Kristin Butcher... has novel ideas

Annick Press, 2009. ISBN 1-55451-170-4 (paper)                                          ISBN 978-1-55451-170-9 (paper)                                    ISBN 1-55451-171-2 (laminated hardcover)                       ISBN 978-55451-171-6 (laminated hardcover)

This book is different from most of my other books, because it is non-fiction. Everything in it is true.

It is the fourth in a series of career guides to various places and times in history. The first book looked at jobs people living in Europe during the Middle Ages might have done. The second book focused on jobs people in the United States in the mid-1800's might have held. The third book (which is coming out very soon) examines life in Mezo-America and what the people who lived then might have worked at. And this book is about the jobs people living in ancient Egypt might have done.

The book looks at 100 jobs. Some are similar to jobs people do today, though the ancient Egyptians didn't do them the same way modern people do. But some of the jobs are very different. Here are a couple of job descriptions to give you the idea.

Of course, the finished book has illustrations too, (Martha Newbigging has drawn the pictures for all the books -- she's terrific!), and that makes reading about the jobs even more fun.

Excerpt

Priest

If you are a priest, you are a servant of the gods. Your main job is to look after the temple and make offerings to the temple's god. You also oversee religious ceremonies, festivals, and funerals, supervise the work of artists, and teach in the House of Life.

Your day starts at dawn with a bath in the temple lake. You actually bathe three times a day. (Talk about clean!) Then you put on your white linen robe. Priests aren't allowed to wear wool even if they're cold -- it was considered unclean. Now it's time to walk through the temple with the other priests. As you move along, you burn incense, sprinkle water, and say prayers to scare off any evil spirits that might be hanging around. When you get to the room where the idol (a statue or image) of the god is kept, you wait in the hallway while the high priest (he's the one with leopard skin over his robe) goes inside. He 'wakes up' the idol, then washes and dresses it. After that he puts out food, says a few prayers, and burns incense. Then he leaves. Priests make this trek at lunch and supper too. At the end of the day you all walk back to the shrine for a fourth time and wait as the high priest puts the idol to bed. Before you leave, the door is sealed with clay so that no one can enter during the night.

Most priests work part-time and take turns living in the temple -- one month on, then three off. That's just three months of priest work a year. The rest of the time priests work at other jobs. Mostly they are government officials, doctors, lawyers, judges, and merchants. None of them are slaves though. That's a full-time job.

Robber

You might not think being a robber is a job, but stealing is how some ancient Egyptians made a living. Most people didn't set out to be robbers. They worked at other things. But then for some reason they stole an offering to the gods or a sack of grain, and the next thing they knew they were stealing full-time.

If you are a robber, you might live in the desert hills in a hidden cave and steal from travellers. Or you might hold down a job building tombs during the day and be a grave robber at night. The tombs of wealthy Egyptians were filled with treasure, and even though tomb robbers would be cursed by the gods, they robbed the graves anyway.

Tombs aren't easy to get into. You can try to chip your way in with a chisel, but a faster way is to light a fire against the tomb wall, and when it's good and hot, throw cold water on it. The sudden change in temperature makes the rock wall crack. Once inside, you use candles to light your way through the tomb's tunnels. When you find the mummy, you unwrap it and remove the rings and other jewellery. You might even set fire to the wooden coffin to melt the gold on it. You take as many treasures as you can carry away.

Whatever you do, don't get caught at work. The penalties for stealing are not fun. If you only steal a small thing, the judge might simply make you give it back and pay a fine. A bigger crime might win you a beating with a cane, or you could be branded with a hot iron. The worse the crime, the more horrible the punishment. You could be sent to work in the mines, or you could have your hand or nose lopped off. You could even be sentenced to death and get thrown on a sharp stake. (Ouch!) The worst part is that your body might not be buried, and that means no afterlife for you.