Social Structure in Ancient Egypt

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt | Education, Marriage and Divorce traditions among the Pharaohs, Daily Life, why did the ancient Egyptians care about education, and what is the nature of ancient Egyptian society and more about Ancient Egypt History,

The Family in the Ancient Egypt in the Pharaonic civilization and what are the life and secrets of the Egyptian house and family in the civilization of Ancient Egyptians, the facts and secrets about the education of the children of the Pharaohs and how the family and residence houses and more were  formed.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt

What is the society of ancient Egypt?

What are some characteristics of Egypt’s ancient societies?

Egyptian society has maintained its traditional construction of families close to their offspring and its social homogeneity throughout its long history, and “the family was the true nucleus of Egyptian social life, and it seems that the family was initially with a limited framework, consisting of a husband who is the head of the family and a woman who is the housewife.

The children live in the custody of both, and then soon go beyond to aunts and even uncles, as indicated in the text of the Prince of Qus of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt during Old Kingdom, as well as a dress of Kahun Papyri “Petrie Papyri or Lahun Papyri” in which a soldier named “Senefru” indicates that his family consisted of his mother, his grandmother of his father and three aunts.

Thus, the family in this sense covered all persons living in the head of household, regardless of the degree of kinship they had with him, and it seemed that the head of the family generally cared for single women, or that the family included parents, children, brothers, sisters, in-law, loyalists, concubines, and servants, all of whom were under the authority of the head of the family.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt. The husband was the head of the family, he was called (He) which means husband,  (Neb) which means the master, and (Ben) meaning brother. The woman was called Hemet, that is, the wife, (Merit) meaning the beloved, and senet or sona meaning the sister, and people called her “Nebet Per” that is, the lady of the house.

In the New Kingdom, the word “sister” was synonymous with the word “dear” or “wife” for love.

The wife was not a sister of the husband in the biological sense, but the husband’s surname (senet or sona) meant precisely quite opposite, similar or sister, as well as the woman’s surname (senet) that is, (sona), resemblance, or sister, which made the idea of a brother from the people marrying his sister, is incorrect. Although the royal marriage was the king to marry his sister, due to keeping the purity of the royal blood, the brother was married to his sister.

The Egyptian family consisted of the following components: Social Structure in Ancient Egypt.

1. Main component: husband, wife, and children
2. Secondary component: uncles and aunts from the father’s side, uncles and aunts from the mother’s side.
3. Component 3: Grandparents and grandmothers

The husband was the head of the family, no matter how big it is, and this reflects the extent of inherited family cohesion, but it also refers to the many problems caused by this great combination.

Although the traditional family consisted mainly of its main component (husband, wife, and children), the relationship between husband and wife was conceived through the ages in a manner of sincerity and loyalty.

If they sit next to each other, we see the woman, as we have already said, put her arm around her husband’s back as proof of her love for him and turn to him, and if he goes to hunt wild birds in the marshes, she accompanies him on the fishing boat with their young daughter and cat.

In various aspects of daily life, women are represented by their husbands when they visit their industry, monitor manufacturers while working, attend the livestock census and supervise harvesters in the fields.

How did ancient Egyptian children live? Raising Children 

The mother was the decisive factor in the education of the children, she cared about them from birth to their youth and taught them the values on which society and etiquette were able to send them to school but gave them the opportunity to play to expand their minds and enjoy entertainment in their childhood.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt. The first games were dolls, some of which were moved by threads such as statues of small dwarves and animals made of wood or ivory as in Ancient Egyptian Literature. “The legacy of Egyptian wisdom is full of the place of childhood and childcare and refers to the important recommendations of children to take care of their parents as they nurtured them in their childhood.

Wise Ani says to his son Khonsu, “Papyrus of Ani”: “When you become young, you take a woman for yourself, and you settle in your house: keep in mind how your mother put you, how she raised you by all means, so please never make her angry with you, and never let her raise the palms of the frog to God, and I wish he would not hear it. »

When a child grows up, he learns with the rest of the children the origins of group toys of a sporting or rich nature, and we have mentioned in the paragraph of the games many types of them. In its young and adolescent, children played mental games such as senet, peace, snake, etc. “Only upper-class families were able to send their children to school.

The Egyptian Pharaohs kings children received their education and training in classes at the Royal Palace, while other children of the upper class were lucky enough to be sent to temple schools around the age of eight. Boys, whether educated in minors or by Egyptian Temples school priests, learned virtues such as etiquette, Chemistry in Ancient Egypt, reading, writing, mathematics, history, Geography of ancient Egypt, and Ancient Egyptian religion.

Some mothers used a bra to carry children, as in this image taken in a cemetery in Tombs of Sheikh Abdel Gorna, west of Luxor, and some women used prescriptions to increase milk intake, such as burning and crushing the bones of a particular fish in rice and then massaging it into its back chain. Or burn a loaf of loaf of loaf bread and mix it with a plant (khasaw), then eat their mixture while she sits scattering her legs from below.

What kind of education did Ancient Egypt have?

The punishment of children was valid in Egyptian education because of the difficult living conditions and the desire of parents and teachers to create children in a strong way as they believe and “former teachers resorted to beating the child at school after other methods such as word for word and threats of beatings were implemented.

Sometimes the child was beaten on the feet with a stick, or a skin walk. The student was commenting in the same way and there are documents that confirm the narrowness of the students with such punishment and there is also the punishment of imprisonment in the temple.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt. On the educational side consecrated by the sages, there was also an exhortation to the use of cruelty, Ptahhotep devoted himself to the teaching of children because he believed that he was the heir of wisdom on earth, and he believed that physical punishment encouraged virtue, so that the law of heaven and earth, who tells us to learn through suffering and suffering had to be respected.

He says (every mule at the beginning of its growth is almost an animal, and the result is that if the stick neglects the corruption of the child, the young person must learn to obey the whip like a horse, but in addition to punishment, the child needs advice, he must learn the philosophical vision of life, the philosophical vision is the best legacy I can leave to my son.

The names of the children of the pharaohs:

As in our time, children’s names were called “love” and “cheer” on their foreheads, sometimes with a description or wishing for a qualitative description of them, and we could take a look at the names of the children on this list.

Commandments and Teachings:

The commandments are contained in all the texts of the Egyptian sages that we will talk about, and there are important school teachings contained in texts found in papyrus manuscripts for students in the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during The New Kingdom and beyond, and they were talking about advice and warnings directed to school students, which include: life in school, diligence, A teacher’s advice to his student, putting the student in chains, glorifying the profession of scribes, and others.

Egyptology mention that they found from the Middle Kingdom during kings of Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt the (Book of Kemet) recorded on several antiquities (the most important of which are two in Munich and Brussels), and it is the first textbook that includes educational rules and principles and what the learner must know.

What was the education like in the Egyptian civilization?

Daouaf Tips | Social Structure in Ancient Egypt.

Who advised his son to accept knowledge and love books, and even focus the love of his heart in it until he becomes a writer, so all opportunities for wealth and promotion among employees open up for him, and reminds him that when he is educated, people show him their respect even if he is a young child.

And the rulers assign him to carry out some tasks, so he lists the professions and their defects: “But I saw the blacksmith doing his work at the mouth of the furnace, and his fingers became as if they were from crocodile skin, and he smelled more hateful than fish filth. And after that the various crafts and industries, he talks about the sculptor who works in carving hard stones, so if he finishes his work, the fatigue has paralyzed his arms and he has exhausted his strength, and when he rests (from his work) at sunset, his back and thighs will be wrecked.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt. He stops by the barber who shaves people’s heads and beards until evening, walking from street to street looking for someone to shave for him. He causes his arms to exhaustion in order to fill his stomach, and he is like a bee that does not infect food except with its work.” He does not forget the builder and the gardener and how they are miserable in their work.

As for the farmer, he is in his misery, he bears more than he can bear, as he mentions the weaver, the cobbler, the water bearer, and the fish who mentions his misery that he is sufficient for his work on the edge of the river and his mixing with crocodiles.

If someone said there is a crocodile here, he would be blinded by fear. See that there is no one who works without having a boss commanding him, except for the writer, for he himself is the boss. And after he finishes enumerating the troubles of all those crafts, he returns again to uphold knowledge and books.

He gives his son some advice that helps him gain the love of people, the most important of which is of course contentment and obedience to superiors, and warns him not to make noise when he returns from school.

Advices Social Structure in Ancient Egypt.:

• Do not take a quick-tempered man as your friend, and do not visit him to talk to him and prevent your tongue from interrupting someone who is superior to you. And take care of yourself for fear of slandering him And do not let him throw his words and make you fall into a trap
• Do not overdo it in giving yourself the freedom to answer
• You should not discuss your answer except with someone who is similar to you
• Take care of yourself so as not to rush into it
• Speech flows at its speed when the heart feels hurt
  It is faster than the wind at the outlets of the water.
• Don’t jump to catch such a thing
• Lest fear take you away and throw you away.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt. Facts and history of the development of the school system and the stages of education among the ancient Egyptians, the Pharaohs. Discover the stages of school education in the Pharaonic civilization and the most important Pharaonic schools throughout history.

Schools in ancient Egypt

The temples included two main annexes:

(Bar-Ba) meaning (House of the Spirit):

It is the school for teaching religious sciences and its name became Al-Barabi.

(Bar-Ankh), meaning (House of Life):

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt. It is the school in which all sciences (Sculpture in Ancient Egypt, writing, Astronomy in ancient Egypt, Medicine in ancient Egypt, Architecture in ancient Egypt, etc.) were taught. Sometimes it was also called (the house of order).

Schools were called “houses of the system”. and it has strict laws until it was mentioned in the Al-Natasi Papyrus, “Beware, beware of laziness, O student, lest you be severely beaten with a stick.” Schools had committees formed each year for public examinations.

And the Pharaohs themselves are the ones who elect the most qualified of the successful to imitate them in high positions. It was competence alone that qualifies a person for jobs of all kinds, and jobs for them were not hereditary.

it was mentioned in the proverbs of Ani: “It is not permissible for a son to be appointed instead of his father as an agent for the treasury of the king’s house, otherwise he is a trustee of the seals of the house of Pharaoh, and a skilled scribe should not bequeath his position to his children, so they must acquire excellency with their hard work and obtain glory with their diligence and diligence.

Who is the Egyptian god of education?

The Egyptians did not put a god for the school, but they put a god for writing and knowledge, the God Thoth “The Egyptian Gods“, whom they symbolized with the bird (ibis) and the animal (monkey).

As for the God Seshat, she is the goddess of writing, recording, arithmetic, and the bookcase. The God Seshat is the goddess of writing.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt. She was originally embodied in a column or a star-shaped monument was erected on its top, while the symbol of the deity Ha, the lord of the Western Desert, was the form of a mountain range of two or three peaks that rise upon the pole or banner of that deity.

As for the Lord “Imiut” or “wrapped in his bands”, as if his sacred material symbol is a column or a monument suspended by animal skin, and he united “Imiut” with the God Anubis, the Lord of the Dead since the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, and finally there was a column or monument of the God Min, who we alluded to earlier, appeared on one of the prayers of the Predynastic Period Naqada III civilization.

What was the importance of ancient Egyptian education?

The purpose of education in Egypt was not to eradicate illiteracy from the people, but rather its main purpose was religious (to prepare new priests) and secular (to prepare new employees); The child used to go to school when he was about ten years old, and he graduated in education as follows.

What are the Education levels in ancient Egypt? Social Structure in Ancient Egypt.

First stages of Education:

Where the student learns the principles of writing and reading with some simple science. Education was conducted by many means, including preaching, guidance, temptation, intimidation, warning, reminder, threat, beating and punishment by shackles.

Despite the existence of the school, education at home, at this stage, was more common. As for the children of kings, they had private schools and senior teachers.

Independent schools were not common, but were rooms belonging to the temple called (the house of life, Pr Anx-Pr), and independent schools did not appear except in the Middle Kingdom. Education for girls was very rare.

The student relied on studying and copying papyri, and we have no evidence of the existence of exams until the Ptolemaic era.

The study material was primarily literary, and mathematics was limited to knowing numbers and how to write them. The period of primary education ranged from (4-5) years.

Middle school stage: Social Structure in Ancient Egypt.

Its purpose was to expand and increase skill in writing and reading and to start teaching religious or secular specialization. This education did not have a limited extent; Because it ends if the teacher is convinced that the student is able to perform his mission in the temple or the functions of the state.

The Priest Bakenkhonsu “Bak-an-Khonsu” in The Ramesside Period The beginning of the rule of kings Twentieth Egyptian Dynasty , mentions that he spent four years in the first written education, then returned after that (and after a 12-year period he spent in the royal stable) and learned to become a purified priest in the House of God Amun as a son under the supervision of (bad) his father, which indicates that the son’s tendency to His father’s specialty played a role in recommending the priesthood sometimes.

And the student could help his teacher in the profession and train with him in the places of priests or employees as a kind of training.

And we have from the documents of the Ramesside era that draws some pictures for us from that stage, so we see how the students were entrusted, individually and in groups, to a group of senior officials who work in various state facilities such as money facilities and its affairs, army departments, livestock management, or the care of religious affairs in temples.

Higher Education stage: Social Structure in Ancient Egypt.

Higher (specialized) education took place in the Houses of Life as well, and did not take place in schools independent of the temple.

The Houses of Life were places for the gathering of priests, gnostics, and papyri, in which texts by The ancient Egyptian Pharaonic language were composed and copied, and in them were the first libraries.

In Tell el-Amarna during the rule of King Akhenaton in the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt consisted of two buildings, a large one consisting of six rooms and the second smaller, both located 40 meters south of the Great Temple and about 100 meters east of the Small Temple. Mature specialists in the religious and secular fields graduated from these houses.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt. Perhaps it is important to point out that the graduates in the life cycle were not priests in the known sense, as they were closer to science than they were to religion, and their surnames indicate their adherence to the titles of the book, more than their adherence to the titles of priests, although this did not prevent some of them from combining the functions of life life.

The functions of priesthood at the same time, or to assume a religious position in the house of life itself, so that some of them appeared who were called the title (A To the High Priest of the House of Life), and whoever was called the title (First Priest of the House of Life), and whoever was called the Holy Father of God Ra God Atum in the House of Life.

What are ancient Egyptian houses “houses of life” called?

The most important houses of life in Egypt are four:

Ain Shams (On, Iono, Heliopolis):

(On) is the capital of the 13th region of Lower Egypt (the Delta), and it is the greatest city in its interest in the sciences of secrets.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt. The city and its school were associated with the god Ra and cared for the wisdom of the emergence of the universe. Religion, secrets of wisdom, medicine, and behavior.

The On School was established around 2240 BC. Its ruins are in Ain Shams in Al-Mataria, and it contains the remains of an Obelisks of red granite, which is Obelisk of Senusret I of two obelisks erected by King Senusret I from Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt, the second king of the Twelfth Dynasty, Middle Kingdom.

This has ensured the city of “Ain Shams” its fame in philosophy and religion. Its doctrine, in which “Ra Atum” took the main place, overlapped with most of the religious and mythical philosophies of the Egyptians, and became a place for the interpretations and explanations of the hardworking.

in addition to that the scientific and intellectual activity in Ain Shams has transcended the origins of astronomy, religion, its philosophy, its secrets, teaching wisdom and etiquette, to medicine.

Then we saw the author of the The Ebers Papyrus saying: “I graduated from Un with the pride of the High Palace, Lords of Protection and Masters of Eternity.

Many Greek scholars and philosophers studied at this school, including Plato, who spent about 13 years there, and in which the ideas of his idealistic philosophy were crystallized, and among its students was Solon Melikog. and Thales. And the Greeks called it Heliopolis, which means (the city of the sun), because it is the city of the god Ra, the sun god.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt. As for the name (Aon), in Egyptian Hieroglyphics, it means (the astronomical constellation), from which the priests used to observe the sky and its planets, the car, and the stars, and therefore the star calendar arose in it, to which minor modifications were made. We do not rule out that the Arabic name (Ain Shams) is in its origin (On Ra), which was distorted and translated into (Ain Shams).

The two obelisks are also attributed to King Thutmose III and they are now in London and New York, and the scientific school in On was called (Dar On), and On was also pronounced (Iono), and this name may have been related to the Greek islands of Ionia, which had a cultural connection to this city and its scientific house. Theology and its theory of the creation of the universe is called (the ennead theory).

Memphis (Najh, Memphis): Social Structure in Ancient Egypt.

Herodotus mentioned that King Narmer, the founder of the First Dynasty of Egypt, was the one who built Memphis. Memphis has become the capital of the state definitively since the days of King Djoser, the second king of the Third Dynasty of Egypt, and Memphis was the city of the God Ptah, and its name (Enebhbeh) means (the wall, the wall, or the white fortress).

It is necessary to mention the teacher of Memphis School, who is (Imhotep), the Egyptian scholar of knowledge. It was an ancient school of Memphis and rivaled the school of On in its doctrine of the creation of the universe, and the high priest of the god Ptah was called (the great artist).

Ashmounian School (Khemno): Social Structure in Ancient Egypt.

This school was the center of the worship of the god of knowledge (Thoth), and it is the capital of the 15th region of Upper Egypt (Upper Egypt), then Thebes (Luxor), and it has its own theory of the creation of the universe. The meaning of Khamenu (Khamun) is eight, and its Coptic name Shamno.

It was also called (Bar-Jahuti), meaning the seat of the god Thoth (Thoth), which is its religious name. As for its worldly name, it is (And God Nut), and the Greeks called it (Hermopolis Mahna), meaning the great city of Hermes.

Where they matched Thoth and Hermes, but (and Nut) is the name of her goddess, who was in the form of a snake. Its theory of the creation of the universe is called the theory of thamon. The god Amun was based in it, and the kings of the two families Eleventh Dynasty of Egypt and Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt moved it to Thebes, and its scientific importance is attributed to the fact that the god of knowledge and knowledge (Thoth) is its main god.

Abydos School (Abgu, Ibdo, Theni): Social Structure in Ancient Egypt.

This city gained its importance from its god (Khenti God Imentet) (the god of the world of the dead – Western) and the god Azores, who were present in it.

The (House of Life) in it was attached to the temple that still stands in it to this day, and its distinguished and beautiful temple (House of Maat-Ra) was a place for seven major divine structures, which are (Hur and Ozer, Iza, Amor, Hor Achni, Tebah, the King’s Temple). And her school gained importance from the sciences associated with God Osiris (Osirica), which served as the basis for the sciences of secrets.

Thebes School (Luxor): Social Structure in Ancient Egypt.

The city of Thebes was called On or Southern Ion, and it was called (Oni), and the god of the city was Amun (Amun Ra), who became the absolute god in the Egyptian religion.

The Luxor Temple near Temple of Dendera and the Karnak Temple, which was founded by King Amenhotep III, served as the greatest Egyptian forum (the greatest Osirica) for the teachings of the secrets that were the nucleus of the emergence of Egyptian wisdom and Greek philosophy.

And he (the house of life) was there, and we must draw attention to the fact that the royal library of Thebes (the Menephthians) was in the Hellenistic era full of special importance, coming after the Library of Alexandria.

Sa El Hagar School (SAW):

The city of (Sao) was the capital of the fifth region of the delta regions (Nit Mohit), i.e. (the northern region of Neith), and it became the capital of Egypt during the Twenty-Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, then the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, Late Period (the Sawi era: 664-525 BC), and its name in Greek is (Sais). In Arabic (Saba Al-Hajr), it was called in the Sawy era (Hat Enb Hajj), meaning (Palace of the White Wall).

Sa El-Hagar “Sais” in Basyoun, Gharbia became the capital of Egypt for the third time in the era of the Twenty-Eighth Dynasty of Egypt ruler (404-399) BC. The goddess of the city was (Nate) corresponding to (Athena) for the Greeks, the goddess of wisdom, and there are still few traces of her, but she had a temple in which she was (the house of life).

Alexandria School: Social Structure in Ancient Egypt

No matter how much we write about the Alexandria School, we will not give it its due because it is simply the greatest school in the ancient world. It appeared in the Hellenistic era and was founded by Ptolemy II.

Greeks. The mixing of East and West sciences appeared in it for the first time in human history, which formed the one global culture that was the cradle for the emergence of totalitarian monotheistic religions.

The main Library of Alexandria (the Proheum) and the sub-Library (the Serapeum) were the place where the ancient knowledge of humanity was classified in the Near East and the Greek West.

What are the most famous libraries in ancient Egypt – the Pharaohs? Social Structure in Ancient Egypt.

In addition to the libraries accompanying the (House of Life), there were libraries in ancient Egypt in which papyri were preserved in jars and boxes, and some of them were classified.

Egyptian Tombs were the main source of our knowledge of ancient Egyptian libraries. It was referring to their places or to the names of the books in them. In general, we can identify three well-

1. The Tibetan Library in Fayoum, which contains priestly papyri.
2. Thebes Library, which was founded by King Ramses II from Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt in 1250 BC. It contains nearly 2,000 papyri.
3. The library of Deir Al-Madina, in which papyri were found (now in the Chesterini Collection) dating back to the modern state and containing Magic in ancient Egypt texts, folk stories, Egyptian Mythology, chants, medical literature and the interpretation of dreams.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt. There is no doubt that time has damaged many libraries and papyri. Ancient Egyptian libraries were not. Libraries in the conventional sense, rather they are papyrus stores, and there were also the role of royal documents and sealed records.

The library was called (the House of Papyri) or the House of Books.” One researcher mentions that the connection between the House of Books and the House of Life is a negative connection, but since the Old Kingdom there was a (Dar al-Kutub) in every temple, and we have received from it what is in the Temple of Edfu and The Temple of Philae in Aswan.

Since its illustrative description is very small, one can imagine that it contained chests containing papyrus rolls, for at Philae there is only one compartment sufficient for only one chest. In Edfu we find the inscription smaller, which in Philae is located at the beginning of the courtyard and not in the hall of ceremonies as is found in the temple of Edfu.

The verbal expression of the writer and the writing was the same, which is (sh), and they have, in writing, the same signs, which are the writer’s kit (color palette, dye bag i.e. ink, powder box, pen holder), and in order to differentiate between them, what is known as (custom) is added at their beginning. Which is a sign that does not pronounce and indicates the meaning of the word that precedes it.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt. In the case of writing the word writer, the allocator is a seated man, and in the case of writing the word writing, the allocator is the roll of papyrus.

On the other hand, the word (sh) became in the demotic (sg), and from it in Coptic it turned into (sakh) and was corrupted to (reproducer) meaning a writer, and from rewriter many words were derived such as copying, which means writing, and transcribing, meaning a writer, and abrogated, meaning written.

What were libraries like in in Ancient Egypt?

The book pamphlets were kept wrapped in narrow sheets engraved in the walls, and a color of the record was engraved on those walls showing the books kept in these houses, and in the papyrus pamphlets and large manuscripts of pure leather that allow: “striking the devil, expelling the crocodile, maintaining the watch, and preserving the procession And the great astronomy picnic, a book to go out with the king in procession.

The book of faithfulness in worship, the protection of the city and the abode, and the white crown of the throne and the public, the book of pacifying “God Sekhmet”, the book of hunting the lion, banishing crocodiles and keeping reptiles away, knowing all the secrets of the temple, knowing the sacred offerings in all their details, all the records of the inner bodies of the deity, and all the manifestations of the gods and the helpers that are returned Draw it every day for the temple.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt. A book of the temple record, a book to terrorize people, a book of all that was written about the battles, a book on the system of the temple, a book of the services that must be performed in the temple, instructions for decorating one of the walls of the temple, protection of the body, a book for the king’s spell in his palace, spells to ward off the evil eye, Knowing the periodic recurrence of my stars (the sun and the moon) as a guide to knowing the periodic appearance of other stars, a statistical record of all the holy places and knowing everything that is there, all the rituals related to the transfiguration of God outside his temple during the Festivals in Ancient Egypt.

Marriage contract in ancient Egypt | The history of the models and system of marriage contracts in the Pharaonic era, how divorce was, the customs of the ancient Egyptians, the facts about polygamy among the pharaohs, the translation of the texts of the marriage contract of Imhotep, Tahater and other secrets of the Pharaohs civilization.

What was marriage like in ancient Egypt? Social Structure in Ancient Egypt.

In Egypt, marriage is often limited to a legitimate wife who was the woman of the house; polygamy was rare and limited to the royal family and the upper class of society. The average man of all classes could have taken as many concubines as possible in the neighborhoods and nodded, but this was common only in the upper class.

It is proved, especially in the New Kingdom, that the couple’s funds were divided between them, that the husband got two-thirds and that the wife got one-third, if one died, the other spouse had the right to benefit from the deceased’s share, the share to belong to the heirs and the surviving husband’s share.

He can act as he wishes, perhaps in a sign that the wife was coming with her husband with money, which is the so-called proof.

What is the marriage process in Egypt?

The legal age of marriage was early for boys and girls, 15 for boys, and for girls between twelve and thirteen, and the social announcement of marriage was sufficient in the early days of Egyptian civilization, but it required everyone to a written contract later.

The marriage was supervised by the priest of Temple of Amon, that is, it was religious, but he lost this status from the time of Outside and became a civil contract.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt. The bride’s witness  apparently acted on her behalf in writing the contract, and after the 7th century BC, the woman (especially who was married before) assisted in the drafting of the contract herself, and witnesses from the neighborhood testified about her marriage.

The value of the dowry was weights of money and grain, as well as some deferral he pays if he and his wife got separated, and in a late contract, a husband pledged to give his wife a share of wheat each morning, a quantity of oil each month, and a salary for her personal expenses each month.

He also undertook to pay compensation if he divorced  her and married another woman, and the contract itself included a deliberate sentence according to which the husband assured his wife that he knew very well that the expenses of the marriage were contrary to his known monthly salary, and that his confirmation was not heresy, but as required by custom.

In particular, the passion of Egyptian women, who are delighted with their clothes, ornaments, perfumes, oils, flowers, mirrors, makeup and fans, as well as the borrowed feeling of going out and forums, was a unique passion attested by their remaining images and the many models found from the tools they decorated in the remains of the tombs.

What are the traditions of marriage in Ancient Egypt? Social Structure in Ancient Egypt.

Sober moral values prevailed in Egyptian society and the Egyptian family, and the values of successful marriage prevailed, and the elders of Egypt elaborated these values and advised them, such as caring for the needs and demands of women and caring silently and without claiming them and not controlling them, and the values of tolerance and satisfaction prevailed, but the old Egyptian was not indulgent in the subjects of cheating and adultery, and the punishment for adultery was death by drowning or burning.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt. The old Egyptian loved the jealous husband, and the pain of female cheating, and murder was a punishment for adultery, and the sage warned boys too much about contact with women, and said “Ptah Hotep” to a girl “Beware of contact with women, what is the place where they came,  and it’s a bad opinion to spy on them human.

«How many people lost their advice when they loved a shiny body, and then turned it into waste, and the periods of its short enjoyment became dreams and led it to perish. »

“Pay attention to the strange (i.e. single) woman, do not look at her when she meets you, you have no connection, you do not spend it, it is deep water, you do not know her passions, beware of the woman who is absent from her husband, she can reveal her charms to you, and you will see herself”,” said the wise Ani.

If you do, it is shame that deserves to die when people know you, but there are men who do not hesitate to fall into this great sin.

Was marriage a religious ceremony in ancient Egypt?

The veil did not exist in ancient Egyptian society and the husband did not engage it with his wife, and the woman did not remain hostage only at home, she visited her people and they visited her. The Egyptians preferred the Egyptian marriage to an Egyptian, and did not prefer to marry strangers unless it concerned the royal lineage associated with important political interests, so that the parents “believed that the daughter’s husband should be Egyptian.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt, they did not accept that women marry non-Egyptian men, perhaps because the Egyptians believed that they were the only civilized people, and that they were the people who were really entitled to the title of “Rumi” (meaning gentleman) and that foreigners did not, and that people called themselves “people” or “men” to distinguish them from their Libyan neighbors, African and Asian.

Those who disdained them and called their superiors “bastards”, and we read in the letters of architecture that the Babylonian king Kadashman-Enlil I asked King Amenhotep III to give him the permission to marry an Egyptian princess Within the expansion of foreign relations and Trade in Ancient Egypt, King Amenhotep III rejected this petition with contempt, arguing that “no Egyptian princess was ever sent to a human being”, and when the Babylonian king returned his demand, the king’s answer this was no better than the first.

So he asks Pharaoh to marry any woman who lived in Egypt so that he can be proud of having married a woman from Egypt, and it may be an honor he aspired to obtain, so that he could camouflage it on his people, but he did not get anything about it.

Did divorce exist in ancient Egypt? Social Structure in Ancient Egypt

Divorce existed only for the man if he did not agree with his wife or because he wanted to marry another, but to receive the amount (proof), and his children would inherit from him a share of his wealth. The divorce, from a procedural point of view, took place in a simple way, namely the announcement of the termination of the contract and the association in front of witnesses, and once the procedure is completed, both partners would be free to remarry. The formula for divorce was (I left you like my wife, I leave you, and I have no more interest in living with you and you can marry someone else whenever you want).

Divorce was not common among the ancient Egyptians, and the divorced wife had the right to keep what she owned at the time of her marriage, in addition to a third of the shared property the couple earned during the marriage. Custody of the children is entrusted to the mother.

The Egyptian family was very cohesive and the wife served her husband and stood by his side for good and evil, and having children was necessary and parents were committed to raising good, and even the large number of children was a favorable thing, and the education of children was not accessible to all Egyptian parents, but the mastery of the father’s work was a manifestation of the ancient Egyptian family and the registration of children was done in a place called (House of Life) which is the school.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt. Inheritance was passed on from father to children, and in the absence of children, it was passed on to siblings, the eldest son was sometimes supervisor of inheritance. The girl inherited from her father not to spend it for her husband but for her, but for the jewelry  she inherited from her mother, she had the right to act as she wished.

After the Middle Kingdom, the inheritance became equal between children, elderly, young men or women, then the law returned, and the eldest son prevailed under the New Kingdom, but things returned as in the Middle Kingdom after the 25th dynasty as equal inheritance.

The texts of the marriage contract of ancient Egypt between Imhotep and Tahater:

At the Egyptian Museum there is a marriage contract dating from 231 BC. between Imhotep and Tahater and the following is its translation

“You have been taken by a woman and by the children you give birth to me, all that I have and what I will get, the children you give me everything I have and what I will get, The children you give birth to me are my children, and I will never be able to take anything away from them to give them to another of my children, or to anyone in the world. I will give you enough wine, money and oil for my food and drinks  Tahater.

Social Structure in Ancient Egypt. I will guarantee you your food and drinks that I will provide you every month and every year, and I will give them to you wherever you want, and if I divorce you I give you 50 pieces of silver, and if I take a tooth, I give you 100 pieces of silver, I agree. Sixteen people testified about this contract. »

Love in Ancient Egypt

the most famous facts and love stories from the time of the Pharaohs.

Facts about the most important goddess of the Ancient Egyptians in sex and love and what are the secrets of sexuality in the Turin Papyrus, which was discovered to tell us about the culture of the Pharaonic civilization.

References to Egypt’s ancient sexual heritage are plentiful, especially these popular effects, as many papyri have spoken openly about sex and love. Egyptian medicine has shown a lot in these issues in particular, as well as in literature and songs.

Sexual acts such as circumcision, hygiene and contraception (however effective) existed in Egyptian life. Here are the Egyptian words indicating sex in this table, which are striking in their diversity:

Secrets of Homosexuality:

Homosexuality was known in ancient Egypt, but it was rare and uncommon.

1. Tai: Men with a penis get off it
2. Sakhet: Eunuchs of men who do not have penises
3. Hamet: The woman who has no limb.

These classifications may and may not indicate homosexuality, but there are certainly testicles whose sexual organs have been amputated for religious or other reasons. There are signs of homosexuality, including the painting found in the Sakkara area, near the Onas pyramid of two men (Ni Ankh Khnum and Khnum Hetep) holding hands and kissing.

Their names were written down and it became clear that they were foremen of textile workshops and wrote symbolic names for them meaning “unity for life” and “May our days be blessed unto death”, reflecting an alliance between them which has been declared and professed, and there are indications that one of them was married with children and that the image of his wife was removed to be replaced by that of his friend. There is also a schedule that illustrates a sexual process between two men

Secrets of Sexuality Turin Papyrus:

The papyrus numbered (55001), in the Turin Museum was found by Champollion near a working-class town of Thebes, is one of the most famous sexual papyri, torn and exhibited only in 1973. Its content is to present the different sexual positions.

The original papyrus was found torn and damaged in detail, but scientists were able to redraw it in light of what was left of it, and we find the design here, and because the painting is accidental and details are lost when ‘they are all placed, we chose to divide them into three pieces (which are originally connected to each other) and what we encouraged is that there are lines that separate these pieces  from each other and they are as follows:

1. Left part of the papyrus: A man and a woman are shown having sex in different positions in six scenes
2. The central part of the papyrus: Men and women present themselves in seven positions of intercourse
3. Right part of the papyrus: 12 scenes of animals drinking wine and knocking on tools

Note that all sexes are made by inhaling the scent of the lotus flower, which was considered the flower of fertility and sex among the ancient Egyptians, especially among women.

Polygamy was not common except for the king, and the Egyptians religiously viewed sex as a kind of impurity that had to be cleansed before prayer or entering the temple, but they loved and celebrated sex. In addition, made musical instruments with suggestive sexual forms as well as some amulets, and rape was punished by cutting the testicles of the man, and even if the woman was satisfied, he received a thousand lashes, and the woman who was committing adultery, her nose was cut off. Female homosexuality was rare, if not nonexistent.

Sex in Egypt was a part of life and was not prohibited, but couples were subject to social and religious restrictions, some of which were punished.

In Egyptian society, proof of masculinity or femininity came from having children, that is, their sexual fertility, and incest existed in Egypt, as many researchers point out.

Explicit homosexuality in Egyptian life is very low, and even the story of King Nefer Ka Ra and his friend Sasenet (of the Middle Kingdom) which revolves around the king’s secret relationship with one of his pimps and may be a projection of a true story about Pepi II, which is still obscured.

References Social Structure in Ancient Egypt: The Book of Egyptian Civilization, Egypt

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