[Xirgil]

I thought the consensus was that corvee labor was used, rather than outright slavery.

[adastra22]

They were paid in grain and beer.

[Xirgil]

Enough just to feed them, or enough to actually be considered payment?

[adastra22]

The concept of payment beyond present requirements may not have existed back then. People were payed in the resources their family needed to survive between the harvest seasons.

[DoItToMe81]

More than an ordinary laborer, much more than an agricultural slave, and you also had social esteem and a higher spiritual acclaim. This all means a LOT in a highly stratified society, like Ancient Egypt. You don't give such things to slaves.