Property Rights of Women in Ancient Egypt

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.

www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/womneg.htm

http://www.helium.com/items/497107-the-life-of-women-in-ancient-greece

Picture courtesy of : http://ceramic-studio.net/ceramic-history/

Eyptian Mummification

I would like to expand on an older post one of my group members created about mummification and the burial process. I am currently reading the book Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt for my critical book review. Many people focus on the mummification part of ancient Egyptian society; well I would lie to explain to you why ancient Egyptians practiced mummification.

First of all, it is important to know that Egyptians were not obsessed with death they were obsessed with life, and their beliefs in the afterlife showed that. Most funerary beliefs in ancient Egypt are associated with the myth of their god Osiris. Osiris was the first mummy that ever existed, or so the myth says. In pictures he is often depicted like a mummy with his arms crossed over his chest.

A quick version of the myth is that Osiris was the ruler of Egypt and was very beloved by his subjects. His brother, Seth was very jealous and so he created a casket, and tricked Osiris into it. Seth slammed down the lid of the casket and flung it into the Nile. Isis, his wife, went in search and found the casket and brought it back to Egypt. Now, I’m not really sure if he was found dead, or not, because the article doesn’t say.

However, when Isis brought the casket back, Seth opened it, and cut Osiris into pieces and scattered them around the provinces of Egypt. Isis, along with her sister Nepthys, who is also married to Seth, went in search of Osiris’ scattered body parts, and when they gathered them all up, Isis bound his body and then mated with him, which I find rather disturbing.

Isis then became pregnant and gave birth to a son Horus. When Horus was older, he was able to defeat Seth and become King of Egypt, while his father, Osiris became king of the afterlife.

It is this myth that gives birth to Egyptian beliefs in the afterlife, and why they practice mummification.

References

Salima, Ikram. Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt. London: Pearson Education Limited, 2003.

Mummification : Egyptian Burial Process

Ancient Egyptians believed that when a person died, their soul split into many parts that continued on separately in the after life. Three parts that are commonly talked about are the ba, akh, and ka. The most important of the three for the purpose of this writing is the ka which is defined as the life force, or what we would refer to as the soul.
It was believed that this part of the soul would live for eternity in the tomb where the body was buried, but in order for it to survive, the body of the deceased needed to be preserved in order for the ka to inhabit it and live eternally. If the body was not preserved well, the ka would have no body to live in and the soul would not be reborn in the afterlife.
In order to preserve the bodies of the dead, Ancient Egyptians used the process which is known as mummification. The process, from start to finish, lasted for 70 days. After death, the body was taken to an embalming workshop where the process would begin. First, the body was purified by the washing of the body and removal of hair. Then, the organs would be taken out, except for the heart which was the seat of the soul which must remain in the body for judgment purposes, dried, and placed in special canopic jars. The brain was also removed by pulling it out through the nose.
After removal of the organs, the body was covered with a powder that helped to dry it out and later wrapped in linen strips and covered with a linen shroud, which was sort of like a blanket or cloak. When the body was ready to be buried, it was placed in a coffin, usually stone or wood, that were decorated. When the funeral was about to take place, a priest would perform the Opening of the Mouth ritual which was intended to open up the senses for the afterlife.
Before the tomb was closed for the last time, items of significance were placed in the tomb for the enjoyment of consumption of the deceased in the afterlife. Food, clothing, jewels, furniture, dishes, and other items the deceased would need in the after life were some of the things left for the dead.
Although our culture, depending on religious beliefs and other variables, has some sort of burial ritual, I find it fascinating how much emphasis was based on the preservation of the body for the afterlife. The Egyptians believed that if the body was not recognizable by the ka because it had decayed even slightly, the soul would not recognize its own body and subsequently would be unable to live in the afterlife. Today, we may bury our loved ones with some of their most valued possessions, such as jewelry or other mementos of the past, but we do not necessarily do it because we believe they will need them in the afterlife.

My information was obtained from the following sites:
www.encarta.msn.com
www.neferchichi.com/mummies.html
www.egyptologyonline.com/mummification.htm