Essay, Research Paper: Amon-Hey Baby (Women In Ancient Egypt)

In Ancient Egypt, women were very important, and it’s quite easy for one to say that the roles of women, and men for that matter, have changed since those times. Egyptian women enjoyed more rights and privileges than males, even though Egypt was typically male-dominant. Egyptian women were even accustomed to more dispensation than modern day women.

Women in those times, especially in such places, were far off from being literate. Upper class women were the most educated of the bunch, followed by Middle class, who might have a chance of learning to read if they married into money. As for the lower class society, funding was too little to afford something so posh as an education. It is estimated that only 5 - 10% of women in Ancient Egypt were literate.

These women had to share their husbands with other women and in more ways than none, were servants to the males in the family. Husbands (within limits) could even beat their wives, and send them away when mad.

It is said that the portrayal of men in Ancient Egypt fell along the lines of ‘upstanding, heroic, and true’ while women were seen as ‘frivolous, spiteful, and false.’ Nonetheless, the freedom of these women is something to be recognized. Women were allowed to ‘own land, operate businesses, testify in court, and bring actions against men.’ These things may seem obvious now, but in those times, such things were unheard of.

Aside from women’s many public duties, they also still had quite a few household duties to attend to. Women were in no way frowned upon when household duties arose. Pictures from those times even showed that the man understood that it took ‘two people to make a marriage.’
When researching Ancient Egyptian women, one of the most important questions is that of power. Women’s jobs rarely spread out of the house, but some upper class women did reach a point were their power was above that of men. There were records of women being physicians, and even holding parts in temple.
Egyptian women were allowed in public. Typically, women worked the fields and real estate offices. It was very unsafe for women in Ancient Egypt to stray far from the town, or even her house for that matter. Ramses III said, “I enabled the woman of Egypt to go her own way, her journeys being extended where she wanted, without any person assaulting her on the road.”
Social position was not based completely on gender, but more so on the person(s) social rank. It was the woman who the throne was passed down to in Egypt. The man who married her, would become Pharaoh. Therefore, the respect for women impacted society. Manners would have to be used if one wanted to win the woman’s love and take the throne as Pharaoh of Egypt.
In conclusion, women in Ancient Egypt were very much like the women of now. They could hold positions higher than males, but Egypt was a male-dominant country in the long run. Many say that Egypt’s way of recognizing the difference in male and female rank, has influenced the world in way that can never be changed.
The attached piece of paper, has on it a piece of writing on women’s prominence.
Do not control your wife in her house,
When you know she is efficient;
Don’t say to her, ‘Where is it? Get it!’
When she has put it in the right place.
Let your eye observe in silence,
Then you recognize her skill:
It is joy when your hand is with her,
there are many who don’t know this.
Let her come to the lotus pond,
my beautiful loved one,
IN her transparent shift
Or fine linen.
Let her bathe herself near me,
Among the flowers,
So that I may behold her
As her limbs emerge from the Water.
I shall lie down inside and feign sickness
My neighbors shall come in to see me
And my girl will come and put the physicians to shame
For she knows my disease.


Word Count: 677