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=** Gender and Ancient Egypt **= toc

When it comes to gender and ancient Egypt there are many questions and curiosities that keep my mind buzzing. It seems to be a common thought that women in ancient Egypt were granted more rights than women of other early civilizations. Is this true? And if so, how did they live differently with this freedom? In researching this topic I have found that family life was very important to ancient Egyptians and so was the unity of marriage. Many men and women were able to truly find love and happiness outside of arranged marriages around the start of the Late Period. Sticking with a theme of close gender equality, two very famous pharaohs of ancient Egypt will be discussed in this wiki. Those pharaohs are Tutankhamun and Hatshepsut. One of the rulers, Tutankhamun was male while the other, Hatshepsut, was female. It is fascinating to note that gender did not separate the two rulers in how well they ruled considering both did great things for Egypt during each of their reigns. Hatshepsut as a female king was very powerful and influential. It is great to bring up her story when discussing gender and ancient Egypt. Lastly, in this wiki I aim to tackle a somewhat dark topic. That is the topic of Female Genital Mutilation which is said to have originated in ancient Egypt even before the Graeco-Roman influence. FGM began as an ancient practice and there are many historical/archaeological accounts in text and art that explain and depict FGM as well as male circumcision. Men and women did great things in ancient Egypt and we as humans progressed tremendously during this period in history with help from both sexes.

Male and Female Roles In Ancient Egypt [[image:genderegyptant3145-fall11brittanniwyatt/marriage.jpg width="243" height="364" align="right" link="http://historylink101.net/egypt_1/a-marriage.htm"]]
The topic of male and female equality in ancient Egypt is one that sparks much interest. Even though they were for the most part ruled by men, females in ancient Egypt were in fact granted more freedom than women in other early civilizations. This advancement in close equality with men can be seen in ancient Egyptian art and even recorded textual evidence. The evidence in texts tell us that women were able to own and control their property in any way they wished. The roles of women in ancient Egypt were extremely unique and fascinating because at that time no other society compared in regard to female status (1).

Free women in ancient Egypt had many of the same rights as men and could even do very well for themselves financially without the help of men. With their ability to own land and even work for profit, free women had many ways to create income for themselves. Women of the middle and upper class were more limited when it came to roles in society. Once married, the role of women centered around procreation and family life (Tyldesly). Many ancient Egyptian women did not carry out occupations outside of the home, although some did. Typical chores of women included seamstress work, washing clothes, and cleaning the house. Men were also active in chores but usually the ones that took place outside of the home. For example, men were in charge of slaughtering animals and they even prepared food.

Overall, social status more so than gender is what separated roles in ancient Egyptian society. If a woman was part of the upper class she was able to hire slaves to do all of her housework and care for the children for her. However, a woman of lower or middle class would take on the household chores herself along with caring for the children and family (1).

To get an idea of women in other ancient civilizations here is the Ancient Chinese View on Women, and Gender Views In India.

Marriage in Ancient Egypt
The unity of marriage was very important to ancient Egyptians. This importance can be seen throughout Egyptian art and even romantic love songs that have been recovered by archaeologists. With few laws concerning marriage, people were free to marry as they wished unless otherwise set up in arranged marriages. This gave way for true romanticism to come alive. People were able to fall in love on their own and thus we see so many love stories and love songs from ancient Egypt. Egyptians believed that marriage was the business of the couple alone and as a result, there was no religious ceremony required to become married. The marriage was acknowledged when the female moved out of her father's home and into her new place of residency with her husband. After that public display, celebration ensued and just like that--Egyptians were married (Tyldesly).

Marriage between those of the royal family was far different from any marriage of a lower class. In order to keep bloodlines strong, brother and sister marriages were not out of the ordinary. In fact, it was quite a common occurrence of royal families in ancient Egypt. The idea was to keep it all in the family. In ancient Egypt both the male and female in the marriage shared legal ownership of land/property. Marrying someone in their family assured them that their land and ownership would also stay in the royal line. Marrying someone //not// of the royal bloodline put the original ruler at risk of losing half of their property if divorce occurred (Parker).

For more information of marriage and family life in ancient Egypt please visit Marriage and the Family in Ancient to Modern Egypt.

Male and Female Pharaohs
Although mostly a seat for men, there are some accounts of women as rulers in ancient Egypt. Given the fact that women in ancient Egypt were allowed more freedom and equality than other women of early civilizations, the ability to work their way up the line into the number one position as pharaoh was not impossible. Two of the most well known rulers in ancient Egypt were Tutankhamun and Hatshepset.

Tutankhamun[[image:http://way2egypt.com/img/Tuthankhamun4.jpg width="194" height="268" align="right" link="http://way2egypt.com/pharaohs/tutankhamun.html"]]
One pharaoh who ruled in anciet Egypt during the 18th dynasty of the New Kingdom was Tutankhamun or more commonly known today as King Tut. In an article titled "Warrior Tut" by W. Raymond Johnson, King Tut's rule is described as "one of the greatest periods of restoration in the history of Egypt" (Johnson). This is especially remarkable because at the beginning of his rule, Tutankhamun was only nine or ten years old. He took over duties as Pharoah after his father "abandoned the traditional Egyptian pantheon(...) and died young after an insignificant reign" (Johnson). Excavations of King Tut's tomb revealed that he lived a life of extravagance. These findings made it clear that royal families in ancient Egypt had everything at their disposal. Among the artifacts found in his tomb were "spears, bow and arrows, and charriots" (Johnson). All of them were inscribed with his name and showed signs of usage. Apparently King Tut was not just active in athletics as it was recently discovered that he was an active leader in battle as well. Johnson explains that Tut may have even been in charge of "military campaigns against the Syrians and Nubians before he died" (Johnson).

Hatshepsut
The story of Hatshepsut shows just how impactful the work of a powerful woman was. She ruled for 21 years from 1479 to 1458 B.C. as king and many questions about this woman in power arose (Brown). What sets Hatshepsut apart from queens of ancient Egypt was that she took on the role of number one ruling king and not as queen. Even though she had a very eligible step-son to take on the duties as ruler once he had grown and matured, Hatshepsut still took the first seat of rule while her step-son, Thutmose III, took on the role as second-in-command (Brown). One of the main reasons that Hatshepsut took over as Pharaoh instead of allowing a male heir to do so had a lot to do with bloodlines. Breaking the tradition of men as Pharaohs, Hatshepsut was still more connected to the royal line than Thutmose III and placing herself in power made sure that the bloodline would strongly continue. When the mummified body of Hatshepsut was discovered under a floor in the Valley of the Kings, she was wearing nothing. There were no treasures or jewelry adorning her body or even trinkets in the grave with her. This was extremely odd considering she made sure to be noticed. Hatshepsut is known as "one of the greatest builders in one of the greatest Egyptian dynasties" (Brown). She put in place the construction of many temples and shrines from Sinai to Nubia (Brown). After Hatshepsut died around 1458 B.C. her step-son began destroying all historical evidence of her reign as king which explains her body buried in a very random place with no offerings around her. It is believed that he may have been housing resentment towards his step-mother for taking on the role as king which he believed, as a male, was rightly his own.

More about pharaohs and Hatshepsut-> here.

After learning about the powerful Hatshepsut I am still left wondering why other societies did not give women more power as ancient Egypt did. Also, with women looked at with more respect in ancient Egypt than most other early civilizations, why did the painful and unfair procedure of Female Genital Mutilation become so popular? I believe that the practice of FGM has taken away so many of those rights given to Egyptian women at the beginning of ancient history.

** Female Genital Mutilation In Ancient Egypt **
Even with the unique freedom given to women of ancient Egypt, there was one procedure that was expected of them before puberty beginning in Graeco-Roman Egypt and maybe even before. Female genital mutilation is extremely popular not just in Egypt but throughout Africa. FGM is a practice that goes far back in history. In “Curing Cut or Ritual Mutilation?: Some Remarks on the Practice of Female and Male Circumcision in Graeco-Roman Egypt” Mary Knight explains that the practice of Female Genital Mutilation may not have been done for the same reasons as it is now. In modern time FGM is known to be practiced as a way to stop a woman from feeling any sexual desire and thus it is believed that mutilating the female genitals will therefore stop any over excessive sexual activity. In ancient Egypt male circumcision was occurring at the same time as female circumcision. It is brought into question the idea that perhaps ancient Egyptians believed circumcising men would also eliminate sexual desire and excessive sexual activity. So with circumcising one sex, the other was also circumcised. Mary Knight explains that the practice of circumcision in females was actually started in order to mirror the act of circumcising males.

Knight compiles many ancient accounts of FGM and compares them to find out why this procedure started in the first place. She cites from an encyclopedia written by a Greek physician, Aetios, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, around 500 C.E. In his writings, Aetios describes the FGM procedure. He explained that girls with “large clitorides were viewed both as a deformity and as a source of sexual stimulus that would predispose ‘victims’ to venery” (Knight 327). As he believed the organ would grow larger with age, Aetios stated that the surgery for removal was performed on the girls before marriage. Also, when giving a detailed account of how the procedures played out, it is noted that only men are recorded as the ones to do the mutilating/circumcising. This reigns true today as well. Although the procedure is now illegal in Egypt, it still goes on and it is still performed by men, not midwives. This proves that it was being done and is still being done without any medical need to do so. Mary Knight states, “The male gender of the operator may be significant in that it suggests that the procedure-at least in Graeco-Roman Egypt-was surgical,and not obstetrical” (Knight 329).

It had been believed that FGM began during the Graeco-Roman time period but evidence of it occurring earlier has been discovered. Also, this evidence to prove the procedure arose before the Graeco-Roman time period may also rule out the idea of FGM strictly being a medical procedure. There is evidence to support the fact that it began as a ritualistic act. Knight explains that this means “two types of operations may have coexisted, one traditional (ritual form) and the other informed by Graeco-Roman scientific theory and practice” (Knight 329). On the sarcophagus of Sit-hedj-hotep, who lived sometime during the 12th dynasty of the middle kingdom (1991-1786 B.C.E.), there is a ritualistic procedure written down which describes circumcision involved in some sort of magical act (Knight 330).

Those studying Egyptology have examined many male and female mummies in search of evidence of circumcision. While they did find that many male mummies showed signs of circumcision, the complete opposite was found in regard to the female mummies. However, Knight explains that if the procedure of circumcision was done because of ritual reasoning, then the evidence of the mummies shows that more men participated than women.

Mary Knight mentions two art forms depicting circumcisions in ancient Egypt. The fact that the procedure of male circumcision was turned into art to be purposely made public shows that it was something to celebrate as it is today. A female circumcision is completely opposite. It was and still is today a very private matter, and it has been even before the procedure was made illegal (Knight 333). This is extremely baffling and has many wondering why the process of FGM began at all. If it was never a celebrated passage in life for women, why was it necessary? The answer to this question is not direct and many variations of an answer exist. If you were to ask any modern Egyptian why they practice FGM they would tell you many different things but it all comes down to the fact that so many reasons have been given over time that they all eventually meshed-ritualistic, medical, and clinical reasoning. Throughout time the reasons were passed down and it became a cultural procedure. That being said, FGM has been around for so long that it just seems right to people who practice it. To us outsiders, however, it is viewed as a cruel and vile mutilation.

In an article titled “Female Genital and Sexual Mutilation: Egypt; Council of State of Egypt Bans Excision” the importance of banning FGM (female genital mutilation) is a major theme throughout. Although a statute ruling out FGM by a nurse at birth was put in place many years ago, it was still occurring in small physician offices and clinics while telling the public that the act of FGM was “prohibited.” It is discussed that an extremely high number of females are sexually mutilated in Egypt at 97%. This number was extremely shocking. With the ban put in place in on December 28, 1998, there is great hope that the practice of FGM will cease completely and hopefully influence other countries to follow suit.

To learn more about FGM please visit the FMG fact sheet at [|World Health Organization].