Editing Social class (section)

===Ancient Egypt===
The existence of a class system dates back to times of [[Ancient Egypt]], where the position of elite was also characterized by literacy.<ref name="Mendoza2017">{{cite book|author=Barbara Mendoza|title=Artifacts from Ancient Egypt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aE83DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA216|year=2017|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-4408-4401-0|pages=216–|access-date=11 August 2021|archive-date=19 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219212346/https://books.google.com/books?id=aE83DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA216|url-status=live}}</ref> The wealthier people were at the top in the social order and common people and slaves being at the bottom.<ref name="Baptiste2015">{{cite book|author=Tracey Baptiste|title=The Totally Gross History of Ancient Egypt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fR5hDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA5|year=2015|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc|isbn=978-1-4994-3755-3|pages=5–|access-date=11 August 2021|archive-date=19 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219212346/https://books.google.com/books?id=fR5hDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA5|url-status=live}}</ref> However, the class was not rigid; a man of humble origins could ascend to a high post.<ref name="Keller">{{cite book|title=Beyond the Ruling Class: Strategic Elites in Modern Society|first=Suzanne|last=Keller|publisher=Routledge|date=2017|isbn=978-1-351-28918-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJsuDwAAQBAJ|access-date=12 August 2021|archive-date=19 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219212348/https://books.google.com/books?id=AJsuDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|38–}}

The ancient Egyptians viewed men and women, including people from all social classes, as essentially equal under the law, and even the lowliest [[peasant]] was entitled to petition the [[vizier (Ancient Egypt)|vizier]] and his court for redress.<ref name=UCJohnson>{{cite web|url=http://fathom.lib.uchicago.edu/1/777777190170/|title=Women's Legal Rights in Ancient Egypt|date=2002|website=Fathom Archive|publisher=University of Chicago|first=Janet H.|last=Johnson|author-link=Janet H. Johnson|access-date=11 August 2021|archive-date=7 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007132107/http://fathom.lib.uchicago.edu/1/777777190170/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Farmers made up the bulk of the population, but agricultural produce was owned directly by the state, temple, or [[noble family]] that owned the land.<ref name="Maneulian">{{Cite book|last=Manuelian |first=Peter Der|editor1=Regine Schulz|editor2=Matthias Seidel|title=Egypt: The World of the Pharaohs|year=1998|location=Cologne, Germany|publisher=Könemann|isbn=978-3-89508-913-8}}</ref>{{rp|383}} Farmers were also subject to a labor tax and were required to work on irrigation or construction projects in a [[corvée]] system.<ref name="James">{{Cite book|last=James|first=T.G.H.|author-link=T. G. H. James|title=The British Museum Concise Introduction to Ancient Egypt|publisher=University of Michigan Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-472-03137-5|url=https://archive.org/details/britishmuseumcon00jame}}</ref>{{rp|136}} Artists and craftsmen were of higher status than farmers, but they were also under state control, working in the shops attached to the temples and paid directly from the state treasury. Scribes and officials formed the upper class in ancient Egypt, known as the "white kilt class" in reference to the bleached linen garments that served as a mark of their rank.<ref name="Billard">{{cite book|last=Billard|first=Jules B.|title=Ancient Egypt, Discovering Its Splendors|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DnMhAQAAMAAJ&pg=PP1|year=1978|publisher=National Geographic Society|isbn=978-0-87044-220-9|access-date=11 August 2021|archive-date=19 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219212348/https://books.google.com/books?id=DnMhAQAAMAAJ&pg=PP1|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|109}} The upper class prominently displayed their social status in art and literature. Below the nobility were the priests, physicians, and engineers with specialized training in their field. It is unclear whether [[Slavery in ancient Egypt|slavery as understood today existed in ancient Egypt]]; there is difference of opinions among authors.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/social/index.html |title=Social classes in ancient Egypt |date=2003 |website=Digital Egypt for Universities |publisher=University College London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213192904/http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/social/index.html |archive-date= 13 December 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Slavebeating.jpg|thumb|Slave beating in ancient Egypt]]
{{Blockquote|Not a single Egyptian was, in our sense of the word, free. No individual could call in question a hierarchy of authority which culminated in a living god.|[[Emile Durkheim]]<ref name="Keller"/>}}
Although slaves were mostly used as indentured servants, they were able to buy and sell their servitude, work their way to freedom or nobility, and were usually treated by [[physician|doctors]] in the workplace.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/slavery.htm |title=Slavery |website=An introduction to the history and culture of Pharaonic Egypt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830093437/http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/slavery.htm |archive-date=30 August 2012}}</ref>