The fact is, we don’t know much about the lives of ancient Egyptian commoners, all of whom were illiterate and few of whom could afford tombs or other lasting monuments, from which most of our knowledge about Egyptian society is gathered. Most of what we know comes from the small percentage of people who did leave such records: skilled workmen, the professional classes, and nobility. Even those records are scant.

The lives of most ancient Egyptians were short and marked by grinding poverty and drudgery. Women who survived childhood would be lucky to live beyond forty. Most people went to bed with the sunset. Work was hard and monotonous. Children grew up quickly and were sent out to work at an early age to support the family.

However, we do have some knowledge about how ancient Egyptians might have spent their leisure time. We know, for instance, that wrestling was a popular spectator sport. And since most Egyptians were illiterate, there were very likely skilled storytellers who regaled those who couldn’t read with tales from mythology (to them, religion) and history. Hunting was a popular activity as well and, when practiced by nobles, its purpose was pleasure rather than the production of food. Their main weapon for hunting would have been the bow. Egyptians took great pride in their archery. The bow was used not only in hunting, but also in warfare, and boys devoted themselves to practice from an early age.

People also played several board games, including senet. Some were so addicted that they took the games along with them into their tombs, which is how we know about them. The senet board had thirty squares, in three rows of ten; the pieces were small and conical, six to each player, and the moves were determined by the fall of a set of carved wands, which were thrown in the air. The aim was to progress through your opponent’s pieces back to the starting point, or to the opposite end of the board.

Though few ancient Egyptians ever saw the need for international travel, some likely enjoyed going sightseeing. Many got to see the world as either envoys or soldiers or couriers, but literary evidence suggests Egyptians tended to hate leaving Egypt. Some traveled a good deal within Egypt. These would be clerks, officials, merchants, or farmers transporting produce. All made use of the cheap and convenient Nile.

There were also many distractions to be found in religious practice. The role of music and dance (almost always performed by women) in the temple was essential. Music was necessary in maintaining order and restoring balance. A sistrum was shaken to drive away hostile forces and rejuvenate the gods. By the Hellenistic Period, it is recounted that the Egyptians sang to the gods three or four times a day. And though the masses were not permitted into Egyptian temples, the divine image of the gods would be taken outside of the temple in a grand procession every few days, enclosed on a barque carried on the shoulders of priests. During the procession, the barque would stop every few hundred feet at waystations where the priests would pray or faithful would act out mythic history. These processions were the common people’s best chance at seeing or interacting with their deities. Some would stop beside the barque and ask the god a question. If the barque moved back the answer was negative and if it moved forward the answer was positive. If the asker didn’t like his answer, he could ask another barque with a more conciliatory god. Such tactics were employed frequently.

So we don’t have the full picture, but there’s enough evidence to provide some idea of how people (again, particularly skilled laborers, professionals, and nobles) spent their free time. If you want to read more, all of this information was gathered from the following three sources:

Mertz, Barbara. Red Land, Black Land: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt. Harper, 2009.

Graves-Brown, Carolyn. Dancing for Hathor: Women in Ancient Egypt. Continuum, 2010.

Sauneron, Serge, et al. The Priests of Ancient Egypt. Cornell University Press, 2000.