the unit deben, a little over 3 ounces of copper, was used as a
general value for many items.
Most of the available information regarding wages and
income are records from Deir el-Medina, the village of the
royal workmen at Th ebes. Th ese records show the middle-
class residents were paid three times that of an ordinary fi eld
hand. Th e workmen at Deir el-Medina would have worked
eight-hour days and had one day off in 10. Despite this long
workweek, these people were able to take as many days off as
they needed for a variety of reasons, including making liba-
tions (off erings) at tombs of relatives, illness, and arguments
with spouses. Th ese absentee records have been discovered
at the site and are very enlightening regarding the lives of
the villagers. In addition to their wages, the workmen were
provided with housing, fi rewood, fi sh, vegetables, water, and
oil—all the essentials of daily life. Th ere was also a resident
doctor at the village to deal with ailments; the doctor’s ser-
vices were paid for by the state. Within the community itself
the income levels varied depending on responsibility and sta-
tus. Foremen were paid the highest rate at 7½ kher of grain
per month; ordinary workmen were paid 5½ kher; scribes
earned less than half the foremen’s wages at about 3¾ kher;
porters were paid the lowest wage at 1¼ kher.
Th ere were also extra rations awarded to the workmen
by the king, as a reward for their labor. During the reign of
Merneptah (r. 1224–1214 b.c.e.) some of these extra rations
were noted by the scribe Anupemheb, who recorded 150 don-
key loads of provisions brought to the village, consisting of
9,000 fi sh, a large amount of salt for drying, and 10 oxen ready
for slaughter. Such extra rations would have provided enough
for a few meals per person. Also recorded were four donkey
loads of beans and sweet oils, eight donkey loads of barley
malt (enough for four pints of beer per person), 9,000 loaves
of bread (enough for 150 per household), and eight donkey
loads of natron used for soap.
An average family of 10 members would consume 5½
kher of grain per month, so many of the workmen would
have earned enough to live on but may have had little left over
for the market. For the richer members of the Deir el-Medina
society, their wages and additional rations would have been
enough to feed their families and also would have provided
some excess that could be used for purchasing other goods.
It was, however, possible to earn money outside the
working environment, and many of the workmen at Deir el-
Medina earned additional income. For example, the scribe
Harshire adorned three coffi ns for a songstress of the deity
Amun, for which he received 329 deben of copper. Another
workman, Bekenwernero, received 91 deben for an order of
coffi ns, beds, chairs, boxes, and tables. Excess wealth would,
therefore, have depended on personal initiative and the will-
ingness to make salable goods. Th ese spare goods would then
be taken to market by both the men and women. In the Th e-
ban tombs of Ipuy and Kenamun, market scenes depict men
and women seated under canopies selling their goods, which
include linens, sandals, and foodstuff s. Th e marketplace was
visited so frequently that some villagers from Deir el-Medina
invested in huts and chapels near the river on the east bank
so that they could stay overnight rather than make the jour-
ney back. Although there was no currency, everything would
have had a relative value that was of common knowledge to
Egyptians. Household goods, livestock, and even servants
would have been exchanged for an equivalent value of copper
within a barter system.
It would have been diffi cult for a simple workman at
Deir el-Medina or a fi eld hand elsewhere to save enough to
make expensive purchases, as 5½ kher of grain, more than
many people earned in a month, would be equal only to a
small amount of purchasing power—enough, for example, to
buy a simple wooden chair. Th e workmen of Deir el-Medina
were supposed to get paid on the 28th day of each month,
but on some occasions these payments were late. In Year 29
of Ramses III there were six months of delays. Th e workmen
went on strike, making protests at the funerary temples of
Th utmose III, Ramses II, and Seti I, where the grain stores
were situated. One text describes this event: “It is because of
hunger and because of thirst that we come here. Th ere is no
clothing, no ointment, no fi sh, no vegetables. Send to Pha-
raoh our good Lord about it and send to the vizier, our su-
perior that sustenance may be made for us.” In this instance
the workmen received their rations, but later that same year
Djhutymose, a village scribe, had to go with two bailiff s to
collect the grain rations himself from the local farmers and
the temples, as the rations again had not arrived.
Although the ancient Egyptians have a reputation for
slave labor, the evidence suggests that there was a positive
employment program with health care and a bonus scheme.
Th ere was also the possibility of making extra income aft er
work hours, ensuring that the workmen were well fed and
had opportunities to acquire wealth.THE MIDDLE EAST
BY TOM STREISSGUTH
As the people of the ancient Near East tamed wild cattle,
sheep, goats, and pigs, their society changed from a nomadic
life of hunting and gathering to farming. Th eir most impor-
tant occupations were raising livestock and growing crops,
mainly wheat and barley. Hunting wild game became the
privilege of the nobles and royalty, while fi shing became the
occupation of the lower classes. In the rivers and along the
seacoasts of Persia, Arabia, and the Levant small vessels made
of wood or reeds served as fi shing trawlers. In coastal areas
and river valleys fi sh provided a vital source of protein to sup-
plement the daily fare of grains, vegetables, and fruit.
Mesopotamia remained a largely agricultural land, even
as cities and urban society developed on its plains and river
valleys. Mesopotamian farmers settled and lived in one place
throughout the year. Th ey had to build homes and villages,
collect their harvests, and bring their produce to market. Be-
cause rainfall was scarce, they also had to assure a steady wa-employment and labor: The Middle East 427