Women's History Month: Egyptian Women

March is Women's history month and I am going to feature article about women but limit the show the female form to minimal.

 If you were a woman in the ancient world, the best to live is in Egypt.  Women in Ancient Egypt enjoyed many of the same rights that women in our current society enjoy today. A woman could own and sell private property, resolve legal settlements, write a contract, initiate a divorce, file lawsuits, have a profession and inherit property (of course these rights also depended on the woman’s social class). I wouldn't say that Ancient Egyptian women had complete parity to men before the law. Yet they did have many rights that were out of reach for women in neighboring Greece. Women in ancient Etruria and then Rome came close second.

This article will examine what it was like to be a woman in Ancient Egyptian society and the different rights and responsibilities that they had. Most women performed domestic tasks in the home. However, there were female midwives, priestesses, weavers, dancers, musicians and even professional mourners. (Hiring complete strangers to act sad at your relative’s funeral was pretty normal in Ancient Egypt). Also, even though most of the positions of authority were occupied by men, there were a few female pharaohs (about 15), such as Hatshepsut, Nefertiti and Cleopatra. It also wasn't uncommon for a woman to serve as a regent (temporary ruler) when her husband died, until her son was old enough to take over. It was preferred for a woman with the right bloodline to be in power temporarily, than a man with the wrong bloodline.

Sexuality

The Egyptians had a very natural view towards sexuality and the human body that was untainted by guilt. Walking around naked for example was not the taboo that it is today. Though I’m guessing part of this attitude was due to how unbelievable hot Egypt can be and the Egypt is an oasis in the desert. The average temperature of an Egyptian summer is 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48 degrees Celsius). Children tended to walk around naked until puberty (about 12 years of age). Women of a lower social status walked around topless and wealthier women wore loose clothing that was sometimes transparent. Female entertainers frequently performed naked.

Prostitution

A popular image of a prostitute today is a woman sticking out a stilettos heel and a fishnet clad leg to interest her potential customers. Ancient Egyptian prostitutes did something similar, they advertised themselves in a blue faience beaded fish-net dress, painted their lips red and tattooed themselves on the breast and thighs. However, the modern idea of prostitute and the Ancient Egyptian similar end right there. In the modern world, we typically have a negative association with prostitutes, even if they are high class “escorts” that make thousands an hour sleeping with the wealthiest CEOs.

The reason why the modern idea of prostitution can’t compare with Ancient Egyptian sex workers, is because their profession wasn't tainted by guilt. Many sex workers were associated with Gods and Goddesses of fertility (Like the Goddess Hathor) and were regarded with respect. Also, it is not certain that all prostitutes slept with people for money. Some were temple prostitutes who had a connection to the divine. Others were entertainers who would dance, play music and perform sexual acts all in one (Miley Cyrus lol).

There are some theories that men slept with prostitutes before marriage, in order to learn how to please their wives, and that young girls engaged in prostitute related acts, in order to learn about sexuality in marriage. However, these are just theories and we don’t have any real proof for these ideas.

Marriage

A woman generally could get married at any age, and typically married after she started her period around the age of 14 or 15. Men got married when they were around 17 or 20. This may seem very young to the modern person, however we must remember that lifespans were shorter in Ancient Egypt. Documents written in the Ptolemaic Period reveal that the average life expectancy was 58 for women and 54 for men. This doesn't seem too bad, but we must remember that in the modern developed world, the average person lives to be about 80 or 90, which naturally drags the average age of marriage up to mid 20’s or early 30’s.

Consent from the parents was also needed to get married. This was especially important in the upper classes, since marriage determined the division of property and social status. However, as religious and ceremonial as Egyptian society was, what is surprising to note is that there was no ceremony for marriage: no special dress, no exchange of rings and no exchange of vows as the Greeks and Romans. It was a fairly simple affair where the wife moved into the house of her husband. He would either be living alone or with his parents.

While this doesn't sound very romantic, there is much literature and poetry that suggests that the ideal marriage was filled with affection, love and tenderness.

However, one thing that made the Egyptians much smarter than those of us today, is that they usually drafted up a contract before the marriage about how property would be distributed, and what would happen in the event of divorce. That’s right, they had a prenup power up! This was more relevant to people in the upper classes, who had more property and land to fight over.

May need a lawyer for court

Divorce: Divorce was not hard to get. Both a man or a woman could initiate a divorce and write up the divorce contract. Men divorced their wives if they were incapable of baring children – or baring a son. He may also divorce his wife if she stopped pleasing him. A woman could divorce her husband for mental and physical cruelty. In some cases, if a woman initiated divorce, she forfeited her right to communal property. Also women got spousal support in the case of a divorce, which was about 1/3 of her ex-husband’s earnings.

However, there were other options if the parents were childless: adoption and polygamy were two. Sometimes men had concubines, and these women did not have the same rights as their wives. However, polygamy was uncommon for most people. It was mainly practiced by the pharaoh so that he could display his virility, sire several children and political aligns.

Incest: One taboo topic that comes up when talking about Ancient Egypt is that of incest. Incest is another one of those things that was allowed for the Pharaoh, in order to keep the royal bloodline in place, but not commonly practiced among most people. This is reserve for the gods not ordinary people.

Adultery: The sexual openness of Ancient Egyptian society and women’s freedoms is awesome and modern. However, adultery was a completely different subject. While sex before marriage wasn't a big deal, an extra-marital affair was completely off the table. There was no DNA testing or Maury to show the paternal matching. The bond of trust and fidelity in marriage and family were highly valued by the Ancient Egyptian people, so valued in fact the worst punishment for a woman was death by stoning. This was described in the Egyptian Tale of Two Brothers. For a man, on the other hand, the worst thing that could happen to him is that he would be forced into a divorce.