Egypt

Continent: Africa
Capital: Cairo
Abolition Date:
Start Date: - this ancient land engaged in slavery from before biblical times.
Currency: Egytian Pound

Languages Spoken: Arabic (official),English and French widely understood by educated classes
Population: As estimated in late 2006, is 74,033,000.
National Anthem: "Bilady, Bilady, Bilady" (My Homeland, My Homeland, My Homeland)

Slavery in Egypt can be traced before biblical times. In many instances, some peasants in ancient Egypt led better livelihoods as slaves than as free persons: some Egyptian peasants purposely sold themselves into slavery as a means of repaying their debts. Though slaves in ancient Egypt could be sold, inherited or offered as gifts, they were not prohibited from learning, achieving greater social rank, purchasing property or negotiating other contracts. One papyrus from the New Kingdom even records masters being testified against by slave witnesses. Slave children apparently enjoyed some authoritative protection, as a letter from the 18th dynasty records limits to their use for harsh labor, and Egyptian households further bore the responsibility of adequately raising children of slave parents.
It's also worth mentioning that slaves were not as extensively used in ancient Egypt (or Kemet), contrary to popular belief and the stories recounted in the Bible. Support for this claim comes from archaeological discoveries regarding the pyramids not being built by slaves, but most likely locals who would go into the city and work during the flood season, and "ensure their own afterlife and would also benefit the future and prosperity of Egypt as a whole. They may well have been willing workers, a labor force working for ample rations, for the benefit of man, king, and country."

Since the Middle Kingdom foreign slaves mainly from Asia became increasingly numerous. They were either prisoners of war or traded by slave merchants. Their period of enslavement in Egypt was often limited. Debt slaves or prisoners of war were at times set free after serving for a certain period.

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