Society was divided into classes with the pharaoh ranking first. He was treated like the god of his people. Next, are the priests which reflects the importance of religion during these times and the the nobles who swore allegiance to the pharaoh. The second most important person in ancient Egyptian times was the vizier. He was the second in command of all of Egypt.The viziers were appointed by the pharaohs, but often belonged to a vizier family. The vizier's paramount duty was to supervise the running of the country, such as a prime minister, at times even small details of it such as sampling the city's water supply. All other lesser supervisors and officials, such as tax collectors and scribes, would report to the vizier. The traders, artisans, shopkeepers, and scribes rank third in social rank because of their great contribution to the trade, economy, and culture of Egypt. Farmers and herders take up the necessary job of producing food which ranks fourth in the social pyramid. The unskilled workers rank last because of their meaningless skills. And the people who where so low that they did not even count as humans were slaves. The level of one's job contribution to the function of the Egyptian state dictates an individual's societal standings.