The document describes social status and hierarchies in ancient civilizations including Mesopotamia, Egypt, Rome, Greece, and Canada. In Mesopotamia, status levels included priests and nobility at the top, merchants and laborers in the middle, and slaves at the bottom. Egypt similarly had farmers and slaves at the lowest levels, and pharaohs, nobles, and priests at the highest. Rome designated citizens and non-citizens, with slaves having no rights, while Greece divided free men based on wealth into four classes. Canada's hierarchies incorporated refugees, indigenous groups, and British colonial influences on status.

1. Civilization
Status
Mesopotamia, Egypt, Rome
, Greece, Canada

2. Mesopotamia
 Mesopotamia had 3 levels of social status
 The first, and highest level was made up of soldiers, powerful
government officials, and priests
 The second or middle level was made up of merchants,
teachers, labourers, farmers, and craftsmen
 The third level or lowest level was made up of slaves, who were
most likely captured in battle
 Slaves had no rights and were not paid to work
 Normal people had many rights and a lot of them had slaves
 Priests were very powerful people, and were in charge of
making everyone behave so the gods were happy
 Priests were the doctors in Mesopotamia
 The upper class wore fancy clothes and jewelry, but were not
mistaken for priest, because priests were the only people who
shaved their heads
 The middle class had jobs like owning a farm or shop

3. Mesopotamia
 Men had much more power than women
 Women had power but over time they lost that power and
men gained power
 Mesopotamian kings and queens were believed to be sent by
the gods, but they didn’t believe they were actual gods
 Kings were named “King of the Universe” or “Great King” or
“Shepard” (They were called shepherds because they had to
take care of the people
 Although there were many kings, Thorkild Jacobsen and many
others believed in early Mesopotamia the people in control
and the people with the power were a council of elders

4. Mesopotamia

5. Mesopotamia

6. Egypt
 Farmers were very common but had a low social status
because they had to pay many taxes and didn’t own the land
they used (It was the rich peoples land) and they had to work
on a lot of irrigation and construction projects
 Artists and craftsmen had a higher status than farmers, but
were under control of the state and most workshops were
attached to temples
 Scribes and government officials formed the upper class and
were called the “white-kilt class” because of their white
bleached garments that marked their rank
 Just below the nobility class were priests, physicians, and
engineers
 All Egyptians except slaves were under the same laws, even
the lowest peasant was under the same laws as a noble
 Slaves could work, sell, and work for freedom or even nobility

7. Egypt
 A lot of your status came from what type of family you were
born into
 A farmers son or daughter had a very low status, but a kings
son had very high status and was very important
 The top level of the social pyramid was the pharaoh
 The next was the vizier, the king advisor
 The next level below was the nobles and priests
 The level below that was the soldiers and scribes
 The level below that were the craftsmen
 The bottom level was the farmers and slaves
 The vizier was the high priest, and was responsible for official
documents, the supply of food, settling disputes, and the
protection of the pharaoh and his family
 The pharaoh had the highest status in Egypt

8. Egypt

9. Egypt

10. Rome
 Only Roman citizens had full civil and political rights
 There was a head to a family (The father) and they controlled
the family and they had to listen to him based on kinship to him
 Slaves were not under laws, but were an object of the law
 The owner of the slave could sell or pawn him, but could not
injure or kill him
 If someone hurt a slave, the slave could order protection
 A slaves owner could give a slave an amount of land to live on
and manage
 Your status in Rome was determined by your ancestry, your
rank, attainment of honours, and citizenship
 It is most common for older slaves to be released, which made
there status higher

11. Rome
 The male head of the family had special legal powers and
privileges
 Patricians were people believed to have been descendants of
people in a council Romulus established
 Plebs were normal citizens
 In early Rome Plebs fought for rights and finally got them
 There were six complex classes based on property you owned
 The top class was the senatorial class
 To be a Senator you had to be in political office or own
property worth 1,000,000 sesterces
 The lowest class were the proletarians
 Latin people had rights but couldn’t vote
 The five levels of people were Senators, Equestrians, Common
people, Freed people, and slaves

12. Rome

13. Rome

14. Greece
 Only free, land owning native men were entitled to full
protection of the law
 Unlike Rome, social status didn’t give you any special rights or
take away rights
 The people in Greece were divided into four social classes
based on wealth
 You could change classes if you made more money
 All male citizens in Sparta who finished their education equal to
each other, except the Spartan king
 Greek slaves had no power or status
 Slaves had a right to have a family and the right to own
property, if their master let them
 Slaves had no political rights

15. Greece
 Slaves outside of Sparta almost never revolted because they
were made up of to many different nationalities
 To have the status of a true male in Sparta, you had to kill a
helot (A slave captured from the Messanian Wars), then you
were allowed to become a warrior
 Kings had the highest status, other than gods, who were
worshiped every day by thousands of people
 You weren’t a Greek citizen, but you were a Spartan citizen, or
an Athenian citizen, or a citizen from your city
 Some slaves weren’t as low status as others, because they were
ether very skilled in what they did, or they were paid
 In any city you were more powerful than a person from another
city, if you were from the city you were in
 Soldiers had some government powers, because they were
asked to be jury members

16. Greece

17. Greece

18. Canada
 The highest status in Canada belongs to Stephen Harper
 The lowest status in Canada is the refugee status
 Although refugee is the lowest status, they can become full
citizens if they live here long enough
 People coming to live in Canada have to fill out a form to get
full Canadian status
 Aboriginal people in Canada have a status that entitles them
to many programs and services
 Certain aboriginal people are not entitled to this status
 Prior to 1985, there were many things an aboriginal person
could do to get their status revoked: Marrying a man who was
not Indian(aboriginal)status, voting in an election, having at
age 21 a mother or grandmother who wasn’t of Indian status
before they got married, or being born with a mother who had
status, and a father who didn’t have Indian status

19. Canada
 Back then aboriginals gained status from the mothers family
and the child always joined the mothers tribe
 Some things that effected your status in Canada are wealth,
age, occupation, power, ancestry, race or ethnicity,
class(upper class, middle class, working class, or lower class),
and housing
 Canada is a democracy so status isn’t as important as it is in
some countries

20. Canada

21. Canada