By the early Old Kingdom, steep social hierarchies had developed in Egypt. A small group of individuals at the top seemed to hold the fate of the country in their hands, as only the ‛ruling classes’, to use Marxist-inspired terminology, commanded the resources to express their ideas and practices. In durable materials and at places favourable for preservation, the texts, inscriptions, paintings, sculpture, and monumental architecture commissioned by the elite shaped modern perceptions of ancient Egypt. Other types of evidence, such as the workmen’s huts, simple graves, and local community shrines discussed in this book seem merely to fill the gaps and are hardly ever used to develop alternative approaches to the traditional narrative.