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Post by Keith Heitmann on Sept 21, 2004 15:55:45 GMT -5
Noble -- Noble families, the pinnacle of Egyptian society, live in urban townhouses. From here they manage their farming estates, which your government taxes for food. Providing noblemen lots of opportunities to spend their wealth motivates them to increase the size of their estates to grow more food, resulting in more tax revenue for you.
After they buy their wares and pay for maintenance on their townhouses, nobles with wealth to spare like to put additions on their homes. Since each townhouse enhancement raises its upkeep costs, the number of farms the estate owner needs to employ increases as he improves his home.. Each enhancement brings some tangible benefit to the noble family.
On many evenings, nobles will invite their friends over for a feast. These lavish affairs are the social elite's main leisure activity and entertainers' sole means of employment. What well-bred Egyptian doesn't enjoy a night of good food, drink, conversation and amusement at one of the city's opulent townhouses?
Nobles expect all that Egyptian society can offer, and in abundance. Build townhouses convenient to high-priced household wares and the full range of service facilities - nobles and their families always seem to have a reason to visit such places. Remember that noblewomen need servants to help them with their shopping burdens, too, so unsightly servants' shacks are a necessary evil near noble neighborhoods.
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Post by Keith Heitmann on Sept 21, 2004 15:56:36 GMT -5
Raider -- Bands of criminals sometimes come into the city to steal, pillage and cause mayhem. When they come from an identifiable enemy encampment that you can see on the world map, you can end the raids by sending the army to conquer their home base. When in your city, raiders look for the richest target of opportunity. They avoid operational guard posts but aren't very afraid of guards, and will fight back if accosted. Raiders leave only when they have their fill of plunder. Your citizens expect and demand adequate security, and excessive raids make them extremely dissatisfied.
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Post by Keith Heitmann on Sept 21, 2004 15:56:50 GMT -5
Raider -- Bands of criminals sometimes come into the city to steal, pillage and cause mayhem. When they come from an identifiable enemy encampment that you can see on the world map, you can end the raids by sending the army to conquer their home base. When in your city, raiders look for the richest target of opportunity. They avoid operational guard posts but aren't very afraid of guards, and will fight back if accosted. Raiders leave only when they have their fill of plunder. Your citizens expect and demand adequate security, and excessive raids make them extremely dissatisfied.
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Post by Keith Heitmann on Sept 21, 2004 15:57:16 GMT -5
Stone Carver -- stone carvers who finish god statues in temples, colossal statues, obelisks, stele, and the fine limestone blocks on pyramids. Stone carvers are government employees who obtain their food from bakeries. These skilled craftsmen normally come from the city's peasant population. Build their homes near bakeries, common wares shops and the services that they will sometimes need, but not too far from anticipated construction sites."
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Post by Keith Heitmann on Sept 21, 2004 15:57:49 GMT -5
Furnisher -- Furnishers create fine furniture in their shops, for sale to the city's elite citizens and to foreign merchants that visit the city. Furniture can be made from reeds, acacia, or fine cedar. Cedar must be imported, and is then purchased by the furnisher at the Exchange. Good, workable wood is precious in Egypt, so furniture is one of the more expensive luxuries.
Furnishers are members of the middle class who have risen from the ranks of the peasantry, or migrated from other middle-class occupations. The furnisher's children can collect acacia and reeds for the shop, while the furnisher's wife sees to the family's shopping needs. If freed from this duty when the furnisher hires a servant, the children might have time to attend school and eventually become educated workers. Very prosperous furniture shops can enable their owners to achieve their dream of moving into vacant townhouses and becoming elite noble families. Locate furniture shops near the elite households that will buy their wares, but not too far from the raw materials, common wares shops and service facilities the furnisher's own household needs.
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Post by Keith Heitmann on Sept 21, 2004 15:58:24 GMT -5
Sandal Maker -- Sandal makers create footwear for sale to the wealthier residents of your city, and to foreign merchants that visit the city. Sandals are a luxury household ware made from rushes, more valuable leather, or a combination of these materials.
Sandal makers are members of the middle class who have risen from the ranks of the peasantry, or migrated from other middle-class occupations. The sandal maker's children help him by gathering raw materials, while his wife sees to the family's shopping needs. If the family can afford to employ a servant to harvest their resources, the children might have enough free time to attend school and eventually become educated workers. Very prosperous sandal shops can enable their owners to move into vacant townhouses and become elite noble families. Locate sandal shops near the elite households that will buy their wares, but not too far from the raw materials, common wares shops and service facilities the sandal maker's own household needs.
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Post by Keith Heitmann on Sept 21, 2004 15:59:02 GMT -5
Basket Maker -- The lady of the house produces sturdy baskets for use in all of the city's homes, while her husband and child collect the papyrus reeds or rushes that she needs. The basket maker also shops for the family's household wares. The less time she has to spend shopping, the more baskets she can make.
Basket makers belong to the middle class. They might have arisen from the peasantry, or changed careers from some other occupation. Locate basket shops near the households that will buy their wares, but not too far from the raw materials, common wares shops and service facilities that the basket maker's own household needs.
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Post by Keith Heitmann on Sept 21, 2004 15:59:29 GMT -5
Merchant -- Merchant caravans and ships bring household luxury wares from faraway lands. Newly arrived merchants look for a merchant center with an available stall from which to sell their exotic wares, or to serve as a base while they purchase locally-produced wares from the city's luxury shops. If no stalls are vacant, the merchant sets up shop someplace near his customers or suppliers. He conducts as much business as he can, then returns home. Merchants continue to come and go periodically, buying and selling all they can on each trip.
Merchant centers provide an organizational advantage. It is easier to keep track of the city's merchant commerce when it's centralized, and easier for your scribes to record merchant transactions and collect tariffs on these. Some unscrupulous merchants set up shop outside of merchant centers to escape paying taxes, but scribes know this and occasionally go out looking for these renegade stalls.
A merchant center open to waterborne trade sports a dock, and is called a quay.
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Post by Keith Heitmann on Sept 21, 2004 15:59:57 GMT -5
Mat Maker -- Everybody needs to cover their floors, windows and doors with mats, making them among the most common of household wares. The mat maker weaves mats from the papyrus reeds or plain rushes her husband and their children gather from the river's banks. She also buys the common wares her family needs. The less time she has to spend shopping, the more work she can get done.
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Post by Keith Heitmann on Sept 21, 2004 16:00:28 GMT -5
Jeweler -- Jewelry is a luxury household ware that varies widely in value, depending on the materials that the jeweler puts into each piece. Faience, made from common quartz sands that the jeweler's children and servants gather, is pretty common. Gold, emeralds and turquoise have to be mined or imported by the government and bought from an Exchange. Jewelry made from these materials is more precious.
Any piece of jewelry satisfies an elite citizen's need for one luxury item. The more valuable the piece, the longer it satisfies its owner. Jewelers produce every kind of jewelry they can from the materials available to them, and their customers buy the best pieces they can afford.
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Post by Keith Heitmann on Sept 21, 2004 16:00:58 GMT -5
Overseer -- All the laborers in Egypt won't accomplish anything without somebody to organize and motivate them, and that is where overseers come in. It is up to these educated government employees to turn muscle power into useful work. When you want something done, tell an overseer to mine tin, copper, gold, turquoise or emeralds; to quarry, limestone, fine limestone, granite or basalt; to manage a construction project; or just to find the nearest site where he is needed. Absent specific orders, overseers eventually find someplace to make themselves useful. Once the overseer arrives on the scene, laborers will report for work. If a monument isn’t being built, or especially if you see laborers idling about, it might just need better oversight.
Locate overseers' quarters near the work projects that they will manage...but bear in mind their need for life’s finer things. Like other elite people, overseers are fed from bakeries. They want easy access to the wares and services that your city offers but, being realists, overseers know that you can't supply remote and primitive worksites with all of the amenities that other elite citizens expect. Their needs are modest, at least when compared to those of other elite workers, but providing them with civilized amenities near their harsh worksites can be a major challenge.
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Post by Keith Heitmann on Sept 21, 2004 16:01:39 GMT -5
Sculptor -- Sculpture is a luxury household ware made from clay, or from basalt, or from copper and tin. The sculptor’s family can gather its own clay, but must get the basalt, copper and tin that go into better sculptures from the Exchange. Spirits of the dead, and even of gods, reside in sculptures, making the sculptor’s importance (and his high standard of living) plainly understandable. Locate sculpture shops near the elite households that will buy their wares, but not too far from the raw materials, common wares shops and services that the sculptor’s own household needs.
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Post by Keith Heitmann on Sept 21, 2004 16:02:05 GMT -5
Baker -- The bakery is a government workshop where raw wheat and barley are baked into bread for government workers. Bakeries also distribute vegetables and other foodstuffs. Unlike private shopkeepers, government workers don't sell their wares commercially, so the bakery is their only source for farm-grown food. Educated, elite workers in your government’s employ also take their bread from bakeries. The city's whole economy would come apart without well-supplied bakeries to pay these important workers
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Post by Keith Heitmann on Sept 21, 2004 16:02:33 GMT -5
Cosmetician -- Cosmetics are a luxury household ware made from kohl, henna or malachite (made from copper ore). Elite citizens hate so much to be seen in public without proper makeup, with all its various protective aspects, that they don’t consider the cosmetician’s wares to be “luxuries” at all. A successful cosmetician might hire a servant to help him gather kohl and henna. If it’s available, he’ll buy copper ore from the government to get that coveted deep green shade of malachite that goes into the most expensive cosmetics. The most successful cosmeticians can send their children to school.
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Post by Keith Heitmann on Sept 21, 2004 16:03:03 GMT -5
Vagrant -- When hard times befall a family, its members can wind up living on the streets as vagrants -- homeless, jobless and hungry. Despite their situation, these unfortunates remain attached to urban living and optimistic about their futures, and would rather ride out hard times in the city than return to village life. Unfortunately, they often seem to lay their mats right where they’re least wanted, convenient to the better-off citizens from whom they beg their livelihood. If their situation grows desperate, or if they are emboldened by growing numbers, vagrant men might turn to crime, making the situation in the city even worse. The only real cure for vagrancy is sufficient prosperity to re-employ these displaced people. Build up your city’s private sector carefully, ensuring that new businesses have enough customers to prosper (without taking business from existing shops!). Rapid expansion can cause suffering that can take a long time to remedy.
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