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MARRIAGE IN ANCIENT EGYPT
Tutankhamun and his wife Marriage was regarded as alliance between families, a joining of clans and union of property. Couples became married when they decided to live together. There was nor civil or religious ceremony. Prenuptial agreements were routinely signed to protect property.
Some scholars believe that the wedding ring dates back to ancient Egypt. The finger ring was first used by the Egyptians around 2800 B.C. Some scholars believed that it may have symbolized marriage since the Egyptians viewed married as something that lasted an eternity and a circle or ring had no end. Rings of gold were prized by Egyptian nobility.
Egyptian exchanged sandals when they exchanged property or authority. A sandal was given to a groom by the father of the bride. Some believe the word "honeymoon" comes from the ancient Egyptian custom of kidnaping the bride and holding her captive a moon (a month) and drinking a honey-sweetened drink during that time.
According to Minnesota State University, Mankato: “Marriage and family ties among the common ancient Egyptians were not significantly different then those we see around the world today. The ancient Egyptians held marriage as a sacred bond. This has been made clear in the many statues and writings that depict men and women in a relationship where both depended upon each other. Many myths of the ancient Egyptian marriage practices have been found to be untrue. For a long time many people thought that the Egyptian man would take many wives. This has been proven largely untrue. Some kings would take many wives in order to produce an heir to his throne, however, the common man would take more then one wife only in the event that his wife couldn’t produce a child. Instances of child adoption have been documented in their history. [Source: Minnesota State University, Mankato, ethanholman.com +]
Jaana Toivari-Viitala of the University of Helsinki wrote: “Marriage formed a central social construct of ancient Egyptian culture. It provided the normative framework for producing children, who would act as one’s rightful heirs. The latter were responsible for performing one’s funerary cult, thereby securing one’s eternal life. The economic effects of marriage were also notable. The husband, wife, and children were all perceived as having equal rights to the conjugal joint-property consisting of a 1/3 share each. In addition to this, the spouses might own private property of their own. As marriage modified many aspects of daily life such as social status, domicile, and the intricate network of interpersonal rights and obligations, it was not a relationship entered into at random. A sequence consisting of a choice of partner followed by an exchange of gifts and assets preceded the actual marrying. Once the marital status was a fact, both parties were expected to abstain from extramarital relationships. However, it was possible for men to have several wives. [Source: Jaana Toivari-Viitala, University of Helsinki, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2013, escholarship.org ]
“In view of textual evidence dating to the New Kingdom (1548 - 1086 B.C.), marriage may be defined as a contract. Local customs and social status most likely made their mark on the specifics of any actual marriage process. The wedding of a pharaoh was different from that of a poor farmer. Marriage practices appear also to have become somewhat modified as times changed. The material is somewhat vague regarding when one should enter into matrimony (for the first time). The ideal age for the bridegroom was probably when he had established himself in a profession. The bride might have been in her early or late teens. Such age groups feature in texts referring to marriages dating to Late and Ptolemaic and Roman Periods.
“There are numerous studies on ancient Egyptian marriage. Some focus on time period, geographical location, or type of source material. Marriage features also in studies dealing, for example, with ancient Egyptian law, ancient Egyptian women, or kinship, whereby legal and gender studies as well as cultural anthropology respectively provide methodological tools for the analysis. However, trying to match the ancient source material to theoretical and methodological frameworks and rhetoric is not unproblematic. Moreover, as the evidence is limited to a relatively modest number of various types of written references and pictorial material, often with quite specific agendas and spread over some thousands of years, any analysis made is inevitably incomplete.”
Categories with related articles in this website: Ancient Egyptian History (32 articles) factsanddetails.com; Ancient Egyptian Religion (24 articles) factsanddetails.com; Ancient Egyptian Life and Culture (36 articles) factsanddetails.com; Ancient Egyptian Government, Infrastructure and Economics (24 articles) factsanddetails.com
Websites on Ancient Egypt: UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, escholarship.org ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Egypt sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Discovering Egypt discoveringegypt.com; BBC History: Egyptians bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians ; Ancient History Encyclopedia on Egypt ancient.eu/egypt; Digital Egypt for Universities. Scholarly treatment with broad coverage and cross references (internal and external). Artifacts used extensively to illustrate topics. ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt ; British Museum: Ancient Egypt ancientegypt.co.uk; Egypt’s Golden Empire pbs.org/empires/egypt; Metropolitan Museum of Art www.metmuseum.org ; Oriental Institute Ancient Egypt (Egypt and Sudan) Projects ; Egyptian Antiquities at the Louvre in Paris louvre.fr/en/departments/egyptian-antiquities; KMT: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt kmtjournal.com; Ancient Egypt Magazine ancientegyptmagazine.co.uk; Egypt Exploration Society ees.ac.uk ; Amarna Project amarnaproject.com; Egyptian Study Society, Denver egyptianstudysociety.com; The Ancient Egypt Site ancient-egypt.org; Abzu: Guide to Resources for the Study of the Ancient Near East etana.org; Egyptology Resources fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk
Sources on Ancient Egyptian Marriage
Ramses II and his wife Jaana Toivari-Viitala of the University of Helsinki wrote: “The earliest text references to marriage originate from Old Kingdom (2670 - 2168 B.C.) tomb inscriptions, various types of tomb equipment, and other monuments. The owner of these was usually a male official belonging to the elite of the society. Monuments owned by women are few. In common during Dynasties 4 - 5 (2600 - 2350 B.C.), the woman was usually given a secondary place. Exceptions to this general tendency do exist however. [Source: Jaana Toivari-Viitala, University of Helsinki, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2013, escholarship.org ]
“Evidence of marriage obtained from the Old Kingdom source material consists mainly of titles indicating the marital state (often associated with depictions of the spouses), the word used for wife being Hmt and that for husband hAy. Monuments with this kind of data continue to constitute a notable source of information through Pharaonic history. References to wives outnumber those to husbands. This is to be expected as persons mentioned in tombs were identified through their relationship to the tomb owner, who in most cases was a man. Marking the marital state does not appear to overshadow other titles designating high social rank and functions. References to actual marriages or marrying dating to the Old Kingdom are few.
“Various types of written source material multiply from the Middle Kingdom (2040 - 1640 B.C.) onward as literacy and access to written culture increase, yet references with specific information on the marriage process and divorce remain sparse. Didactic literature, situated in the circle of the elite, contains some references to male ideals of marriage and family. In the Teaching of Ptahhotep one is advised to found a household when one prospers. The wife is to be loved, respected, and provided for while at the same time kept under control. She should not be divorced on light grounds. Similar ideals, with the additional mention of procreating male children, are articulated also in the Instruction of Djedefhor, the Teaching of Ani, which additionally advises not to control an efficient wife but to treat her well, and the Teaching of Onchsheshonqy.
“Other literary texts also contain references to marriage, such as the Story of Sinuhe and the Tale of the Doomed Prince. In both tales, the main character is given a foreign woman as a wife. He also receives ample gifts by his father-in- law. In the story of Naneferkaptah in the Setna sequel, a royal sister-brother marriage, for which the sister moves to live with her brother, takes place. The Setna sequel also presents the wickedness of a woman (Tabubu) desiring marriage. Wicked wives feature also in the Tale of Two Brothers.
“The role of the wife as a child bearer is highlighted in the Dialogue Between a Man and His Ba , where the loss of potential unborn children is presented as more tragic than the death of the wife herself. Whether such views were common in real life cannot be substantiated, but marriage is unequivocally presented as the appropriate setting for sexual interaction. In literary texts, extramarital liaisons were punishable by death. In non-literary texts from Deir el-Medina dating to the New Kingdom, erring individuals of both sexes face less dramatic repercussions. Other sexual offences besides infidelity are mentioned, for example, in threat- formulae and comprise cases of a third party (man or ass) violating or raping a man’s wife/“concubine”, assaulting both husband and wife, or alternatively have one of the spouses assault their offspring.
“Descriptions of the ideal marriage process in the didactic literature agree partly with references to marrying found in other types of written sources from the Old Kingdom onward. The increase in the number of non- literary texts corresponds with a greater amount of more specific references to various aspects of marital life. The New Kingdom Deir el-Medina source material constitutes, for example, one notable corpus where such data are found . The abundant material from the Late Period (664 - 332 B.C.) onward that, in addition to all sorts of informal texts, also comprises standardized deeds such as marriage contracts.”
Marriage Terminology in Ancient Egypt
Marriage negotiation between
Egyptian ruler and Hittite ruler
about the latter's daughter Jaana Toivari-Viitala of the University of Helsinki wrote: “Marriage in ancient Egypt was predominantly rendered as a male engineered process expressed by the phrase rdj X Y m Hmt, “to give X to Y as wife,” used from the Old Kingdom onward. The main actor was the father of the woman, as seen, for example, in the 5th Dynasty inscription of the High Priest of Ptah Ptahshepses: [r]dj n=f Hm=f sAt wrt nswt MAat-xa m Hmt=f, “His Majesty gave to him the King’s eldest daughter Maatkha as his wife”. Such a practice is mentioned also in literary texts dating from the Middle and New Kingdom into the Late Period. In the Story of Sinuhe, the verb mnj, “to moor,” is used instead of the verb for “to give” however. [Source: Jaana Toivari-Viitala, University of Helsinki, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2013, escholarship.org ]
“Another frequently used phrase for marrying jrj m Hmt, “to make as a wife,” presents the husband as the agent in the marrying process. In the New Kingdom (1550–1070 B.C.) Papyrus Chester Beatty V , the wording is juxtaposed with the phrase used for bringing up children, “Make for you a wife when you are a youngster and teach her to be a human/woman”. Thus, the man is said to make a woman his wife and additionally educate her into socially recognized adulthood. Marriage constituted a change of status whereby women became wives, men husbands. Additionally, marriage could apparently also function as a mark of adulthood for a woman, whose status of “she being a married woman” (jw=s m Hmt) or “having been a married woman” (wn m Hmt) is often mentioned in the written documentation.
“Men are seldom labeled as husbands, and only in the Late Period does one find occasional references where a woman is the active party “making a husband”. Other titles that could be used as designations for married women were nbt pr, “lady of the house,” st Hmt, “woman,” Hmt TAy, “man’s woman,” snt, “sister,” jryt n Hms/n wnm, “living/eating companion,” rmT, “female person,” Hbswt, “wife(?)/concubine(?), anx(t) n njwt, “citizeness”. The alternative designation used for husband was TAy.
“In addition to status, spatial aspects of marriage were focused on in the terminology employed. Identifying such designations is, however, problematic as independent segments of society with specific sets of specialized terminology did not exist. Thus the phrase “to found a household” (grg pr) appears to have been used to signify both marriage and endowment. To “enter a house” (aq r pr) might designate marrying. It might also refer to literally stepping into a house, cohabiting or having (illicit) sexual intercourse. Other phrases that are challenging to interpret correctly are “to sit/live together”, “(to be) together with” (m-dj), and “to eat together with”.”
Choosing a Marriage Partner in Ancient Egypt
priest and his wife
Jaana Toivari-Viitala wrote:“References to marriage in various literary texts seem to advocate unions between social equals. However, in the story of The Doomed Prince the main character, disguised as a chariot warrior’s son, manages to be given another prince’s daughter as wife before his true noble birth is revealed (The Doomed Prince 6,16). In this case, the young man is said to have personal qualities that make up for the lack of the right social background. In real life, personal social upward mobility through marriage did occur both among the elite and common people. Occasionally even slaves could be freed and adopted and subsequently married into their previous owners’ families . That a spouse was of foreign origin was not entirely unheard of either. The Egyptian royal families used marriage alliances as part of their international diplomatic strategies. [Source: Jaana Toivari-Viitala, University of Helsinki, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2013, escholarship.org ]
“As monuments of various types belong mostly to the royal family and the elite, persons mentioned on these are more or less of equal social background (excluding occasionally featured servants). Middle Kingdom inscriptions convey that some marriages were contracted between elite families from neighboring areas rather than between families from one and the same location. Thus, a marriage union could be used as a means to form alliances and networks on various levels of society, in a similar way the royal family tied marital bonds in order to reach political and diplomatic ends.
“The source material pertaining to the New Kingdom royal tomb-builders’ community at Deir el-Medina indicates that marriages in the village were contracted mainly between locals, although there are some cases where a spouse is attested as coming from elsewhere. Many of the couples in the village shared a background of equal social rank. Moreover, existing kinship ties can be attested between a few of the spouses. It is mostly first cousins who were married to each other, but there might also be a couple of cases where a paternal uncle married his niece and a case where a man might have been married to his maternal aunt. One of the couples at Deir el-Medina appears to have been brother and sister. The references are, however, too few to substantiate statistical estimates regarding partner choice at Deir el-Medina.
“In the 5th Dynasty biography of Ptahshepses, pharaoh chooses Ptahshepses as the husband for his daughter “because His Majesty desired that she be with him more than with any other”. Although a number of marriages appear to have been arranged, emotional attachment could have played a part in the choice of partner. Many epithets featuring in inscriptions contain some form of the verb “to love,” indicating that a person is beloved of, for example, a god, the king, or an official. That is, mostly of someone of higher rank. Bestowing love on one’s inferiors was considered a good deed. As the most common designation for a married woman mentioned in various monuments was “his beloved wife,” marriage was most likely perceived as encompassing love, albeit between two spouses who possibly were not of an entirely equal status. The love and longing articulated in love songs composed during the New Kingdom, on the other hand, are male constructs with little focus on marriage.”
Incestuous Marriage in Ancient Egypt
Among pharaohs and their queens, brothers and sisters and even fathers and daughters intermarried. Incest was a way of keeping property in the family because women could inherent property. Scholars debate whether these marriages were consummated or simply ceremonial.
Describing the implications of a father-daughter marriage, Reay Tannahill wrote in “Sex in History”: "A resulting son would be a half brother of his mother, his grandmother's stepson, his mother's brothers half brother, and not only his father's child but his grandson as well! Note the problems of identity and exercise of authority: should he act toward his mother as a son or as a half-brother; should the uncle be related as an uncle or as a half-brother”...if a brother and sister were to marry then divorce, could they readily revert to their original relationship?"
According to Minnesota State University, Mankato: “Instances of incest were once thought to be commonplace in ancient Egypt. This has been proven false with the discovery of the semantics of the Egyptian language. When the scholars were first deciphering the hieroglyphs they ran into many references of women and men referring to their spouse as their “brother” or "sister." The terms Brother and Sister reflected the feelings that two people shared, not the heriditary kinship relationship. “My brother torments my heart with his voice, he makes sickness take hold of me; he is neighbor to my mother’s house, and I cannot go to him! Brother, I am promised to you by the Gold of Women! Come to me that I may see your beauty.” [Source: Minnesota State University, Mankato, ethanholman.com +]
Jaana Toivari-Viitala wrote: “Marriage between close kin was no taboo in ancient Egypt, but the evidence for such couplings outside the royal family is meager. A possible, and as it would seem, the earliest attested case of a brother- sister marriage is found in the tomb of Hem- Ra/Isi I at Deir el-Gabrawi. From Middle Kingdom sources at least two certain and another three possible marriages between half-siblings have been attested. There are also some attested New Kingdom and Late Period sibling marriages in addition to the above mentioned Deir el-Medina case, but the practice does not seem to have been specifically common until the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods (332 B.C. - 394 CE).
“Unions between fathers and daughters are occasionally mentioned within the royal family, but they appear not to have occurred among commoners. As sexual intercourse between parent and child is presented as a deterrent in the threat-formulae, such unions were probably considered inappropriate, at least among non-royal persons.
Tutankhamun's (King Tut's) probable gene lineage
Marriage, Incest and Inheritance in Ancient Egypt
Marcelo P Campagno of the University of Buenos Aires wrote: “We have no evidence for the existence of rules of preference in the choice of marriage partners. Marriage between cousins, between uncles and nieces, and between half-siblings is known from various periods in Egyptian history. However, marriage between full brothers and sisters waslimited to the royal entourage, except during the Roman Period, when the practice occurred in Greek and mixed households. This pattern of evidence does not suggest that Pharaonic Egypt had no prohibitions against incestuous relationships, as is sometimes proposed. First and foremost, the king was a divine being and was therefore beyond such regulations. [Source: Marcelo P Campagno, University of Buenos Aires, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2009, escholarship.org ]
Moreover, relationships that are considered forbidden are culturally variable; in Egypt, incest taboos may have applied to relations between parents and children, or to relations of the so-called “second type incest,” which implies that two consanguineous kin of the same sex could not share the same sexual partner. Monogamous marriage was predominant, although the possibility that a man could have more than one wife was not excluded, especially among the elite. A marriage could be dissolved by divorce, which—at least, during the first millennium B.C.—was subjected to regulations regarding the return of the dowry; such regulations varied according to the causes of the divorce. Adultery between a man and a married woman was morally condemned and, according to literary texts, both parties seem to have been subjected to severe penalties.
“Inheritance seems to have followed the principle of bilateral descent, wherein men and women were allowed to inherit from both parents. However, the eldest son (sA smsw) seems to have received double the portion of the inheritance that his siblings received, presumably because he was responsible for the burial of his parents. In polygamous marriages, the descendants of the first wife appear to have been privileged in their inheritance. Couples without descendants could decide to adopt individuals who were not linked by close blood ties. Sometimes, a man could adopt his own wife in order to transfer his belongings to her. In addition to the inheritance of rights and possessions, there was a strong tendency for professions to be transferred from father to son (for example, in the priesthood and among craftsmen), as well as some political- administrative positions during various periods (such as the office of nomarch at the end of the Old Kingdom).”
Royal Incest
The ancient Egyptians were not the only royalty to have close relations among its close relations. David Dobbs wrote in National Geographic, “When New England missionary Hiram Bingham arrived in Hawaii in 1820, he was dismayed to find the natives indulging in idolatry, hula dancing, and, among the ruling family, incest. The Hawaiians themselves did not share Bingham's shock at the royals' behavior. Royal incest, notes historian Joanne Carando, was "not only accepted but even encouraged" in Hawaii as an exclusive royal privilege. [Source: David Dobbs, National Geographic, September 2010]
Amenhotep I
In fact, while virtually every culture in recorded history has held sibling or parent-child couplings taboo, royalty have been exempted in many societies, including ancient Egypt, Inca Peru, and, at times, Central Africa, Mexico, and Thailand. And while royal families in Europe avoided sibling incest, many, including the Hohenzollerns of Prussia, the Bourbons of France, and the British royal family, often married cousins. The Spanish Habsburgs, who ruled for nearly 200 years, frequently married among close relatives. Their dynasty ended in 1700 with the death of Charles II, a king so riddled with health and development problems that he didn't talk until he was four or walk until he was eight. He also had trouble chewing food and couldn't sire a child.
The physical problems faced by Charles and the pharaoh Tutankhamun, the son of siblings, point to one possible explanation for the near-universal incest taboo: Overlapping genes can backfire. Siblings share half their genes on average, as do parents and offspring. First cousins' genomes overlap 12.5 percent. Matings between close relatives can raise the danger that harmful recessive genes, especially if combined repeatedly through generations, will match up in the offspring, leading to elevated chances of health or developmental problems — perhaps Tut's partially cleft palate and congenitally deformed foot or Charles's small stature and impotence.
If the royals knew of these potential downsides, they chose to ignore them. According to Stanford University classics professor Walter Scheidel, one reason is that "incest sets them apart." Royal incest occurs mainly in societies where rulers have tremendous power and no peers, except the gods. Since gods marry each other, so should royals. Incest also protects royal assets. Marrying family members ensures that a king will share riches, privilege, and power only with people already his relatives. In dominant, centralized societies such as ancient Egypt or Inca Peru, this can mean limiting the mating circle to immediate family. In societies with overlapping cultures, as in second-millennium Europe, it can mean marrying extended family members from other regimes to forge alliances while keeping power among kin.
And the hazards, while real, are not absolute. Even the high rates of genetic overlap generated in the offspring of sibling unions, for instance, can create more healthy children than sick ones. And royal wealth can help offset some medical conditions; Charles II lived far better (and probably longer, dying at age 38) than he would have were he a peasant.
A king or a pharaoh can also hedge the risk of his incestuous bets by placing wagers elsewhere. He can mate, as Stanford classicist Josiah Ober notes, "with pretty much anybody he wants to." Inca ruler Huayna Capac (1493-1527), for instance, passed power not only to his son Huáscar, whose mother was Capac's wife and sister, but also to his son Atahualpa, whose mother was apparently a consort. And King Rama V of Thailand (1873-1910) sired more than 70 children — some from marriages to half sisters but most with dozens of consorts and concubines. Such a ruler could opt to funnel wealth, security, education, and even political power to many of his children, regardless of the status of the mother. A geneticist would say he was offering his genes many paths to the future.
It can all seem rather mercenary. Yet affection sometimes drives these bonds. Bingham learned that even after King Kamehameha III of Hawaii accepted Christian rule, he slept for several years with his sister, Princess Nahi'ena'ena — pleasing their elders but disturbing the missionaries. They did it, says historian Carando, because they loved each other.
King Tutankhamun and Royal Incest
Tutankhamun All of these maladies are thought to have been the result of inbreeding between his father and mother — his father’s sister. Zahi Hawass wrote in National Geographic, “In my view...Tutankhamun's health was compromised from the moment he was conceived. His mother and father were full brother and sister. Pharaonic Egypt was not the only society in history to institutionalize royal incest, which can have political advantages. (See "The Risks and Rewards of Royal Incest.") But there can be a dangerous consequence. Married siblings are more likely to pass on twin copies of harmful genes, leaving their children vulnerable to a variety of genetic defects. Tutankhamun's malformed foot may have been one such flaw. We suspect he also had a partially cleft palate, another congenital defect. Perhaps he struggled against others until a severe bout of malaria or a leg broken in an accident added one strain too many to a body that could no longer carry the load. [Source: Zahi Hawass, National Geographic, September 2010]
There may be one other poignant testimony to the legacy of royal incest buried with Tutankhamun in his tomb. While the data are still incomplete, our study suggests that one of the mummified fetuses found there is the daughter of Tutankhamun himself, and the other fetus is probably his child as well. So far we have been able to obtain only partial data for the two female mummies from KV21. One of them, KV21A, may well be the infants' mother and thus, Tutankhamun's wife, Ankhesenamun. We know from history that she was the daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, and thus likely her husband's half sister. Another consequence of inbreeding can be children whose genetic defects do not allow them to be brought to term.
So perhaps this is where the play ends, at least for now: with a young king and his queen trying, but failing, to conceive a living heir for the throne of Egypt. Among the many splendid artifacts buried with Tutankhamun is a small ivory-paneled box, carved with a scene of the royal couple. Tutankhamun is leaning on his cane while his wife holds out to him a bunch of flowers. In this and other depictions, they appear serenely in love. The failure of that love to bear fruit ended not just a family but also a dynasty.
Polygamy in Ancient Egypt
In Ancient Egypt, polygamy appears to have existed almost exclusively in royal families and was not practiced by ordinary people if for no other reason few could afford it. i Jaana Toivari-Viitala wrote: “Men could choose for themselves more than one wife, as there exists some evidence that polygamy was practiced from the Old Kingdom onward (if not even before) also outside the royal family, where pharaoh as a rule had a great number of spouses. However, it is not always possible to ascertain with certainty whether one is faced with evidence of polygamy or serial monogamy, where a second wife is taken only after a first one has died. On the whole, it seems that polygamy was not a very common practice outside the royal family. Cases where wives would have several husbands, i.e., polyandry, are unattested.” [Source: Jaana Toivari-Viitala, University of Helsinki, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2013, escholarship.org ]
Silke Roth of Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany wrote: “In ancient Egypt, polygamy was basically restricted to the ruler and his family. Therefore, it is only possible to speak of a “harem” for the royal women and their social circle as well as the related institutions and localities. Given the primary meaning of the harem in the oriental-Islamic cultural spheres and especially the Ottoman example, however, the associated terminology is only limitedly applicable to the so-called harem of the Egyptian king. Nevertheless, both Ottoman and Egyptian harems were centrally involved in raising and educating the future ruler and, more generally, the future inner elite group. [Source: Silke Roth, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2012, escholarship.org ]
“The importance of securing the line of succession and also of marriage policies for maintenance and extension of social and political networks explains why numerous, sometimes concurrent, wives can be assigned to Egyptian kings. However, since there are only few, controversial records documenting multiple marriages of non-royal people, one must assume that polygamy—and thus the harem—was basically restricted to the ruler and his family.”
Parties Involved in the Marriage Process
marriage contract
Jaana Toivari-Viitala wrote: “Evidence regarding parties involved in the marriage process is sparse. In references where a woman is said to be given as a wife, the key agent is the woman’s father. One may, however, suggest that the whole household took part in the event, as probably did the family of the groom also. There are occasional references in non-literary texts dating to the New Kingdom where one finds, for example, one groom interacting with a maternal uncle of the bride, another with his bride’s adoptive mother. One might also turn to goddesses, such as Hathor, and ask for help in getting a wife. [Source: Jaana Toivari-Viitala, University of Helsinki, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2013, escholarship.org ]
“The role of the family in the marriage process becomes more visible in the Late Period (712–332 B.C.). Moreover, a change of practice occurs from the 26th Dynasty onward, when some marriage contracts register the phrase “I have taken you as a wife” whereby emphasis shifts from the father of the bride to the groom, who now addresses his bride directly. Non-literary texts do not portray the bride as an active part in the process before the Late Period, but from then on statements such as “you have taken me as your wife” are occasionally recorded. However, already in earlier periods, in literary texts such as The Doomed Prince and the story of Naneferkaptah in the Setna sequel, the girls are active in order to get their ways regarding partner choice.
“Marriage embodied legal, economic, and social rights and obligations, which affected social networks in a community. Thus, also a larger group of friends and neighbors must have taken some interest and involved themselves on some level in marriage arrangements. Regarding the royal family, several officials were probably needed for the practical arrangements.”
Marriage Formalities in Ancient Egypt
Jaana Toivari-Viitala wrote: “Bringing a marriage about firstly requires choice of partner, which involves negotiations and agreements. In most cultures exchanges of various goods and assets generally referred to as bridewealth and dowry then follow. The term grg pr, “to found a house(hold),” was used as a label for gifts given by parents when their children got married. The phrase fAy gAyt, “carrying of a bundle,” found in a few texts from the New Kingdom, a time period when the culture was still predominantly oral, designates goods and services provided by the groom to the bride’s family. After carrying the bundle, the “making of a wife” is said to have taken place. A local court case documented at Deir el-Medina deals with a third party’s sexual involvement with a married woman. This is reported as a crime since the two above mentioned actions had been duly performed. Thus, a violation against a socially acknowledged binding agreement (or contract) could be reported to the local court, a more formal environment than that of direct interpersonal problem solving. [Source: Jaana Toivari-Viitala, University of Helsinki, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2013, escholarship.org ]
“Formal measures to safeguard a daughter’s position in the marriage regarding property rights, divorce, and ill treatment could also be undertaken. The husband might be made to swear oaths, such as the ones recorded in Ostracon Bodleian Library 253 and Ostracon Varille 30, which contained notable penalty clauses if the given promises were broken. Also so-called jmt-pr documents relating to property disposition could be drawn up. In the Late Period, the types of documents made in association with marriage multiply and become more standardized . The most common of these are the Demotic sX n sanx annuity contracts made by the husband to his wife and sXw n Hmt documents guaranteeing the wife’s right to the marital property.”
Marriage and Inheritance
Akhenathon and Nefertiti
Sandra Lippert of Universität Tübingen wrote: “Benefits for the spouse: The division of matrimonial property between the spouses with one third belonging to the wife—first attested in the 17th Dynasty, attested several times in the New Kingdom, and commonly mentioned in Late Period and Ptolemaic marriage documents—has often been seen as a matter of inheritance. In reality, however, the wife did not inherit a third of her husband’s property. Rather, she was endowed with it already during her husband’s lifetime, as can be seen from the fact that the third also fell to her in the case of divorce. Since the attestation of the one-third/two-thirds division far predates the earliest marriage documents and is there given as a well-known fact, it can be safely assumed that it was not dependent upon individual arrangements but legally binding from at least the New Kingdom onwards, as is also suggested by the peculiar phrasing of O. DeM 764, in which this division is set up as a general rule with the typical conditional protasis and injunctive or future apodosis structure of later law texts: “If the children are small, the property will constitute three parts: one for the children, one for the man, one for the woman. If he (i.e., the man) provides for the children, give to him the two thirds of all property, the one third being for the woman”. In Late and Ptolemaic and Roman Period marriage documents, the wife could be allotted to inherit larger parts or even all of her husband’s property, but her right of disposal was usually restricted so that the property would after her death fall automatically to the children. [Source: Sandra Lippert, Universität Tübingen, Germany, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, 2013 escholarship.org ]
“Benefits for the children: “As seen above, some jmt-pr documents of the Middle and New Kingdoms, and some marriage documents of the Late and Ptolemaic and Roman Periods through which inheritance was allotted to a wife, state that all property is ultimately to fall to the children. In certain types of marriage documents that became current from the 26th/27th Dynasties onwards, the inheritance rights of the children from the marriage in question were established, sometimes even before the children were born. Often it was stressed that the firstborn son of this marriage would be counted as “eldest son” in the sense of the legal order of succession and therefore be the main or even sole heir: the phrasing “Your eldest son is my eldest son [among the children you will bear to me] . . .” was often extended to “. . . the master of all that I possess and will acquire.” In other documents of this type, all children (or occasionally only the sons) were instituted as heirs of the paternal property. If a man who had made a marriage settlement of the above-mentioned kind married a second time (either because he had divorced his first wife or because she had died), he could only draw up another marriage settlement if the first wife and/or his eldest son agreed to it in writing because he had already pledged his property as security for the maintenance of his first wife and promised it as inheritance to the wife and/or the children from his first marriage. This is explicitly stated in a law cited by the judges of the so-called Siut trial.”
Divorce in Ancient Egypt
Divorce simply involved moving out, after which the man and woman were allowed to remarry. Jaana Toivari-Viitala wrote: “A marriage came to its end with the demise of one of the spouses or due to reasons such as infertility, other physical defects, unfaithfulness, or lack of love. Although social norms appear to have encouraged married couples to stay together, divorces and re-marriages were quite common. [Source: Jaana Toivari-Viitala, University of Helsinki, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2013, escholarship.org ]
“The husband was often the instigator of a divorce. Most of the women did not have a professional career, so their economically and socially weaker position probably encouraged them to try to keep a marriage together at some length. The phrase designating divorce xAa (r bnr), “to throw (out),” was used by men. It reflects the living arrangements by the termination of a marriage. The woman had to leave the conjugal home. There are some indications that she additionally also had to leave the children with the husband. When a woman is said to end a marriage, the word Sm, “to go (away),” was used.
“In New Kingdom sources, one finds cases where divorce is referred to with the verb arq, “to swear.” The location for this event was the local court. A text listing divorces, Ostracon A. Gardiner 19, and some other documents recording property settlements made in connection with divorces indicate that ending a marriage indeed required some formal proceedings.
“Moreover, there is a general rule regarding property rights recorded on an ostracon, Ostracon DeM 764, where the wife is said to have a right to 1/3 of the property while 1/3 was for the husband and 1/3 for the children. As the children stayed with the father, he was left in charge of the children’s portion also. It would appear that the term sfr, previously interpreted as dowry , could be used for the aforementioned 1/3 of conjugal joint- property allotted to the woman.
“A divorced woman lost her status as wife. She became an “ex-wife” (Hmt HAty), yet she retained her status as mother of her children. She might seek lodgings at her parent’s or brother’s place. Other relatives or her in- laws might also provide her with shelter. In this respect, the situation of a divorced woman could resemble that of a widow with little property. There seems to have been a strong tendency for both men and women to remarry. A second marriage was not alwaysfree of complications for the women, however. In the Late Period temple oaths, ex- husbands are made to swear that they will leave their ex-wives in peace. Thus, cases where jealous ex-husbands harassed their former wives probably existed.”
Social, Economic, and Legal Implications of Marriage and Divorce
Jaana Toivari-Viitala wrote: “Marriage functioned as the prescribed social construct for the procreation of offspring. The children secured one’s eternal life by sustaining one’s funerary cult. They were one’s rightful heirs, who continued the family line on earth. Thus, marriage could be described as cohabitation with intent to reproduce. Ideally the cohabitation came about by the spouses setting up a home of their own. They might alternatively move in with the parents of either party. In addition to being a spatially visible construct and marking social status, marriage also caused notable rearrangements in wider and intricate social networks entailing interpersonal rights and obligations. [Source: Jaana Toivari-Viitala, University of Helsinki, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2013, escholarship.org ]
“One great concern, often apparently requiring written documentation from the Old Kingdom onward, was title to property. In addition to references where husbands and wives pass on property to their offspring, husbands sometimes bequeathed property (or right to income) to their wives. These texts do not specify rights to the matrimonial joint property, as is done in the guideline recorded in O. DeM 764, mentioned previously. The latter document highlights the children’s importance, irrespective of gender, as additional holders of rights to the conjugal joint property alongside their parents. Although joint property was part of the marriage construct, the spouses could own private property also. This is seen clearly in documents dating from the Late Period onward. In addition to existing family ties, providing for a deceased’s funeral could provide the right to inherit such property.
“Material dating to the Late Period also contains more specific information on intra- familial dynamics in relation to various types of rights and obligations. One concept featuring in these sources is, for example, the “right to a wife”, which may refer to the man’s exclusive sexual right to his wife. The term is not attested from earlier periods. “On the whole it seems safe to assume that the families as well as the community at large during all periods of Pharaonic history probably exercised some control in order to have expectations associated with marital life followed. It is, moreover, possible that there were diverse types of normatively accepted liaisons or “marriages” embedded in the intricate social texture.”
an Egyptian feast by Edwin Long
Harems in Ancient Egypt
Silke Roth of Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany wrote: “In Egyptological research, the term “harem” (harim) comprises a conglomerate of phenomena, which can be distinguished as: 1) the community of women and children who belonged to the royalhousehold; 2) related institutions, including administrative organizations and personnel; and associated localities and places, like palaces and royal apartments, as well as agricultural land and manufacturing workshops. Key functions of this so-called royal harem can be identified as the residence and stage for the court of the royal women, the place for the upbringing and education of the royal children and favored non-royal children as the future ruling class, the provision of musical performance in courtly life and cult, as well as the supply and provisioning of the royal family. Related Egyptian terms include ipet (from Dynasty 1 onwards), khenere(t) (from the Old Kingdom), and per kheneret (New Kingdom). The compounds ipet nesut and kheneret (en) nesut, commonly “royal harem,” are attested as early as the Old Kingdom. Only a few sources testify to the existence of the royal harem after the 20th Dynasty. [Source: Silke Roth, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2012, escholarship.org ]
“In ancient Egypt, polygamy was basically restricted to the ruler and his family. Therefore, it is only possible to speak of a “harem” for the royal women and their social circle as well as the related institutions and localities. Given the primary meaning of the harem in the oriental-Islamic cultural spheres and especially the Ottoman example, however, the associated terminology is only limitedly applicable to the so-called harem of the Egyptian king. Nevertheless, both Ottoman and Egyptian harems were centrally involved in raising and educating the future ruler and, more generally, the future inner elite group.
The term “harem” generally describes a cultural phenomenon that is primarily known from oriental-Islamic cultural spheres, where it is still attested. It denotes a very protected part of the house or palace sphere in which the female family members and younger children of a ruler/potentate as well as their servants live separated from the public (Turkish haram from Arabic Harâm, “forbidden,” “inviolable”).
“The imperial harem of the Ottoman sultan (sixteenth to seventeenth century CE), whose everyday life and hierarchical order is known from contemporary descriptions, is the paradigm for the western notion of the harem. The sultan’s mother, who held the highest rank, lived there with up to four of the ruler’s wives; the mother of the oldest son held a special position as principle wife. In addition, the unmarried sisters and daughters of the sultan, his younger sons, concubines, and numerous female servants were members of the harem. Eunuchs acted as intermediaries to the outside world. An important function of the female-dominated imperial harem that resided in secluded rooms of the palace was the education of future female leaders at court. The young men were educated in the male harem, which was constituted in the most inner and inaccessible court of the sultan’s palace around the person of the ruler.”
Function and Role of the Royal Harem
statue of Hormin, director of the harem at Memphis
Silke Roth of Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz wrote: “The following essential functions can be associated with the social groups, institutions, and localities connected with the harem of the Egyptian king: 1) residence and stage for the court of the royal women, 2) upbringing and education of royal children and favored non- royal children as the future ruling class, 3) musical-artistic accompaniment of courtly life and performance of cult, and 4) supply and provisioning of the royal family. [Source: Silke Roth, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2012, escholarship.org ]
“Hence, the significance of the royal harem was far beyond the scope of controlling the ruler’s sexual activity and its outcome (cf. Peirce 1993: 3 for the Ottoman harem). Comparable to the royal court, which can be defined as the monarch’s “extended house,” the royal harem played an important role as the “extended family and household” of the ruler as local-factual, social, economic, and ruling institution. A formal affiliation with this extended family allowed individuals the opportunity to support or obstruct political interests and their exponents, and thus offered the possibility of participating in political power.”
A “key function of the harem was the upbringing of royal and elite children. From the Old Kingdom on, a pr mna(t), a “house of education” or “house of the nursery,” is attested as place of learning and from the Middle Kingdom a kAp. The latter can be identified as part of the royal private quarters or the jpt nswt. It is possible that a number of kAp existed, which were assigned to particular royal children. 4bAw nswt, “instructors of the king,” and mna(t) nswt, “tutors” or “wet nurses of the king” were responsible for raising and educating the royal children. [Source: Silke Roth, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2012, escholarship.org ]
“The sons and daughters of distinguished officials could be raised together with royal children, thus creating a close personal bond between the future ruling class and the successor to the throne. Later in their careers they bore titles such as sbAtj nswt or sDtj(t) nswt, “foster son/daughter of the king”; Xrd(t) n kAp, “child of the kAp”; and sn(t) mna n nb tAwj, “foster brother/sister of the Lord of the Two Lands”.”
“Divine Harems” and “Harems” of the Egyptian King
Silke Roth of Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz wrote: “The so-called harem of the Egyptian king does not fulfill the two main criteria of the Ottoman paradigm: neither is there evidence that all women and children were gathered at one location nor that they were cut off from public life. Properly speaking, the harem of the Egyptian king comprised a conglomerate of phenomena, which can be distinguished as follows: 1) the women and children who belonged to the royal household, particularly the queens and “harem women,” princes and princesses, as well as favored non-royal children of both sexes, who were educated at the royal court; 2) related institutions, including administrative organizations and personnel; and 3) associated localities and places, like palaces and royal apartments, as well as agricultural land and manufacturing workshops. [Source: Silke Roth, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2012, escholarship.org ]
“As more or less comprehensive terms for these groups of people, institutions, and localities, jpt was used from the 1st Dynasty on and—closely related to it—xnr(t) from the Old Kingdom; in the New Kingdom, pr xnrt was also used. These terms are usually translated as “harem” and are evident especially in titles and administrative documents. In the context of administrative texts, it seems that jpt nswt as term for an administrative unit was replaced by (pr) xnrt in the New Kingdom and then is primarily used in titles. The obvious increase in sources for administrative officials, including the range of titles, indicates the expansion of the royal harem from the 18th Dynasty onwards; there are, however, few records after the 20th Dynasty.
In addition to the royal xnr(t), xnr(t)- collectives for male and female gods are attested from the Old Kingdom and are clearly associated with music and dance in the temple cult. These xnr(t) can be identified as the “musical corps” of the respective gods— not as their “harem”—and are therefore not treated in this article (for general comments, see Müller 1977: 815; Naguib 1990: esp. 188 - 207; for the temple of Luxor as jpt rsjt, “southern sanctuary/shrine” of Amun of Karnak—and not his “southern harem”—see, for example, Bell 1998: footnote 2; and Naguib 1990: 193). The prominent role of some royal women in these collectives as “great one of the xnr(t) of (god) NN” is discussed below (see Women in the Harem).”
Royal Women in the Harem of the Egyptian King
Stela with Ramses II's harem chief Nefertmut
Silke Roth of Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz wrote:“The importance of securing the line of succession and also of marriage policies for maintenance and extension of social and political networks explains why numerous, sometimes concurrent, wives can be assigned to Egyptian kings. However, since there are only few, controversial records documenting multiple marriages of non-royal people, one must assume that polygamy—and thus the harem—was basically restricted to the ruler and his family. [Source: Silke Roth, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2012, escholarship.org ]
“Except for their inviolability as an earthly embodiment of goddesses, there is nothing that indicates the female members of the royal family were cut off from wider court and public life. On the contrary, sources reveal that they regularly accompanied the ruler in public appearances, for example, at audiences and festivals. Nevertheless, access to the royal women was without doubt restricted and was controlled by officials and guards. It is also unlikely that all royal wives, daughters, and younger princes lived together in one location. It is more probable that only the principle wife and her children, as well as the king’s mother, resided close to the ruler and accompanied him on some of his travels. The majority of the secondary wives and their entourage seem to have resided in separate palaces in the main residence or in so-called “harem palaces” throughout the country. This situation may apply for most of the numerous daughters of foreign rulers who joined the harem within the framework of the diplomatic marriages and who usually held the rank of subsidiary wives . A clear exception is Maatheru Neferura, a daughter of the Hittite king Hattusili III, who was appointed “great wife of the king” of Ramesses II and was “installed” in the royal palace, “following the sovereign everyday”.
“The current state of research reveals no hierarchies amongst the royal women in the harem except for the differentiation between the principle wife (Hmt nswt wrt, “great wife of the king”) and the king’s secondary wives (“simple” Hmt nswt) that is attested from the 13th Dynasty on. However, interpreting the queen’s title Hnwt Hmwt nbwt, “lady of all women,” as a leading position in the context of the harem could be implied by the single known occurrence of the epithet Hnwt nt Hmwt nswt tmwt, “lady of the royal women altogether” of Meritra Hatshepsut. A hierarchical order can also be proposed for the so-called harem of Mentuhotep II, which fulfilled a purely cultic function. In all probability, there existed a “natural” ranking based on the seniority principle. But this does not seem to have been of major importance since the significance of royal mother and king’s wife varied or changed in any given case or according to the development of the ideology of queenship. For example, royal mothers did not automatically hold the highest rank amongst women at court, as seen in the cases of the young Thutmose III and Siptah, for whom queen dowagers Hatshepsut and Tauseret respectively functioned as regents. The mothers of these kings, attested in sources in marginal positions, can thus be considered subsidiary wives.
“Although the women of the royal family are by definition the most important members of the royal harem, there are relatively few sources that indicate a direct connection between them and the institutions identified as harems, jpt nswt and (pr) xnr(t). An example is the 6th Dynasty biography of Weni that mentions a trial against the royal wife m jpt nswt, which substantiated the identification of jpt nswt as “royal harem”. Other sources reveal that royal women had their own jpt nswt or xnr(t) at their disposal: Sinuhe served in the jpt nswt jrjt-pat wrt Hswt Hmt nswt, the “jpt nswt of the one who belongs to the Pat, great one of favor, and wife of the king” Neferu. A jpt nswt n Hmt nswt wrt is also attested for Tiy and Nefertiti in the 18th Dynasty. The Mittani princess Giluhepa is accompanied on her way to the court of Amenhotep III by the “(female) elite of her xnr(t)-women”. A related phenomenon is the jpt nswt of the god’s wives of the 19th - 21st Dynasties.
“According to the spelling of the collective terms jpt and xnrt with female determinatives, the people associated with these institutions were primarily women. Apparently the queens outranked these “harem women.” The inscription on a stela of Piankhy lists the royal consorts before the jpt nswt, the “women of the royal jpt,” who, for their part, rank higher than the royal daughters and sisters. In the records of the harem conspiracy against Ramesses III, the queen is also named before the “women of the pr xnrt”.”
Harem Women in the Harem of the Egyptian King
Silke Roth wrote: “The xnr(t) nswt, the “xnrt-women of the king,” are attested at the latest in the Middle Kingdom (ca. 2030–1640 B.C.). In sources from the New Kingdom that can clearly be associated with the royal (pr) xnr(t), the group of women usually appears as xnrt or, for example, as Hmwt pr xnr(t), “women of the pr xnrt,” in the “harem conspiracy” against Ramesses III. Since xnr(t) is consistently used as collective term for mostly female singers and dancers in cult and ritual performances from the Old Kingdom onwards, the primary meaning of the royal (pr) xnrt and its members can be found in the musical-artistic accompaniment of courtly life and the Staatskult. This assumption is substantiated by other sources: a jmjt-rA xnr n nswt, “(female) overseer of the xnr of the king” Neferesres, who was associated with the jpt nswt, bears the title of “(female) overseer of the dancers” and “(female) overseer of all pleasant enjoyments of the king”. An inscription in the tomb of the overseer of the jpt nswt Iha describes him as “one who conducts the xnr(t) women…who has access to the secret place, who sees the dance in the private quarters”. Reliefs in non-royal tombs at Amarna indicate that a separate wing of the royal palace was inhabited by women who were employed as, for example, musicians. They may be identified as xnrt-women. As the highest- ranking members of this musical-artistic corps, royal women were given a special function in the cult of the gods from the New Kingdom on. This is illustrated in the title wrt xnrt NN, “great one of the xnrt of (god) NN”, and also through representations of the queen, for example, as leader of the “songstresses of Amun” during the Festival of Opet. [Source: Silke Roth, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2012, escholarship.org ]
“Nevertheless, some scholars still consider xnr(t) as a direct lexical derivation of the root xnr/xnj, “to lock up,” and translate the term in the oriental-Islamic sense of harem, e.g., “the secluded ones,” “house of seclusion.” However, for the Middle Kingdom it is possible to recognize a “separate” locality, xnrt, which was connected with the state- operated production of textiles by women that evidently also took place in the environment of the so-called “harem palace” in Medinet Kom Ghurab (see below).
“The women in the immediate vicinity of the king were also joined by the nfrwt (n aH), “the beautiful ones (of the palace),” next to whom the mrwt nswt, “the beloved ones of the king,” are listed in one text: the “overseer of the precious ointments” Khety is “one who gives veils to the beautiful ones and ornaments to the beloved ones of the king”. The nfrw can be identified as the young girls in the harem, who apparently had the task of entertaining the ruler. In Papyrus Westcar “all of the beautiful ones from the interior of (the) palace,” clad only in nets, rowed king Sneferu across the palace lake. The newly established “women’s house” of the crown prince Ramesses (II) is provided with “jpt nswt-women in the style of the beautiful ones of the palace”.
“In a source from the Middle Kingdom, a group of Xkrwt-women, “ornamented ones,” is mentioned in connection with the royal jpt and the xnrt-women at the royal court: the overseer of the jpt nswt Iha “who brings the xnr(t)-women” is also “one who locks up the ornamented ones”. Are these “ornamented ones” the xnr(t)-women dressed in their valuable robes? This may be suggested by the titles jmj-rA Xkr nswt n Hswt nswt “overseer of the king’s regalia of the royal songstresses” and xntj Xkr n jbAw, “foremost one of the regalia of the dancers”. However, the numerous women with the honorary title Xkrt nswt, “ornamented one of the king,” are not—as once assumed—to be identified as the royal subsidiary wives or concubines, who were “passed on” to distinguished officials once their career in the harem had ended. In fact, they seem to have been court women from every—and also the lower—social class, and only a few were enlisted in the harem or had the rank of a royal wife. By contrast, Lana Troy suggests that the Xkrwt nswt were high ranking court women and “prominent members” of the (pr) xnr(t), who, alongside the nfrwt, “the beautiful ones,” were responsible for music during the performance of the cult. However, Danijela Stefanović doubts any connection between the Xkrwt nswt and the royal court from the late Middle Kingdom onwards.
“A few scenes show the king in intimate contact with his wives or “harem women,” although one must note that it is likely these had a primarily ritual meaning connected with the regeneration and reincarnation of the king. For example, Sahura and Mentuhotep II are depicted embracing their wives in the context of their funerary temples. In a scene inside the High Gate of Medinet Habu, Ramesses III is shown being cared for by young girls and entertained with games. They are captioned once as msw nswt, “royal children,” which suggests that the younger royal daughters also belonged to the “beautiful ones of the palace”.”
Management of the Harem in Ancient Egypt
Silke Roth wrote: “The institutions connected with the so-called royal harem were mostly autonomous and had their own estates with agriculture, cattle, and manufacturing workshops (especially weaving centers and mills; for general information). They seem to have been entrusted with the production of fine textiles (“royal linen,” mk-fabric) and served the private households of the royal family. The institutions of the harems had their own (tax) income in the form of food supplies, clothing, and fabrics, but were for their part exempted from taxes. When the king was traveling with his entourage, this “traveling harem” was supplied by local institutions. [Source: Silke Roth, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2012, escholarship.org ]
“A comprehensive staff of officials was entrusted with managing the institutions of the harem. A aA jpt and a wr jpt nswt, “great one of the jpt (nswt),” are attested from the earliest periods. From the Old Kingdom on, the jmj-rA jpt nswt, “overseer of the jpt nswt,” held the highest office . He held a position of exceptional trust, for example, as one “privy to the secret” and “overseer of the sealed goods”. His deputy was the jdnw n jmj-rA jpt nswt or jdnw n pr xnrt (New Kingdom). In the harem administration in the New Kingdom, the rwD n (pr) xnrt, “inspector of the (pr) xnrt,” is well attested. Scribes were engaged in the institutions of the harem and their departments, for example, as sS jpt nswt (from the Middle Kingdom on), sS nswt n pr xnrt, and sS n pr-HD n pr xnrt (New Kingdom). Variations of the titles specified where the officials were located, for example, in the Middle Kingdom at el-Lisht and in the New Kingdom at Kom Medinet Ghurab, Memphis, and Grgt-WAst.” “As the place for raising and educating the heir to the throne and the future ruling class, the harem was repeatedly the origin of political intrigues. These “harem conspiracies,” which are attested for the time of Pepy I, Amenemhat I, and Ramesses III, aimed at murdering the king and usurping the throne. It is quite likely that the harem was involved in arranging national and international diplomatic marriages for the Egyptian court. In the framework of international diplomacy in the New Kingdom, the courts of the foreign royal wives acted as contact points for delegations from their countries and fulfilled the role of permanent diplomatic missions at the Egyptian royal court.”
Places Associated with Harems
Silke Roth wrote: “The only sources prior to the New Kingdom are inscriptions that can be interpreted in relation to architectural structures and locations associated with the royal harem. From Predynastic times the associated hieroglyphs depict a building or the outlines of a building. In the biography of Weni, the jpt nswt is a part of the palace or the royal private quarters in which the queen resided. P. Boulaq 18 from the 13th Dynasty illustrates that the kAp was also located in the private quarters of the royal palace. [Source: Silke Roth, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2012, escholarship.org ]
“The archaeological evidence, including reliefs, of the New Kingdom illustrates that the buildings of the harem were not only a part of the larger palace complex but were also separate from the royal palace and independent buildings of their own. The so-called “harem palace” of Kom Medinet Ghurab at the entrance to the Fayum formed the center of a city with associated cemeteries (18th - 20th Dynasty Digital Egypt for Universities; the Gurob Harem Palace Project). It comprised two long parallel building complexes within an enclosure wall that can be identified as a residential palace with associated economic area. Magazines and a small temple (19th Dynasty) complete the ensemble. The complex can be identified as the pr xnr Mr-wr or pr xnr S, “pr xnr of Merwer” or “of Shi,” attested in local titles of officials and administrative texts, which was adjoined by an extensive agricultural estate, cattle, and weaving centers. Finds from pits in which furniture and personal effects were burned are reminiscent of a Hittite custom and may indicate that foreign women resided in the harem palace.
“The North Palace of Malqata features a double structure similar to that of the Ghurab ensemble, which can thus be identified as a harem palace that stood in close proximity to the so-called King’s Palace. In fact, a representation in the Theban tomb of Neferhotep shows the palace of the royal principal wife located directly next to the main palace, which thus probably represents the palace complex of Malqata, datable to the reign of Ay. Moreover, a number of suites in the King’s Palace at Malqata can be identified as the living quarters of royal women.
“The women’s quarters depicted in the tombs of the officials at Amarna apparently lay inside the residential palace. However, their identification as the quarters in the Great Palace of Amarna termed the “northern” and “southern harem” is now questionable as a result of the latest research on the fragments of wall paintings found there.
“New research on palace architecture by Kate Spence focuses on aspects of the king’s presentation and access to his physical presence in this context. According to her approach, the palace structures she defines as semi-axial, which feature difficult access routes, are primarily associated with royal women. They usually comprise smaller rooms or suites that are grouped along a hall or a court with throne dais or another manifestation of the king’s presence. According to Spence, these structures establish and express the subordinate and ranked relationship of individuals to the ruler, which can most likely be associated with royal women or close family members. The most obvious example is the King’s Palace at Malqata; other candidates include the North Palace and Great Palace at Amarna. The ritual palaces of the New Kingdom temple complexes, which display the main structures of a residential palace in simplified form, also apparently included rooms in which royal women resided when they accompanied the ruler in performing the cult.”
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, escholarship.org ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Egypt sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Tour Egypt, Minnesota State University, Mankato, ethanholman.com; Mark Millmore, discoveringegypt.com discoveringegypt.com; Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Discover magazine, Times of London, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, BBC, Encyclopædia Britannica, Time, Newsweek, Wikipedia, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File Publications, New York); “History of Warfare” by John Keegan (Vintage Books); “History of Art” by H.W. Janson Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.), Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.
Last updated September 2018