Did you know that women in ancient Egypt had almost equal rights
and could run their own businesses?
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the lives of women in ancient Egypt. Don't forget, the easiest way to support us is by giving this
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In ancient Egypt, the central cultural value was ma'at or harmony. This concept of harmony was for
all aspects of life, and balance could be seen throughout the government, religious practices,
art and architecture, and even the gender roles of the civilization. Compared to many other
ancient cultures, women had it pretty well off in ancient Egypt; they were fairly equal in all
things - except for their occupations where men were in positions of authority like part of the
government, the king, a general and head of the family, the women worked in domestic spheres.
With that being said, women still held considerable autonomy, power and authority.
Women could marry who they wanted then choose to divorce them, they could hold land and property,
they could travel, and to some extent choose their profession. Not to mention, female deities oversaw
important responsibilities in ancient Egyptian religion, or as it is known today, mythology.
There are many different ancient Egyptian creation myths, but in the most popular one,
either Atum or the goddess Neith begins creation at the primordial mound, surrounded by the
primordial waters, personified as Nu and Naunet. Even from the very beginning, it was a balance of
female and male principles; this harmony would be continuously upheld between the genders
and following the creation of the universe and the beginning of time, women continue to be regarded
as important. Women's pivotal role can be seen in the myth of Osiris and Isis, where it was up
to Isis to bring her brother-husband back to life, and who gives birth to Horus and raises him to be
king, not only that, but Isis is helped by other goddesses including Nephthys, Serket and Neith to
restore balance to Egypt after Osiris' brother Set usurped power. The goddess Tenenet was the
goddess of beer, the drink of the gods and also provided the Egyptians with the recipe to brew it.
Other notable goddesses are Seshat, the goddess of the written word and librarians; Tayet, the
goddess of weaving; Hathor, the goddess of joy, celebration and the afterlife; Bastet, a protector
of women, the home and women's secrets and Tefnut, the goddess of moisture. The goddess Kabechet,
daughter of Anubis, brought cool, refreshing water to the souls of the dead awaiting judgment,
and a number of other goddesses, like Nephthys, were also associated with the afterlife and
comforting the souls of the departed. Egyptian religion honoured and elevated the feminine,
so it is hardly surprising that women were important members of the clergy and temple life.
Women were able to hold important religious positions, with the most important being God's
Wife of Amun; a position that began in the Middle Kingdom of Egypt between 2040 and 1782 BCE. There
were actually many different god's wives positions for numerous deities and the God's Wife of Amun
was just one of them. The title was initially just an honorary one given to a woman who helped
the high priest with ceremonies and tend to the god's statue, but through the New Kingdom of Egypt
between 1570 and 1069 BCE, the position increased in prestige, until eventually the woman holding
the position of God's Wife of Amun was equal in power to a king and essentially balance the power
held by the High Priest of Amun. In the clergy, women could also be priests, usually of a female
deity's cult as well as scribes, there were also wise women who were skilled at interpreting dreams
which was an important role considering the Egyptian's belief that dreams were portals to
the afterlife and a plane where the dead and the gods could communicate with the living.
It was not only as clergy that women could hold respected positions in society, oh no, once a
woman completed her training and became a scribe, they could choose to become a priestess but they
could also become a teacher or a physician. In fact, female doctors were highly respected
in ancient Egypt, however becoming a scribe was long, hard work, so most men and women who became
scribes probably came from a family of scribes and followed the occupation of their mother or father.
If a woman didn't become a scribe, they could be employed as bakers, weavers, brewers, cooks
or mistresses of the house which is the modern equivalent of an estate owner, just to name a few.
Women were in fact the first beer brewers of Egypt - pretty impressive considering it was believed
to be the drink of the gods. The property of a family descended from mother to daughter, and if
a woman's husband died or they got divorced, she would be able to run the home how she saw fit.
Another occupation for talented women was that of a concubine;
which shouldn't be understood as simply a woman used for sex but a woman who had to
be accomplished in music, conversation, sewing and weaving, culture, fashion, and the arts.
Women in ancient Egypt were autonomous, legally capable citizens who didn't require any sort
of supervision or approval from the man in their life, and this extended to family life; marriages
weren't arranged by a male guardian as they were in many other ancient cultures, and women could
not only choose their partner but could also divorce when they pleased, although a lifelong
marriage was preferred, there wasn't any stigma attached to a woman who had divorced her husband.
Couples in ancient Egypt before marriage, would enter into a prenuptial agreement
that ultimately favoured the woman, since if the man asked for the divorce, he lost all right to
sue for the gifts he had offered for the marriage - known as the "virginity gift," he also had
to pay alimony to his ex-wife either until she remarried or requested that the payments stop.
If there were any children in the marriage, the child always went with the mother.
The Ebers Medical Papyrus that dates to circa 1542 BCE, contains a passage about birth control that
includes a prescription to stop a woman becoming pregnant and both birth control and abortions
were available for married and unmarried women. Although the virginity gift suggests that the
virginity of a woman at the time of marriage was important, it wasn't a requirement for
marriage. Reliefs, paintings and inscriptions depict husbands and wives eating together,
dancing, drinking and working the fields with one another. So although Egyptian art was
pretty stylised, it does suggest that many ancient Egyptians enjoyed happy marriages.
It wouldn't be a complete video on women in ancient Egypt without looking at the queens
and royalty. The queen and lesser wives of the Egyptian king would have lived
incredibly luxurious lives. The palace of Amenhotep III, the father of Akhenaten
and grandfather of Tutankhamun, spread over 30,000 square meters and had spacious apartments,
a throne room and receiving hall, libraries gardens, kitchens, conference rooms, and of course
a temple to the god Amun. It was in places like this that concubines and royal women would live.
The pharaoh could have multiple queens, although the extent of the roles of the Egyptian queens is
often difficult to establish, but there would always be one, the most important, that would
be elevated to "principal wife". The principal wife took on duties regarding the affairs of the
state and acted as a diplomat. These principal queens would help run the country whilst caring
for their family. When Akhenaten focused all of his attention on his new monotheistic religion,
his wife Nefertiti assumed his responsibilities and ran the state. For most queens though,
their activities remain either undocumented or untranslated, but based on what is available,
these queens exerted substantial influence over their husbands, their courts and the day-to-day
operation of the government. We know of queens of Egypt all the way back to the
Early Dynastic Period with queen Merneith, who ruled as regent for her son in circa 3000 BCE,
and Sobeknefru, who took the throne in the Middle Kingdom. Of course, there is also Hatshepsut,
who went so far as depict herself as a pharaoh with a headdress and beard, and who continues
to be considered one of the most powerful women of the ancient world and one of the greatest Egyptian
pharaohs. The last queen of Egypt before it was annexed as a province of Rome was Cleopatra VII;
a woman who ruled her country far better than many of the men of the Ptolemaic Dynasty before her,
and although not an Egyptian, fully embodied the power and strength of Egyptian women that had been
recognised for millennia. Do you know of other ancient societies where women had as much power?
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