Life for Women of Ancient Egypt and Political Freedoms - Research Paper Example

Pharaohs and Fairness in Ancient Egypt: Why Women in Ancient Egypt were Treated Better than Elsewhere in the Ancient World but Men Still Dominated Society Introduction In many societies, women do not (or did not) have the same legal or societal status as men, meaning that they were often denied access to property and employment that men could take. Many cultures have continually improved upon equality for women throughout time, and thus it seems that the ancient world would provide some of the most dangerous and unfair societies for women to live in. However, in Daughters of Isis: Women of Ancient Egypt, Joyce Tildesley argues that women in Ancient Egypt actually experienced a great deal of political and financial freedom (Tildesley, 2005), particularly when compared with its contemporary cultures. A number of goddesses (including Isis herself) played a huge role in Egyptian culture and there were also a huge number of ruling Pharaoh women who were able to take power without marriage to a man. This situation may be due to a huge number of factors, including the unusual geographical features of Egypt, which will be covered within this paper. However, despite the fact that women in Ancient Egypt experienced a number of freedoms that women in Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece and Rome did not have access to (Tildesley, 2005), it is clear that men still dominated society, and some of the assumptions of fairness are based upon documents that may not be accurate. Geographical Features Ancient Egypt was subject to a number of geographical constraints, mostly related to its place on the river Nile. This is often suggested to have made a difference to the lifestyles that people led within the area and the constraints on what they were allowed to do. As an arid landscape, the Nile River provided the only source of water in the area, and the people relied upon this to grow crops. If the Nile did not flood as expected, food could be scarce for the next year (Stearns, Gosch & Grieshaber, 2008). In this way, the Egyptians placed a lot of emphasis on the way that the river worked and could only work in certain areas dependent on the seasons. It is perhaps this need for flexibility for living and working arrangements that meant that women could have a more flexible attitude towards work and property ownership, which would depend on the Nile (Stearns, Gosch & Grieshaber, 2008). Although Ancient Egypt is generally considered to be a separate culture than those surrounding it, it must be noted that there were several visitors to the region who may have had an influence on Egyptian culture (Stearns, Gosch & Grieshaber, 2008). Those from the Greek empire often came, and wrote many observations about the Egyptian way of life. Assyria and Canaan were neighbors, and it is military campaigns between these cultures and the Egyptians that may have played a role in the attempt to eradicate female pharaohs in the New Kingdom. Mesopotamia was also a hugely important ancient culture, and the status of women here represents well the treatment of women in the majority of the ancient world, and thus will be covered in more detail later. Women in Ancient Egypt It is often argued that women held a prized place in Ancient Egyptian society for a number of reasons. There were a huge number of influential female Pharaohs in Ancient Egypt, including Cleopatra (Tildesley, 2005). The ability of women to hold a ruling position seems to go against much of what occurred within the Ancient World and even within modernized Europe and America. However, it could be argued that there were still a majority of male pharaohs and many of these ruling women did not take part in the same number of administrative duties as the men (Stearns, Gosch & Grieshaber, 2008). Both men and women in ancient Egypt did have the right to own property, as well as take this property with them as part of divorce proceedings. In this area, Egyptian women did seem to have a much more positive role in legal proceedings, particularly when it is noted that these freedoms were not part of the American constitution until the 20th century. Men and women were seen as essentially equal within the law (Tildesley, 2005), but this does not necessarily mean that they had the same freedoms within everyday life, or that these freedoms manifest themselves in reality as they did in ancient documents. Despite the fact that there is evidence that women in Egypt enjoyed a much superior lifestyle than their peers elsewhere in the modern world (Tildesley, 2005), it should be noted that it was still not perfect. Despite the topic of her book, even Tildesley ascertains that “it would be naïve to regard her (the Egyptian woman) as a fully liberated prototype of the modern career woman” (Tildesley, 2005, p58). It is obvious that, despite the measures that defined fairness in Ancient Egypt, women were still expected to occupy a different role in society and were still subject to expectations regarding childbirth, pregnancy and marriage. Like in many ancient societies (such as the early Jewish faith), women were still associated with impurity, particularly during times on menstruation (Stearns, Gosch & Grieshaber, 2008). This necessarily limited the activity of women, a restriction that was not similarly placed on men, highlighting certain inequalities between the genders. Perhaps the strongest evidence that Egypt was still a male dominated society is that whilst women did have the choice to shape their own situations and play a role in society, the majority was still seen as homemakers and did not capitalize on this privilege (Stearns, Gosch & Grieshaber, 2008). It is often also noted that women were less likely to play important religious roles, and generally had lower standards of education than their male peers, highlighting areas of inequality. Additionally, the Ancient Egyptians placed a huge amount of emphasis on maintaining tradition, and Tildesley suggests that “Egyptian daughters therefore looked forward to leading a life very similar to that lead by their mother and grandmothers before them”, a means of maintaining stability and continuity within Egyptian society. Women in Mesopotamia Mesopotamia perhaps represents the status of women well for the rest of the ancient world. Women in Mesopotamia did not have the same rights as women in Ancient Egypt (Stearns, 2012). For example, if they were to be granted a divorce, a woman did not have the right to own property and therefore would lose it in the proceedings. Women were considered to be the property of their husband because of their sub-standard legal status. However, it should also be noted that both Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia both felt that women had a duty to be homemakers (Stearns, 2012), and marriages in the areas were generally arranged. This suggests again that women in Ancient Egypt did not have the privileged life Tildesley suggests. Daughters of Isis: Women of Ancient Egypt Much of the evidence within this paper comes from the book Daughters of Isis, although some information used to counter Tildesley’s argument comes from other sources. This book heavily advocates the fact that women in Egypt had good status in society (Tildesley, 2005), but is not always convincing. Despite the focus on female pharaohs, it is known that the majority of rulers in Ancient Egypt were men (Stearns, 2012). This suggests that whilst it was possible for women to hold careers and political influence (Tildesley, 2005), it was still a societal norm for men to hold this position and for women to become homemakers. This could mean that whilst documents from the ancient world lay out the law as it can be acted upon, it should be noted that society itself may have functioned in a more male-dominated way (Stearns, 2012). In this sense, the argument for female pharaohs is not convincing. It is also interesting that this book is extremely popular within America. This seems to be because of the romantic associations most people make with Ancient Egypt, and a desire to see the culture as fair. As evidenced above, this may not be the most accurate position to take historically. Conclusion There is a lot of interesting evidence that women in Ancient Egypt did have a number of political freedoms that women in the neighboring kingdoms of Assyria, Canaan, Greece and particularly Mesopotamia did not have. This includes the right to property, employment and divorce, as well as a right to rule as a pharaoh. However, this does not mean that society itself was not a male-dominated one. Women were still expected to be homemakers and play a role in pregnancy and childbirth. This was seen as an important role and did give women status in society, but still prevented true equality for women. Additionally, women were still seen as being tainted during menstruation, which limited their activities in a way that men did not have limits. This suggests that some of the conclusions drawn in Daughters of Isis may have been made incorrectly, based on the law rather than actual roles played in society. However, the romantic view that many people have of Ancient Egypt has made the book a success, and many of the points made within it are salient enough. Not all of the information can be discounted, but it should definitely be noted that life for women of Ancient Egypt was not always as fair and equal as Tildesley suggests. Works Cited Stearns, Peter N. World History in Brief: Major Patterns of Change and Continuity, Combined Volume, Penguin Academic Edition. Prentice Hall, 2012. Print. Stearns, Peter N., Stephen S. Gosch, and Erwin P. Grieshaber. Documents in World History. Addison Wesley Longoman, 2008. Print. Tyldesley, Joyce. Daughters of Isis: Women of Ancient Egypt. Penguin UK, 1995. Print. Read More