Women In Ancient Egypt
This tomb painting illustrating the reunion of a husband and wife in the after-life shows the very real affection that was considered the norm in Ancient Egypt.
Egypt treated its women better than any of the other major civilizations of the ancient world. The Egyptians believed that joy and happiness were legitimate goals of life and regarded home and family as the major source of delight.
It was taken for granted in the ancient world that the head of the house was the man. The true meaning of this fact for women varied considerably from one place and time to another, and the impact was much greater if the law drew a distinction between a man and a woman. Marriage and offspring were always considered desirable, but in some societies …show more content…
In contrast, Ancient Egyptian men and women valued and enjoyed each other's company. Love and affection were thought to be important, and marriage was the natural state for people of all classes.
It is interesting to note, however, that there is no record anywhere of an actual marriage ceremony. We have records of divorce, we know that adultery (defined as sexual relations with a married woman---not a married man) was forbidden, and it is clear that everyone knew who was married to whom. Some scholars believe that the absence of any information on an actual marriage ceremony is merely a fluke in the historical record. Others argue that there was in fact no ceremony: a couple were considered married when they began to live together, calling to mind the modern North American concept of 'common-law marriage'.
A small handful of documents mention a man giving permission for a marriage, but all are sufficiently ambiguous to leave open the question of whether or not a father's permission was necessary as it was in other societies of the time. The earliest known Egyptian marriage contract dates from the seventh century BCE, long after the end of the New …show more content…
Monogamy seems to have been the norm for the rest of the country. A high death rate, particularly in childbirth, meant that many Egyptians of both sexes had more than one spouse. There is no unambiguous evidence of a man having more than one wife at a time, although there is some evidence of men who fathered children by a servant girl when their wives were unable to
Egypt treated its women better than any of the other major civilizations of the ancient world. The Egyptians believed that joy and happiness were legitimate goals of life and regarded home and family as the major source of delight.
It was taken for granted in the ancient world that the head of the house was the man. The true meaning of this fact for women varied considerably from one place and time to another, and the impact was much greater if the law drew a distinction between a man and a woman. Marriage and offspring were always considered desirable, but in some societies …show more content…
In contrast, Ancient Egyptian men and women valued and enjoyed each other's company. Love and affection were thought to be important, and marriage was the natural state for people of all classes.
It is interesting to note, however, that there is no record anywhere of an actual marriage ceremony. We have records of divorce, we know that adultery (defined as sexual relations with a married woman---not a married man) was forbidden, and it is clear that everyone knew who was married to whom. Some scholars believe that the absence of any information on an actual marriage ceremony is merely a fluke in the historical record. Others argue that there was in fact no ceremony: a couple were considered married when they began to live together, calling to mind the modern North American concept of 'common-law marriage'.
A small handful of documents mention a man giving permission for a marriage, but all are sufficiently ambiguous to leave open the question of whether or not a father's permission was necessary as it was in other societies of the time. The earliest known Egyptian marriage contract dates from the seventh century BCE, long after the end of the New …show more content…
Monogamy seems to have been the norm for the rest of the country. A high death rate, particularly in childbirth, meant that many Egyptians of both sexes had more than one spouse. There is no unambiguous evidence of a man having more than one wife at a time, although there is some evidence of men who fathered children by a servant girl when their wives were unable to