In many ancient civilizations, women were seen as inferior to their male counterparts. As a result of this, their rights were severely limited. Most women in these societies could not hold property of their own. In ancient Egypt, however, women were not restricted as much in this area.
Egyptian women were allowed to own property. This is most visible in the setting of marriage. When a woman married, she brought personal property to the house of her husband. In most civilizations, she would not be entitled to take the property with her in the case divorce, if divorce was even accepted, but in Egypt, if a divorce occurred, a woman was entitled to all property she brought to the marriage.
If a husband and wife acquired property whilst married, the wife had rights to one-third of all property. If the husband passed away, the wife was entitled to two-thirds of all property, with the other third being divided among children firstly, followed by brothers and sisters of the deceased. In other societies, a majority of the property would be passed to the brothers and father of the deceased, leaving little if anything to the wife and children.
In my opinion, this is one aspect that made ancient Egypt more suitable for both genders. It appears that men and women were treated more equally there than in most other ancient societies. Although women were still in charge of household duties as well as child bearing and rearing, they were allowed to do many things aside from those few and could act as a bigger part of society.
Picture courtesy of : http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-history/
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