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Ancient Egypt is an important part of ancient Egyptian civilization and an important birthplace of human civilization. It nurtured the thoughts and emotions of the ancient Egyptians, while also leaving many precious historical and cultural heritages.
As a very important part of ancient Egyptian culture, the marriage system is also very important, and the research and discussion of the marriage system is of great help to us to understand the history and culture of ancient Egypt.
For the institution of marriage, in addition to the monogamy that we are most familiar with, there are also forms such as polygamy, polygamy, etc. As one of the important roles in the marriage relationship, the wife's status and financial situation in the marriage also deserve our attention.
The institution of marriage in ancient Egypt
The ancient Egyptian marriage system mainly refers to the fact that a man must live with his wife after marriage, and cannot change wives at will, and cannot remarry or remarry. This institution of marriage can also be called "monogamy".
Because in ancient Egyptian law it was stipulated that men had to pay temple fees to marry their wives, men generally married before marriage.
Ancient Egyptian men were also required to keep a certain distance from their brothers after marriage and could not marry them, even their own brothers.
At the same time, in the marriage relationship, the wife is not only responsible for the corresponding household chores, but also responsible for the service of the husband. At the same time, the ancient Egyptians also had a custom that when a man married his wife, he was no longer allowed to remarry or remarry.
For a wife, her obligations also include helping her husband raise children and take care of the family. Not only that, but a wife also has certain rights after divorce from her husband.
The marriage system in ancient Egypt had strict legal regulations, which were of great significance to the society at that time.
The ancient Egyptians believed that only men were the main members of the family, so in the marriage relationship, women were often regarded as vassals and accessories of men, and they could not participate in family life.
Moreover, in ancient Egypt, there were two forms of polygamous marriage and monogamous marriage. Although both types of marriage institutions existed in ancient Egyptian society, they had different forms of expression in different periods and regions of ancient Egypt.
Ancient Egypt first appeared in the Nile Delta, and then with the continuous development and evolution of socio-economic, political, cultural and other aspects, it finally developed into the monogamous marriage system and polygamy marriage system that we are now familiar with.
The status of the wife
What is the status of the wife in the marriage relationship? From some laws of ancient Egypt, we can see that wives were given legal protection.
She can inherit all of her husband's property, both movable and immovable, and after her death, her property will also be inherited by her children.
In Egypt, wives were protected by law because the husband had absolute control over his wife during the marriage and the property acquired by the wife belonged to both spouses.
For the ancient Egyptians, the wife was not only the husband's person, but also the property of the family. If the wife dies, the property she leaves behind will be inherited by her children. This shows the status of the wife in the minds of the ancient Egyptians.
The law also lays down a number of obligations with respect to wives. In ancient Egypt, if a husband committed violence against his wife, then the wife had the right to sue him and demand that he compensate herself; Husbands can also sue their wives for divorce.
The law also imposes a duty of protection on the husband to his wife. The husband needs to protect him during the marriage; If the spouses divorce, they must be separated for a while before they can marry again.
It can be seen from these regulations that the ancient Egyptians still attached great importance to their wives.
And this also reflects the respect and protection of women by the ancient Egyptians. Of course, we can also find that although the ancient Egyptians respected and protected women, in their view, women were still dependent on men.
The wife's financial resources in the family
In ancient Egypt, the wife was the husband's private property, and the husband enjoyed the right to control property and the person in the family, so there were two main sources of economic resources for the wife: one was the family property from the husband; The second is income from one's own labor.
If the wife acquires her husband's family property during the marriage, the wife can live on her husband's family property instead of her own earnings.
The Karnak Code provides that "a wife must give all her property to her husband for her daily maintenance." ”
And for wives who are unable or unwilling to work, the husband can also receive a certain income from the wife's dowry.
According to the provisions of the Kanak Code, if the wife has not worked after the marriage or has not provided a dowry to support her daily needs, the husband may receive a certain amount of income from the wife.
In ancient Egyptian society, women were not allowed to perform any labor work. However, in Egyptian mythology there is a god named Cypt, who had three wives, and Cept was also known as the Three Wives.
Although the three wives cannot work, they can use the income from their labor to support their needs. They could sell the proceeds of their labour or to merchants or slave owners, for example.
In addition to the income from one's own labor, there was a special situation in ancient Egyptian society: the husband had absolute control over his wife in marriage. Although the wife does not have the necessary source of income for her own work, she has her own property.
The wife's contribution to the family's economy
In ancient Egyptian society, the wife's contribution to the family's economy can be seen in the following ways:
The wife's economic activities were mainly carried out by women in the family, such as in the time of the Egyptian pharaohs, many women were engaged in agriculture, textiles and handicrafts. Among them, a high proportion of women work in textiles.
The wife's contribution to the family's economy is also reflected in the right of the wife to participate in the family's economic activities as one of the important members of the family.
For example, during the time of the Egyptian pharaohs, wives could participate in household economic activities. At this time, the wife was the manager and manager of the family economy like the husband.
The wife may also participate in the distribution and use of property within the family. For example, in the time of the Egyptian pharaohs, many women were required to take their property to themselves after the death of their husbands.
There is also a case where the wife remarries her husband after his death, but the remarriage at this time does not transfer the property in the husband's name to the wife, but she chooses to transfer the property in her name to her own name.
This shows that in the society at that time, the wife already had a certain social status and economic ability. After the death of the husband, the wife may, through her own efforts and choices, transfer the property in her name to herself.
epilogue
The marriage system of the ancient Egyptians was gradually formed and perfected in the course of a long history. As an important social phenomenon, it embodies many aspects of the political, economic, cultural and other aspects of the social development of ancient Egypt.
It has also played a huge role in maintaining social stability, promoting national unity, and promoting economic development. The marriage system of the ancient Egyptians is worthy of our study and reference, especially for us to build a harmonious society today.
Although the marriage system of the ancient Egyptians protected the interests of both parties to the marriage to a certain extent, there were also certain drawbacks, especially in the low status of the wife in the marriage relationship, and the husband had absolute rights over the wife, which was extremely unfair to women.
The low status of wives in marriage in ancient Egyptians reflects the lack of independent economic ability of wives in society at that time and the lack of sufficient respect for their husbands' economic rights.
At the same time, it also reflects the dominant position of the husband in the family at that time, and the wife can only be subordinate to the husband.
Through the analysis of the above content, we can see that although the marriage system of the ancient Egyptians has certain drawbacks, it also has its historical development background and historical development law. It not only reflects the socio-economic situation and social status at that time, but also reflects the economic relations between different classes in society at that time.
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