Marriage in the Ancient Egypt - Assignment Example

History pre 1500 In the ancient Egypt, Marriage took a different dimension. It acted as a passage stage from childhood to adulthood in women. In addition, marriage also played a critical role as it gave women a new opportunity in the society. Marriage was seen as a sign of unity and seal from any evil from the outside world. The institution of marriage was crucial in the Ancient Egypt because every right thinking man was supposed get children. The state played little role in marriage restrictions. During this period, evidence shows that most girls in ancient Egypt were married while they were still young. Surprisingly it is indicated that children as young as nine years were married to suitable suitors. Such practices suggest that women were purely decided upon, and their destiny was strictly defined by men. Many Egyptians regarded marriage as a personal matter, and state did little to intervene on the matter. Consequently, marriage was done casually without any symbolic representation like ceremonies, exchange of wedding rings. Though girls were married to their new homes, they still enjoyed the right to own properties back home. Husband acted as guardian who could take care of other, but in case of divorce; the wife could demand a share of any property that was jointly acquired in the course of the marriage. The two major scenarios that could end marriages included divorce and death. Most girls were married to old wealthy men, and this resulted in a society with young widows in case the men died. Women were allowed to own property even after marriage; they could inherit one-third of the property from their husbands to enhance for the survival of her children and to prevent her from going back to her fathers land.[1] Since the state had little or no say in matters pertaining marriage, marriage after widowhood was accepted. Homosexuality and lesbianism were unrecorded in the ancient Egypt. Adultery was regarded as the greatest sin that a married woman could commit. The consequences of adultery were severe including death. Moreover, men too were not allowed to commit adultery. Children were highly regarded in the ancient Egypt because if the woman was infertile the man was allowed to divorce her and take a fertile partner. Moreover, childless families or infertility was cured by adoption of children. Children were given names immediately after birth, and this ensured that children had names even if they died. Children were breastfed up the age of three years. Sometimes children were sold by the wet nurses, this was during the Roman period where they were grown up to work as slaves thus making an economic sense during the time. Breastfeeding dates back in the ancient times and almost every society practiced it. However, each society had its own set of beliefs as to why breastfeeding was important such as the strength the milk from breasts provided to the child. Research shows that in 2007 alone, half a million children died in china for lack of breastfeeding a number that is higher than those murdered in Auschwitz. There has been controversy over the bottle versus breastfeeding for a period of 100 years. The Egyptians recognized the importance of breastfeeding as it is evidenced by images captured shows the goddesses Isis suckling her son Horos, symbolically portraying the pharaoh. In ancient Egypt, it was believed that breast milk provided the spiritual nourishment to the young one. In the Ancient Egypt, the wet mothers were highly regarded in their work especially those who worked for the royal family in the pharaohs household. The children of these wet nurses were considered as pharaohs children too. As well, the wet nurses also were hired to care for the children of slaves so that they may become fertile again and be able to produce more children. In Platos time, it was authorized that children could be raised away from their homes where wet nurses were hired to take care of them. On the other hand, in Rome the rich used slaves as wet nurses. The frequent use of the wet nurses by the rich prompted the Greek and the Roman authors of the time like Aristotle to rally against this practice as he thought that employing wet nurses could eventually lead to loosening of family ties between the mother and the child. Moreover, in Rome the rich used the use of the wet nurses as a status symbol. After the death of his mother, Muhammad survived under the mercy of the wet nurses, and this was a sign of a humble origin. Koran has also emphasized the importance of breastfeeding of the young ones in the first two years after birth. Philosophers like Avicenna commented on the importance of breastfeeding for the first biennium. As universities emerged in Western Europe, they also helped the rallying on the importance of breastfeeding the first one being the University of Montpellier. According to the American historian Janet Golden, human milk had become an everyday commodity in the eighteenth century. In the eighteenth century Netherlands, the breast milk of the wet nurses was given to the young ones as it were among the noble women. The Austrian-born queen of France brought to an end centuries of the old tradition of turning the children to the wet nurses in England Rousseau’s ideas on breastfeeding appealed to some of the nobility members and the upper-middle class, the poor had no choice but to leave their young ones to the village wet nurses. The mortality of children resulting from this practice became higher than before. Simon Schama termed this scenario a “cottage industry of death”. The issue of breastfeeding was later changed from the wet nurses and gradually was enforced in the society. This symbolized the right of a woman to breastfed her child and avoid further sexual harassment from their husbands. According to Mary Wollstonecraft of the eighteenth century, breastfeeding was purely the right of a woman to do. The campaign of breastfeeding gained momentum in the nineteenth century when the radical politicians focused on the importance of breastfeeding. The paintings printed by the French activist and artist Honore Daumier suggested on the importance of breastfeeding. It shows French State role to nourish and educate her citizens. In the second half of the nineteenth century, wet nurses and maternal breastfeeding was broken due to technological advancements. With the invention of the rubber teat and the plastic bottle and  development of evaporated milk prompted the producers to look for new market in 1885. In 1905 the Swiss company called Nestle invented milk powder, and this baby formula was sold all over the world. This milk powder contained no human milk but widely marketed as an infant formula to raise children. With the expansion of the market for the baby formula with its contaminated water, killed thousands of children in many countries both the first and third world. In 1956, seven women in the State of Illinois United States were concerned about the decline of breastfeeding and founded an organization called La Leche League. In 1979, international organizations like the International Baby Food Action Networks (IBFAN), World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF were concerned about the about the high mortality rates arising from baby formula. Consequently, they drafted a resolution to control the use of the baby formula. The new resolutions were measures aimed to reduce the high mortality rates of infants. The effect of high death rate was a major concern, and this extended to the British government and in 1902 after the Boer War in South Africa. During this time, the British government identified the baby formula as a threat to their entire race, and they were forced to abandon the use of Baby formula. After 1945, other states joined the campaign and rallied behind the importance of breastfeeding and in 1990s in Britain the view of breastfeeding was highly encouraged. Breastfeeding was then observed as a safer method to feed the babies. Little has been documented on marriage vows. The data obtained from the medieval periods show that institutions like churches played small role in the unification of marriage partners. It is exemplified in the fifteenth-century in England where nobles were not allowed to marry with the servants. This was better portrayed by Margery, a daughter of socially aspirant Paston family and her family employee Richard Called. In 1469, the marriage couple secretly exchanged vows that were later discovered by Margerys parents. After the discovery of their secret marriage, though contrary to the desires of her parents, the Bishop decided that she would stick to her wedding. Margery was forced to stay in her marriage, and she fulfilled her desire for love. To Margery, money and wealth did not matter much conversely to her family that measures wanted land and property of which Richard could not offer. Margery was old enough to decide on her own, and the canon law of age was designed to protect underage children from planned marriages. The minimum age of consent was fourteen years for boys and twelve years for girls. In this scenario, the periods were set to concur with years of active sex. Additionally, in1450 another Paston daughter Elizabeth was beaten daily to marry a widower Stephene the marriage that did not materialize. In this scenario, there is a trend on the churchs insistence on the consent. The church was there to ensure that women gave consent to marriage, and it was imperative to accept the marriage according to the church. Much of women’s choice was limited, and they had to concede it was expected by the society at the time. Though forced marriages were rare, the church gave protection in this scenario. Consent mattered a lot in past marriages and witnesses played a critical role in cases related to marriage disputes. A good case is of John and Alice where the witness claimed to see them cohabiting prompting the court to rule on the credibility of the union. Following this, it is clear that despite the churchs insistence on the consent of the wedding, the marriage partners played a critical role than just partners contracting. In these phenomena, women had to be mindful of their reputations. In the world of artisan and Merchant might be patriarchal but widows were able to find ways to overcoming challenges. Childbirth in the medieval history was met by various challenges. Some of the problems included attitudes from folklore, religion, obstetrics and common sense. In the middle age, there were challenges among their stillbirths. During the medieval period, hospitals and hospital care services were a rare thing to find throughout the countries. The few hospitals that were present resulted in a debate as to whether they led to more prenatal death. There was no guarantee however that women would survive during child birth and so they were advised to confess to the priests. From 1217-1219, priests played a critical role in advising pregnant mothers on the importance of breastfeeding their young ones During childbirth, water was kept close in case the baby died it was baptized. The other possibility there was to be caesarean section if the mother died, and the child survived. Christianity and courts played a crucial role in marriage but did not relieve women in the final uterus contraction on delivery. Period between the twelfth and the seventeenth centuries there was a rise of urbanization and universities thus led to qualified medical professionals and the recovery of the Greek medicine with the acceleration of the Greek obstetrics. Additionally there was the construction of hospitals, and the production of manuals affected the childbearing of a woman. Bibliography Joyce, Tyldesley. 1994. "Marriage and Motherhood in Ancient Egypt , no4 (1994)." History Today 44 (4): 20-26. Goldberg, Jeremy. “The Right to Choose.” History Today 58, no. 2 (2008): 16-21. Buller, Peter. “Childbirth in the Middle Ages.” History Today 36, no. 8 (1986): 42-49. Doolan, Paul. “Nursing Times.” History Today 58, no.12 (2008): 24-30. Read More