The extensive use of linen for clothing necessitated a large production of flax. Those who wove—mostly women, in spite of Herodotus to the contrary—attained a high skill and dexterity in their work. Linen was generally kept white, and was frequently made so thin and sheer that the outlines of the body were visible through it.
Of the condition and life of the average artisan, we know that he was allowed to hold no office under the government and had no political rights whatever. Every man was obliged by law to have some calling and to follow it, nor could he work at trades other than his own. This insured good work—always exacted by the Egyptians from their workmen who often received but meager food and no wages. Probably the highly prized work of the goldsmith was well paid. The Egyptians frequently paid for their goods in kind.
Large numbers of laborers belonged to the state or the temples, and they were provided only the bare necessities of life. Some of these men knew how to chisel the hard granite which almost defies the strong steel of today; others could decorate tombs with animated scenes which still today retain their original colors. All these men lived in wretched poverty, in little mud huts, and often had to besiege their overseers for bread. It appears to have been customary to give these workmen their monthly rations at the beginning of the month. Probably the supply was scanty at best, and the hungry laborers made heavy inroads upon it during the first few days. Ere twenty days had passed they were often entirely out of meal for bread, to say nothing of oil and other necessities. Only a threat to appeal to the king would at times bring the needed food. The workmen maintained that the officers withheld from them their dues, only to add it to their own personal stores—a claim that was no doubt well founded, and needs no better proof than the granting of more food to those who united and ceased to work until supplies were forthcoming.
Markets.
For an understanding of the old Egyptian market we can do no better than read the description worked out by Maspero from scenes still existing in the tombs:
"We ... suddenly emerge into the full sunshine of a noisy little square, where a market is being held. Sheep, geese, goats, asses, large-horned oxen, scattered in unequal groups in the center, are awaiting a purchaser. Peasants, fishermen, small retail dealers, squat several deep in front of the houses, displaying before them, in great rush baskets or on low tables, loaves of pastry, fruit, vegetables, fish, meat raw or cooked, jewels, perfumes, stuffs, all the necessities and all the superfluities of Egyptian life.
"The customers stroll past and leisurely examine the quality of the commodities offered for sale; each carries something of his own manufacture in his hand—a new tool, some shoes, a mat, or a small box full of rings of copper, silver, even of gold, of the weight of an outnou (a little over two ounces), which he proposes to barter for the objects he requires. Two customers stop at the same moment in front of a fellah, who exhibits onions and wheat in front of a basket. Instead of money, the first holds two necklets of glass or of many colored earthenware, the second a round fan with a wooden handle, and one of those triangular ventilators which the cooks use to quicken the fire. 'Here is a beautiful necklet which will please you, this is what you want,' cries the former; whilst the latter urges, 'Here is a fan and a ventilator.' However, the fellah, quite overcome by this double attack, methodically proceeds to first seize a string of beads for closer examination. 'Let me see it, that I may fix a price.' The one asks too much, the other too little; from concession to concession they finally come to terms, and settle the number of onions or the weight of corn which the necklet or fan may be worth. Elsewhere it is a question of bartering a pair of sandals or a row of enamelled beads for some perfume. 'Here,' urges the buyer, 'is a very strong pair of shoes.' But the seller does not require shoes for the moment, so he offers one of his small pots in exchange for a row of beads. 'It is delicious when a few drops are poured out,' he explains, with a persuasive air. A woman thrusts under the nose of a kneeling individual two jars, probably containing some ointment of her own manufacture. 'Here,' she cries, 'it smells sweet enough to entice thee.' Behind this group two men are discussing the value of a packet of fish-hooks; a woman, box in hand, is a vendor of bracelets and necklets; another woman endeavors to obtain a reduction upon the price of a fish, which is being dressed before her.
"When it is a question of a large animal, or of objects of considerable value, the accounts become intricate. For instance, Ahmosou sells a bull for a mat, five measures of honey, eleven measures of oil, and seven objects of different kinds. Now, imagine the calculations which must have been made before he succeeded in establishing such a complicated balance.... The mat was estimated at 25 outnou, the honey at 4, the oil at 10, and so on, the whole weighing 119 outnou, which is not too dear for a beast in good condition. This custom of payment by one of the usual metals is so convenient, and dispenses with so many calculations, that it has been adopted even for the minor transactions of daily life. The butcher, the baker, the corn-chandler, all the small tradesmen prefer exchange for metal, which is of small compass and does not spoil, to exchange for objects, often bulky in size, which is liable to deteriorate if kept too long in the house. A pair of ducks is worth a quarter of an outnou in copper; a fan, a quarter; a bronze razor is worth a whole outnou; a pickaxe, two; a goat, two; an ox-head, half an outnou in silver; a leather bottle of fine wine, three outnou of gold....
"Two or three commercial streets or bazaars open from the other side of the square, and the crowd hastens towards them when it leaves the market. Nearly their whole length is filled with stalls and shops, in which not only Egypt, but the majority of the oriental nations display their most varied productions. Beautifully ornamented stuffs from Syria, Phoenician or Hittite jewellery, scented woods and gums from Punt and the Holy Lands; lapis and embroideries from Babylon; coral, gold, iron, tin and amber from the far-distant countries beyond the seas, are found scattered pell-mell amongst the native fine linen, jewels, glass-work and furniture. The shop is usually independent from the rest of the house, and is let separately. It is a small, square room, often a simple shed, widely open in front, and closed every evening by means of wooden shutters, held in place by cross-bars with one or two mats, one or two low stools, some shelves fixed to the wall, which hold the goods; perhaps behind the shop are one or two carefully closed rooms where the most valuable objects are stored. Most of the tradesmen are also manufacturers. They have apprentices or workmen who work for them, and they join them during the intervals between their sales.... Artisans of the same trade have usually a natural tendency to collect together, to dwell side by side in the same place—blacksmiths with blacksmiths, curriers with curriers, goldsmiths with goldsmiths, forming a small city in which objects of the same kind only are found."[2]