SOCIAL AND CLASS RELATIONS
The social structure of the earliest civilizations shows hierarchies and a concentration of power among certain elites. There were few matriarchal societies in the ancient world; most were patriarchal and polygamous among the wealthy social classes. As civilizations developed and expanded, their social structures often had to be modifi ed. Sometimes this resulted in a decentralization of power, even on rare occasions, as in ancient Greece, in democracy. At other times changes were forced by foreign invasions. Egypt:- The apex of Egyptian society was the pharaoh since he (or more precisely, his “house” or the institution that he incarnated) stood as the intermediary between the world of gods and of human beings. The pharaoh’s main duty was to maintain maat, an apotheosized state of cosmic balance or justice for his whole realm. Pharaoh owned vast tracts of land and sometimes vied with priests for control and status. His offi ce was hereditary and dynastic. History records one ...