Illustration of life along the Nile, showing a boat, agricultural fields, canals, and a “water elevator.”
Slave Labor in New Kingdom Egypt
According to Exodus 1:11, Israelite slaves were subjected to “backbreaking labor” designed to crush their spirits and curb their population growth. Three primary types of grueling work seem to define their daily life:
Brickmaking & Construction: Slaves mixed mud, water, and chaff to form bricks. This labor became even more punishing when Pharaoh stopped providing straw, forcing the workers to gather their own while maintaining the same daily quota.
Building “Treasure Cities”: The biblical account notes that the Israelites built the massive store cities of Pithom and Raamses to house imperial wealth.
Agricultural Toil: Beyond construction, they performed “every kind of field labor.” This included the tedious process of “watering with your foot”—likely a reference to manually operating irrigation ditches or foot-powered water wheels to redirect the life-giving waters of the Nile.
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