Position of women in ancient Egypt
The position of women in ancient Egypt is comparable to the high social position of women in other early high cultures , such as in Sumer or Akkad, and thus sets itself apart from the position of women in other domains of antiquity , for example in Greece and the Roman Empire .
Legal equality
| Mistress of the house in hieroglyphics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Nebet-per Nb.t-pr mistress of the house |
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Legally, Egyptian women had a comparable status to men: They could inherit, bequeath and - unlike the Romans, for example - did not need a legal guardian . In practice, however, women were rarely active in administration or in high positions of power. This could have been due to her family obligations. The wisdom teachings repeatedly warn against women. In the Westcar Papyrus , a woman who committed adultery is burned alive. Even with crimes such as B. Theft, women received the same penalties as men. In 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian history, four women managed to rule as queen.
In the family, the woman was the mistress of the house, unlike in Greece or Rome, where the man was the pater familias . In their capacity as "mistress" women kept their own seals. Women could be clerks or hold other high office positions. A case as a vizier is known. Women are often occupied in manual occupations such as brewing beer. From the New Kingdom up to the late period , the title of God's wife of Amun is known, who even ruled over Upper Egypt in some cases.
Women's economy in the Old Kingdom
From the Old Kingdom there are various mastabas of high-ranking women, such as queens or women of viziers, which, like many of these tombs, are decorated with numerous scenes. The servants of the grave owner are often shown on these wall representations. In the mastabas of high-ranking women of this era , the auxiliary staff consists only of women. At this time, high-ranking women had servants consisting exclusively of women, although this is not proven for all women. The titles show that they were administrators of the goods of these ladies. There are designations such as "head of the house" or "treasurer". This women's economy is only attested in the Old Kingdom.
Women in the Third Intermediate Period
In the Third Intermediate Period , many high-ranking ladies of the royal family also held high administrative titles, which in other periods are only occupied by men. The best-known example are probably the wives of Pinudjem II , Isisemheb and Neschons , both of whom held the title of Viceroy of Cush . But they are not the only examples. Queens of this time, for example, also had high titles in the temple administration ( domain head of the Temple of Chon ). The reasons for assigning these high administrative positions to women, especially at this time, are not entirely clear, but it has been argued that the upper class was largely Libyan at the time and that this was accompanied by strong social shifts.
More women in high offices
Cleopatra III. was Alexander priest, an office normally reserved for men.
Sole rulers
Women are also known in administrative offices. They rose to the position of vizier and even the office of pharaoh and often began as regent for an underage heir to the throne:
Early dynasty
- Neithhotep (1st dynasty) bears her name on an inscription in a serech , which was reserved for rulers only. The interpretation as ruler is controversial.
- Meritneith (1st dynasty) also bears her name in a serech on a seal inscription. She may have ruled for her underage son Den for a few years . The interpretation as ruler is controversial.
Old empire
- Chentkaus I (4th Dynasty) was depicted on her pyramidal tomb with the attributes of a reigning king and had a title that referred to her as "King of Egypt".
- Chentkaus II (5th dynasty) had the same title as Chentkaus I.
- Nitokris (6th Dynasty) is considered the last ruler of the Old Kingdom. The circumstances of her enthronement are not known. Identification as a woman is uncertain.
Middle realm
- Nofrusobek (12th Dynasty) was the last ruler of the Middle Kingdom. Their reign was followed by more than 200 years of confused conditions, in Egyptology this period is called the Second Intermediate Period . There was no damnatio memoriae (destruction of memory) with her . She is the earliest proven sole ruler of Egypt.
New kingdom
- Hatshepsut (18th Dynasty) did not give up the power of government when her stepson and nephew Thutmose III. was old enough to be king. She had herself proclaimed Pharaoh.
- Nefertiti (18th dynasty) had great influence under her husband Akhenaten and possibly ruled himself after his death. Semenchkare is named as the subsequent ruler , which many researchers count as an indication against it. But he bears her surname and the adoption of a throne name that differed from the birth name was common. There are other indications of Nefertiti's rule, but the subject is debatable among Egyptologists.
- Ankhesenamun is also eligible for brief sole rule if she was the author of the Dahamunzu letter .
- Tausret (19th dynasty) was the last ruler of the 19th dynasty. She first took over the reign of her stepson Siptah and ruled alone after his death. It was followed by Sethnacht , the founder of the 20th dynasty. The transition of the dynasties is unclear. Sethnacht had the memory of Tausret destroyed and usurped her grave ( KV14 ) in the Valley of the Kings .
Greek time
- Berenike Cleopatra (Ptolemaic period) took over in 81 BC. The sole rule. After six months she was forced by Sulla to give her stepson Ptolemy XI. to marry. After three weeks of marriage, he had her murdered.
- Berenike IV (Ptolemaic period) dethroned 58 BC. Her father and took over the government. She had her first husband murdered, with the second she ruled for 6 months until Ptolemy XII. returned from exile and murdered her.
- Cleopatra VII (Ptolemaic Empire) , the pharaoh known as "the" Cleopatra, fought for the throne with her brother and relied on the help of the Romans (especially Julius Caesar ). Her brother and husband, Ptolemy XIII. , did not submit to the decision of the Romans and died fighting. Cleopatra married her other brother, Ptolemy XIV , but in fact ruled alone. After Caesar's death she found another ally in Mark Antony , but was defeated by Octavian and committed suicide. She is considered the last Egyptian ruler, although - like all Ptolemies - she was not of Egyptian descent.
Love and engagement
Egyptian men courted the women they adored with poetic love songs that expressed gentle and reserved, but also sexual feelings in metaphors and images of nature. Lovers spoke to sister and brother to express the spiritual closeness they felt. Young Egyptian women did not have to enter into a virgin marriage. There is hardly any evidence that would mention a corresponding requirement, but the translation of the few written sources is somewhat controversial.
marriage
Divine assistance or formalities were not required to make the marriage covenant. Two people were considered married as soon as they lived together, that is, as soon as the woman and all her possessions lived together with a man. In some cases, marriage contracts were concluded, especially in the later period they became more common.
Familys
A family with grandparents, aunts and nephews lived in each house. Because of the high mortality rate, it is assumed that these family groups were rather small. The ideal was having many children, even if many of them died prematurely.
The importance of children
The birth of a child was a happy event. The mother took care of the upbringing of the small children until they had to help out in the fields, in the garden or in the house when they were around 5–6 years old. From the age of 6, children of wealthy families went to the palace or temple where they were subjected to schooling.
See also
literature
- Peter H. Schulze: Women in ancient Egypt. Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1993, ISBN 3404641191 .
- Sergio Donadino: The Man of Ancient Egypt. Magnus, Essen 2004, ISBN 3-88400-408-5 .
- Joyce Tyldesley : Queens of Ancient Egypt. From the early dynasties to the death of Cleopatra . Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig 2008, ISBN 978-3-7338-0358-2 .
Individual evidence
- ^ The Tales from the Westcar Papyrus . At: reshafim.org.il (English); last update: May 2007; last accessed on October 9, 2015.
- ^ Henry George Fischer: Egyptian women of the Old Kingdom and of the Heracleopolitan Period. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (NY) 1989
- ↑ Karl Jansen-Winkeln: The Theban State of God. In: Orientalia. Vol. 70, 2001, pp. 153-182 ( online ).