Outline
Thesis
There is a significant difference between the status of women in ancient Mesopotamia and the status of women in ancient Egypt.
Research question
What are the roles are given to women in ancient Egypt and ancient Mesopotamia?
The role of women in ancient Mesopotamia
- The roles and responsibilities given to women in Mesopotamia are different since there are various cultures with different beliefs and cultural practices, unlike Egyptians who have similar cultural practices.
- Women were given the roles of housekeepers, wives, and mothers.
The role of women in ancient Egypt
- In ancient Egypt, women had ownership rights since they were allowed to own and sell properties, run businesses such as entertainment, perfume making, and weaving.
- The women were permitted to act as judges and witnesses in court cases.
- Although they were given the above roles and responsibilities, the role of a wife and a mother came first.
Introduction
From ancient times women were given different roles and responsibilities. The roles given to women differed from one community to the other since different cultures have different beliefs and strategies guiding them on what should be done and what not to be done. Although a lot has changed in modern society compared to the ancient days in terms of cultural practices of different cultures.
While comparing the role of women and their status between ancient Egypt and ancient Mesopotamia, there is a big difference between the role of women between the two. In Mesopotamia, women were not treated equally as men since they were given some rights as compared to men who enjoyed all the rights (Chadwick, 2005). While comparing the rights enjoyed to Egyptian Women to the rights enjoyed by Mesopotamian women, Egyptian women were more privileged since they enjoyed more rights than their Mesopotamian women. The rights were in terms of property ownership and matters of marriage.
An Egyptian woman was allowed to own, manage, and sell properties and they were also allowed to acquire commodities such as goods, money, livestock, servants, and slaves. The main reason why ancient Egyptian women were more privileged than the ancient Mesopotamian women is because of the Egyptian practice of Ma’at, which encouraged balance and symmetry in every aspect of life. Therefore, women enjoyed equal rights as those enjoyed by their male counterparts. Due to ancient Egyptian legal rights, women were allowed to act as judges and witnesses in court cases. This made the nation’s societal structure more equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities than most other nations of the time (Bahrani, 2001). Although women enjoyed the above privileges, they were also given the role of housekeepers, wives, daughters to their fathers, as well as mothers. Therefore, they were supposed to raise their children, take care of their families, weave, and cook for their husbands and children (Kemal, 2017).
On the other hand, Mesopotamian women were considered to be unequal to men. They enjoyed some rights as compared to their male counterparts (Bahrani, 2001). The Mesopotamian women like most of ancient societies played the role of mother, housekeeper, and wife. They were no allowed to own, sell properties, or run businesses therefore they spent their childhood being taught how to play the above roles as adults. The girls were not allowed to attend schools and were required to stay at home to be taught how to be good wives and mothers in the future (Chadwick, 2005).
The women in Mesopotamia were not allowed to act as judges or witnesses in court cases. For a woman to be considered as a wife some of the binding agreements were required to validate their marriage. The Laws of Hammurabi states that “If a man takes a wife but does not draw up a contract for her, that woman is not a wife” (Azzoni, 2002).