continued attention to the gods. He ensured that the
gods were pleased by the uninterrupted sacrifi ces and off er-
ings made to them and the rites carried out for them in all the
temples of the land. In theory, the king led all of the activities
in the country, both civil and religious. In actual fact, a large
bureaucracy and well-organized civil service shouldered
these responsibilities as his appointed representatives. Th e
social structure of the country was dependent on the com-
plexities of the bureaucracy and cannot be examined without
reference to the levels of governance.
In the Old Kingdom the upper level of the administra-
tion was largely based on close family relationships such that
most important posts were occupied by the ruler’s closest rel-
atives. As an example, the person responsible for overseeing
the construction of the Great Pyramid, King Khufu’s burial
monument at Giza, was Hemiunu, a cousin or nephew of
Khufu. Th is tradition of family ties was somewhat modifi ed
and gradually relaxed as history progressed, but the king’s
family continued to be appointed to important posts. In the
Nineteenth Dynasty (ca. 1307–ca. 1196 b.c.e.), as a further
example, sons of Ramses II fi lled a number of key positions.
One was commander in chief of the army, another was high
priest of the god Ra at Heliopolis, a third was the overseer of
the royal vineyards at Memphis, and a fourth was the admin-
istrator of the entire Nile delta region.
On other levels many posts and positions were heredi-
tary, evidenced by fathers and sons who had the same titles
and ranks of offi ce. Th is allowed for considerable continu-
ity and probably increased overall effi ciency. Th e training
received by a son who learned his job as an apprentice and
assistant to his father was more personalized and specialized
than an organized education along academic lines could be.
Although family relationships played an important part in the
rule and administration of the country, ambition and talent
could also be rewarded. From the biographies found on the
walls of tombs it is possible to trace the careers of functionar-
ies as they rose through the various levels of the bureaucracy.
While these biographies were more in the nature of a trib-
ute or eulogy than a real life story, they did detail important
accomplishments and virtually every title that the deceased
might have held during his lifetime. Th ey give a good idea
of the key events in a person’s career and also illustrate how
mobile the society might have been.
Although the upper classes were originally created from
the family and relatives of the ruler, it was still possible for1014 social organization: Egypt0895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i1014 1014 10/10/07 2:30:46 PM