The civilization of the continent has experienced thousands of years of history, and few other civilizations in the world can match it. However, the Egyptian civilization was also born in ancient times and has some similarities with Chinese civilization. For example, they all originate near rivers and have similar skin tones.
It is only said that the Egyptian civilization also has many differences from the civilization of the mainland. The mainland has always paid attention to the patriarchal system and distinguished between honor and inferiority, and the fathers and sons of kings and subjects must abide by etiquette and etiquette, and there must be no slightest trespassing. Ancient Egypt was different, it was understood that their pharaohs could marry their own daughters and give birth to children, didn't they pay attention to ethics and morality?
The tradition of marriage between close relatives
In fact, it is understandable that countries and regions with different geographical locations have different customs and cultures, although China and Egypt rely on agricultural production, but their geographical location is far from each other.
In the backward areas of the mainland, because the traffic was really blocked, some people did not have the opportunity to contact outsiders, so the object of marriage could only choose close relatives.
However, the children they gave birth to were inevitably unhealthy, and people at that time only thought that it was the punishment of heaven for themselves, so the marriage of close relatives was regarded as a bad habit. Until the development of medicine to a certain extent, the feudal idea of marriage between close relatives was gradually abandoned, and we had a deeper understanding of the marriage of close relatives.
However, the Egyptian civilization is on the African continent, so it is reasonable that some of their ideas and concepts are different from those of us who belong to the Asian continent. According to the large number of ancient Egyptian historical documents that can be found so far, we can find that the marriage of close relatives in ancient Egypt is very common.
Although we think that the marriage of close relatives is counterintuitive, at that time, up to the pharaohs in Egypt and down to the common people, this was very normal. And in the beginning this tradition was pioneered by the Egyptian royal family. They do this for their own reasons.
Reasons for marriage between close relatives
First of all, in the culture of ancient Egypt, the status of the pharaoh was the same as that of the gods. In ancient Egyptian mythology, gods could marry close relatives, so Pharaoh wanted to reflect his differences from mortals. So in the beginning, I was different and married to close relatives. Osiris and Isis, for example, were originally brother and sister, but eventually married.
The pharaohs believed that doing the same thing as God would increase their appearance as more sacred, and that it would be convenient to increase their authority in this way. So in the royal family, not only brothers and sisters marry, but also women marry, and even mother and son marry.
In the eyes of the ancient Egyptians, what Pharaoh did was worth going to Mobike and learning. Therefore, this custom also spread to the common people of ancient Egypt, who also thought it was reasonable to do so.
Secondly, the reason the pharaohs chose to marry their close relatives was that they wanted to ensure that the royal bloodline was pure enough in this way. Because in their view, the blood of the royal family is not allowed to be defiled by outsiders. If they marry a foreign relative, it will cause the Wang bloodline to become chaotic and no longer pure. Therefore, they chose to marry close relatives to achieve their goals, only in this way.
The third reason is that the pharaoh's marriage to a close relative can avoid the power in his hands from being threatened by foreign relatives, and avoid outsiders from taking advantage of the situation and causing power to flow elsewhere.
In addition, in the ancient Egyptian period, the status of women was still relatively high. Just as in matrilineal clan societies, they can inherit and control the family's property, so in order to ensure that the property does not flow out, it is all in the hands of the people in the family, so the women of the royal family will also choose to marry close relatives.
In summary, in the eyes of the ancient Egyptians, the way of life of marriage between close relatives was in line with both God's will and the original intention of safeguarding the interests of the family, so such a tradition has always existed. For example, in the Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt, Amenofe IV married his own mother, and then he married his daughter with her mother.
Such behavior is undoubtedly absurd to outsiders, but through the above analysis, we have to admit that what they did was in line with the cultural background of the time, so that they could be accepted by the people at that time, and the people followed suit.
The disadvantages of marriage between close relatives
In today's gradual development of modern medicine, we are well aware that the marriage of close relatives has great drawbacks, and it is likely to give birth to unhealthy children. Didn't the ancient Egyptians know this? In fact. Among the children born of the marriage of close relatives in the ancient Egyptian royal family, there are many children who may have intellectual problems, and some children who have physical disabilities.
It was only in the eyes of the ancient Egyptians that defective children born of the marriage of close relatives were the care of the heavens for them and the gifts given by the gods. Such a seemingly absurd idea was recognized by people at that time, but it was inseparable from the hype and exaggeration of the ancient Egyptian royal family.
As we mentioned earlier, the ancient Egyptian royal family would choose close relatives to marry and have children for their own rights, and they tried to rationalize this behavior. They claimed that the defective child was the one kissed by the gods, and this idea spread day after day, and the crowd became accustomed to stereotypes.
Of course, there were many people who questioned this view in the process, but the pharaohs at that time held absolute authority, so those who dared to question this view would also be eliminated. Over time, this idea has become so deeply rooted in the hearts of the people that no one dares to question it, and no one will question it.
Although people at that time pursued such ideas, it is undeniable that there are drawbacks to the marriage of close relatives. Modern archaeologists have found that many of them have physical defects when restoring the remains of some ancient Egyptian pharaohs. For example, the famous pharaoh Tutankhamun, who was physically deformed, shows how much harm this feudal practice caused to people.
epilogue
In short, if we look at this custom of ancient Egypt from the current point of view, it is understandable and condemnable, but we must look at the problem with a historical perspective, and understand the deep reasons behind this behavior in the cultural environment of the time. The reason for the eventual demise of ancient Egypt may also be inseparable from the marriage of close relatives, which is also a punishment for them.
Luckily. Now that we know the drawbacks of marriage between close relatives, something like this won't happen. We have to thank the development of modern science and civilization, which is why we can abandon the traditional bad habits and move towards a brighter future.
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