Daily Life In Ancient Egypt

• Bodil Droga, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2010

Daily Life in Ancient Egypt


One day in dry Ancient Egypt, Khonsu, an ordinary town girl, dressed herself in her finest, most colourful, strapless dress and robe and brown sandals. Because it was winter, Khonsu decided to wear her dress made out of wool instead of her one mad out of linen.

Khonsu was a descendent of the Pharaoh so she had life pretty well off. Her parents named her Khonsu because it meant moon god and in their family, when the moon rose it meant time to rest.

For breakfast that morning Khonsu ate some blackberries, sun- dried raisins and green lentils. She also had a sip of milk to refresh herself. After breakfast, Khonsu milked the cow, picked some berries for her mother to grind into wine and plucked some chickens.

Today was a Monday which meant that Khonsu and her brother Mohamed had to go to school. Khonsu didn’t really like school but she was warned by her mother that if she did well in school she could provide her family with food and clean drinking water but most importantly provide money for her family by getting a good job. So Khonsu tried her best in school and stayed for classes till late at night. She learned numbers and writing. She thought that hieroglyphics was so hard that she nearly gave up every time she tried.

After school, she finished plucking the chickens and after she realised that she had lost her gold necklace. Khonsu checked in between the two layers of mud bricks that protected her house, she checked underneath the mud tiles in the bathroom and under all the wooden floor boards in the women section in their house. She also tried to ask her dad to check in the male quarter but he couldn't find it either. Khonsu checked all the three stories of her house but she still couldn't find it, so she decided to the next day.

For dinner Khonsu and Mohamed cooked boiled fish, duck eggs, leek, green beans and for after dinner they had berries and wine.

After washing up, Khonsu saw a group of military officers in strange pants and shorts driving in chariots. This chariot was white and has gold lining and Egyptian gods painted in blue. The officers were door knocking but then they went away.


Before she went to bed, Khonsu played a game of senate with her brother, Mohamed. Because Khonsu won the game against Mohamed, he had to give her three raisins and he wasn’t very happy. Before she was fast asleep, Khonsu was woken by her mother when she turned the lights on and realised mother was home from working at the Mhan’s place all day. When she saw her mother turn off the lights, she was crying and had whip markings all down her back. ‘Poor mother,’ thought Khonsu.

Then she fell asleep after a busy day.