The wife was therefore often in charge of a substantial community and it was her job to keep it running smoothly. Women also functioned as middle-class housekeepers, servants, fieldhands and all aspects of skilled workers inside the household and in estate workshops. .
As far as other as other occupations go, upper class women are said to have held office. Most often though, these positions were in religious institutions and they were largely excluded from military and administrative roles. The title most frequently held by women was "mistress of the house." This however, wasn't a glorified expression for housewife or homemaker, but rather a genuine recognition of her administrative/business-like abilities necessary to administer a household. A woman ruling independently at this time was very unusual, although it did occur, most often in times of uncertainty of succession. Hatsheput and Cleopatra are two of the best known examples of this. There were also the less fortunate.
Women in Egypt could arrange for self-enslavement. This practice was actually a form of indentured servitude. Although self-enslavement appears to have been illegal in Egypt, both men and women practiced it. To get around the illegality, the servitude was stipulated for a limited number of years, usually 99. Also, under self-enslavement, women often "technically" received a salary for their labor. No money was actually exchanged though because "slave" would have to pay a fee to the provider that equaled her salary. Women were forced to enter into such arrangements for various reasons. Some did it as payment to a creditor to satisfy bad debts. Others did it to be assured of ones provisions and financial security. A woman could also include her children and grandchildren, alive or unborn in such an arrangement. Since this service was a legal institution, a legal contract was drawn up to determine the conditions and responsibilities of the involved parties.
