d that only wealthy women were able to read and write, but there was no place for them in the career world for them to do this.
             The period that is most thought of when thinking of ancient Egypt is the time when Egypt was ruled by the pharaohs after 3000 B.C. Settlers and sailors came to Egypt from Palestine, Syria, and Iraq around 5000 B.C. After realizing how fertile the land was many decided to stay and try to domesticate the land. Soon after small huts and villages began to rise up everywhere and the colonization of Egypt had begun.
             The hieroglyphics offer to us what it was like for the average person living in ancient Egypt. Egyptian marriage wasn't always arranged as most people think. This was usually only done by royal families where a brother would marry his sister in an arranged marriage. Most men were married by the age of twenty and most of the women were married by the age of fourteen. Becoming married was often not a problem. Ancient Egyptians didn't have state or church ceremonies, so all you had to do was obtain a marriage contract and begin living with your spouse. Getting a divorce was just as easy as getting married. If the man was at fault then the woman was entitled to 1/3 of the settlement, and if the woman was at fault she was entitled to maintenance from her ex-husband.
             The social system was actually very well defined. The Pharaoh was the considered the leader of the people and was thought of as a god. Next came the Pharaoh's family, then the nobles, the priests, and the officials who helped the king keep order over his kingdom. After them came the lower priests, the artists, soldiers, and lastly were the peasants and slaves. The difference between a peasant and a slave was that the peasants worked the fertile land and the slaves worked the mines.
             More than 90% of Egypt is covered by desert, also called the Red Land. The desert could support only small settlements in...