Set Maat
by R. Cornelius
Along the shores of the Nile, across from the present-day
city of Luxor, rests the ruins of an ancient Egyptian town known
as Set Maat. The workers that lived in Set Maat built the Valley
of the Kings. They constructed over 25 tombs for Egyptian
nobles over the course of 500 years. When archaeologists first
discovered these ruins, they found a great treasure. They
uncovered tens of thousands of scrolls that contain information
about daily life. The writings paint a detailed portrait that shows
daily life in ancient Egypt to be surprisingly quaint and free.
The laborers who lived in Set Maat were middle class. They
enjoyed good salaries, time off from work, and the freedom to
raise families and conduct themselves as they saw fit. A police
force known as the Medjai patrolled the streets and kept order,
but the workers could come and go as they pleased. They
could look for work in a different town, worship freely, own
property, and inherit property from their parents. Most were
literate, as seen by the vast amount of personal
correspondence in the discovered writings. Women shopped in
markets for cloth, vegetables, fruits, furniture, and many other
luxury items. In addition, the Kingdom of Egypt saw to the
people's medical needs, daily bread, and the education of their
children. They were not the slaves that past scholars believed
them to be. Some of the scrolls even explain that workers went
on strike when they were unhappy.
Archaeologists also discovered that the women of Sef Maat
had remarkable freedoms given that period in history. Ancient
Egyptian men treated women fairly. Adultery was a crime.
Women were educated to read and write and to manage
accounts. They could speak their minds in public, own land and
businesses and many did so. Egyptian law harshly punished
And
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Select the correct answer.
Which sentence from the passage offers support for the thesis, "The writings paint a detailed portrait that shows daily life in
ancient Egypt to be surprisingly quaint and free"?
Ο Α.
OB.
O C.
"They constructed over 25 tombs for Egyptian nobles over the course of 500 years."
OD. "Some of the scrolls even explain that workers went on strike when they were unhappy."
"Some tell tales of romances and love stories, and others explain morality and justice."
"They uncovered tens of thousands of scrolls that contain information about daily life."
4