Legal Rights Of Ancient Egyptian Women

Throughout history, men typically dominated societies. Men have always appeared to have more respect and rights than women, depending on certain civilizations. In societies like Egypt, men were frequently pharaohs and today, are considered to be great rulers. Women were often expected to take the job of motherhood in Egyptian society. Although this was their anticipated responsibility, women, usually upper class and royal, were still permitted to get an education, to possess property, own businesses, have a job and be involved in military control. Women could also rule as pharaoh, which was an infrequent occurrence but did sometimes happen. Hatshepsut, for example, is one of the few women who became a pronounced leader in the ancient

The understanding of gender roles in society has been very fluid in the evolution of mankind. In ancient civilizations, the roles that you were given within a society were centered primarily around gender. These gender roles did vary from civilization to civilization, but were generally comparable. In most ancient civilizations, the roles of women were confined to the household. This was evident in most societies, but a stand out among these was Ancient Egypt. In which, Egypt was one of the only civilizations where women were even remotely equal to men. When comparing to other societies during the ancient time period, women were most respected in Egypt.

* The status of women in Mesopotamia was lower then men. Women enjoyed some protection and liberties, yet not as much as men.

In the Egyptian society women had the same rights, both legal and economic, as the men in their society. They could both work the same job and earn the same regardless of sex. Each member of the relationship maintained and respected the ownership of what was brought into the marriage. It is not known why these rights existed for women, especially during this time period. Women could even become pharaoh. Nowhere else in the ancient world did something like this exist. The women bore and raised the children. They were basically responsible for all of the more usual or domestic related relationships, while the men taught their growing boys about the world and their own trade. Men in ancient Egypt were often expected to form a life for themselves before going out to find a wife. The males would rarely be able to choose their own careers. It was more common for the men to receive the job their father had when they reached working age. The Egyptian society was

However, in Mesopotamia, the males subjugated the women. To stop married women from tempting other men, they were forced to cover their bodies, except for their faces, with veils. Women in Mesopotamia were often arranged into marriages, without a say on the subject. The Mesopotamian women had little impact on their society, while certain Egyptian women were able to gain highly influential positions in their society. One Egyptian woman even became the Queen of Egypt, alongside her son. Due to Egypt being less strict towards the women, Egyptian women were able to have a greater influence on their society. Although both civilizations were patriarchal, they varied on how strict they were towards women.

Throughout history women have faced many struggles in gaining equality with men. Freedoms and boundaries have been dependent upon the time period, rulers, religions and civilization. Ancient Greek women and Ancient Egyptian women were both equal to men as far as the law was concerned in certain areas; however, their equalities were different in the sense that Greek women were married out of necessity and viewed as property while Egyptian women were respected and loved by their husbands. Ancient Greek women and Ancient Egyptian women also both lived with limitations such as being thought of as domestic servants, yet these views solely depended on the time and polis.

In Egypt, although men were the dominant gender in society, women were treated with great respect, which led to a very stable and successful society. The Egyptians believed that the goal of life was happiness and viewed home and family life as the main source of it. Egyptian law basically treated women as equals for the most part. Women were allowed to hold positions of power, own property, own slaves, receive an education, and even borrow money. Although Pharaohs were normally men, certain circumstances allowed for women to hold the same title. The Egyptians believed that marriage and family were very important aspects in life. They believed that unconditional love and kindness were vital in a marriage and thought that husband and wife should always treat each other with respect. In regards to family, unlike many cultures that viewed children as another mouth to

Men had privileges that woman did not have. Some laws protected the women in some ways, for example, “if a man divorced his wife because she did not bear him a son, he had to provide her with money”. (3) Other laws direct to the thought of women being way less than men. Where women’s word does not matter, only her negative actions and they are equally punished. The Mesopotamian government shows more violent solutions to their crimes and the Egyptians themselves.

One of the most striking differences between ancient Athenian women and ancient Egyptian women was the ability to hold positions of power. Egyptian women were monarchs and held other positions depending on their social status. (Capel 1996, 176) Women were allowed to participate in low ranking government jobs, especially during war when the men are off fighting and leaving behind their positions. However, these positions were not kept for long because the men upon return automatically earned their position back by being the superior sex (Watterson 1991,).

Legally, women in Ancient Egypt permitted to have nearly an equal amount of independence and privilege to the natural rights as men. In Egypt they treat their ladies much nicer than any of the other major civilizations of the ancient world. In contrast to those of other ancient civilization, Egyptian women seemed to appreciate the equal legal and economic rights as the Egyptian man. Compared to Mesopotamia, the ladies of Egypt were given the right to partake in court from all aspects. The women are capable of being a judge at court or they could act as eyewitnesses, and they can even bring their own cases to the court. Like men, Egyptian women had the right to own and manage their own private property, they are capable of disowning children, and

4. How did Egyptian ladies appreciate a higher status than ladies somewhere else in the antiquated world? Ladies could acquire property, enter business arrangements, purchase and offer products, go to court and get a separation. Ladies fabricated fragrance and materials, oversaw cultivating and served as specialists. They could likewise enter the ministry.

In today’s society, we as women often take for granted the rights, freedoms, and equality we share with men that women in the ancient world were not granted. As all civilisations in the ancient world exercised different treatment towards, this essay will illustrate a few comparisons in the status of women during ancient Egypt with women during ancient Rome. Academic sources will be relied on to provide the necessary actualities when one considers ancient civilizations. The legal status of women in society, the domestic atmospheres and roles that each unique region’s women held, and the possible occupations available to these women, will be discussed.

The way women have been treated varies throughout time, in some time periods women were oppressed and fighting for rights, in others they were queens. In the ancient societies of Egypt and India, women were treated differently than men, although in different ways. In Egypt, women were still treated with respect and dignity, while in India the roles of women were to be submissive and compliant.

Moving ahead into the great civilization of Ancient Egypt, women and men had typical gender roles. Women were still seen as child bearers and domestic housekeepers and men taught their sons and became heavily involved in civic affairs (“Ancient Egypt”). The treatment of men and women was essentially equal in that woman did maintain civil rights, were given their own tombs upon death, and were even permitted to leave their husbands if necessary (“Ancient Egypt”). This was mainly because all property was passed from generation to generation through women- not men- giving them higher status and importance since Egyptians saw their land as sacred.

While women in ancient Egypt were not free in terms of most of today’s societies, neither were men. Neither man nor woman knew anything of the modern concept of liberty and equality. Their society was hierarchical, and not based on free will. During the Ptolemaic period of Egyptian history, Greek women enjoyed a much higher status living in Egypt, than they would have back in Greece, “It has been suggested that perhaps Greek women observed Egyptian women