Egyptian women had a wide range of rights and freedoms
While they may have been publicly and socially viewed as inferior to men, Egyptian women enjoyed a great deal of legal and financial independence. They could buy and sell property, serve on juries, make wills and even enter into legal contracts. Egyptian women did not typically work outside the home, but those who did usually received equal pay for doing the same jobs as men.
Unlike the women of ancient Greece, who were effectively owned by their husbands, Egyptian women also had the right to divorce and remarry. Egyptian couples were even known to negotiate an ancient prenuptial agreement. These contracts listed all the property and wealth the woman had brought into the marriage and guaranteed that she would be compensated for it in the event of a divorce.
Wikipedia information suggest's that, Women in ancient Egypt had some special rights other women did not have in other comparable societies. They could own property and were, at court, legally equal to men. However, Ancient Egypt was a society dominated by men. Only a few women are known to have important positions in administration, though there were female rulers and even female pharaohs. Women at the royal court gained their positions by relationship to male kings.
Work
Most women belonged to the peasantry and worked alongside their husbands. Women were known to manage farms or businesses in the absence of their husbands or sons. Among the upper classes of society, a woman usually did not work outside the home, and instead supervised the servants of the household and her children's education. An exception is the textile industry. Here women are well attested as weavers. A letter found at Lahun and dating around 1800 BC names six female weavers.
In the Old Kingdom wealthy women often owned their own households. There was working men and women side by side, and it is not uncommon to find in the staff of a women's household other women with administrative titles. Especially in tomb scenes of the periods, men are often served by men, while women are served by women. Here, the separation of sexes is visible.
Women belonging to families wealthy enough to hire nannies to help with childcare frequently worked as perfume-makers and also were employed in courts and temples, like acrobats, dancers, singers, and musicians, which were all considered respectable pursuits for upper-class women. Women belonging to any class could work as professional mourners or musicians, and these were common jobs. Noblewomen could be members of the priesthood connected to either a god or goddess. Women could even be at the head of a business as, for example, the lady Nenofer of the New Kingdom, and could also be a doctor, as the lady Peseshet during the Fourth dynasty of Egypt.
Marriage
The purpose of marriage was to have more children and descendants of the family.
In the New Kingdom, there was a saying that:
"Take a wife while you are young
That she make a son for you
She should care for you while you are youthful
It is proper to make people
Happy is the man whose people are many
He is saluted on account of his progeny."
It is true that some egalitarian relationship between husband and wife was implied in the Egyptian depiction.
For example, in love songs, brother and sister carried the same significance as husband and wife. "Sn", the Egyptian word for "brother", also meant "peer", "mate", or "second". Thus, the love songs may be referring to the egalitarian relationship between husband and wife. The example for interbreeding among royalty was set by the gods since Osiris married his sister, Isis.
However, depictions usually show a husband and wife in an affectionate attitude with their children, so we assume most families were generally happy, but marriage was more realistic. The wife shared responsibilities and worked with her husband. Marriages in ancient Egypt were usually monogamous, but it also was not uncommon for a man of high economic status to have more than one wife. This was especially true if the man's first wife was unable to have children of her own. Although it was possible to divorce, it was very difficult. Marriages were usually arranged by parents, who chose appropriate partners for their children. Despite what the laws stated, it was suggested that women made more family decisions and controlled more of the home than usual. Women had control over most of their property, could serve as legal persons who brought cases to the court, and even worked in public. Husbands did not take total control over their wives property because women had a degree of independence in ancient Egypt. For example, from ca. 365 B.C, a new marriage contract was emerged which mainly protected women from divorce, placing more financial burdens on men.
The influence of queens and queen mothers was considered as a big reason for women's special rights in ancient Egypt compared to other societies at that time. Queens and queen mothers always had a great power since many pharaohs were very young when they succeeded the throne. For example, the great pharaoh Ahmose I in New Kingdom, always took advice from his mother, Ahhotep I, and his principal wife, Nefertari.
Although the women of ancient Egypt were viewed as one of the most independent groups of women, widowhood could result in suspicion due to the lack of male control. Widows also gained more legal freedom, being able to buy and sell land, making donations, and even making loans.
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