Women In Ancient Egypt

The Ancient Egyptians’ social divide was quite prominent, so it may surprise one to learn that women were often seen as equals to their male counterparts. Ancient Egyptian women received constant social liberty in the 3000 years the civilization existed, one way this was presented in the legal or court systems where women were recognized as individuals who could “hold their own”. Though women were ranked by the status of their fathers or their husbands, they were put on an even playing field within the court systems of Ancient Egypt. Women also experienced respect and favour through Ancient Egypt’s stance on divorce and marriage, where divorce was not frowned upon in the least, and women were entirely independent when choosing who to marry. …show more content…
A person’s place in the law was determined by social class, not by sex. For one thing, women could actively participate in court-- a woman had the right to sue, serve as a witness in court cases, serve on juries, and witness legal documents. When a woman was being tried in court, she did not need to have a man to speak for her. This is in contrast with Ancient Greece, where a woman needed a man (in other words, her “lord”) to stand in for her in court. In Egypt, however, women were overall responsible for their own actions, and a man close to them did not have to take responsibility. For example, when a woman named Iry-nefret stole property in order to obtain money for a servant, she was brought into court and was tried as solely liable, the case not involving her husband at all. This demonstrates how dependant women were, and were expected to be in the kingdom of Ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptian women also had extensive property rights. They had property to legally own in their name, and were expected by the government to pay their taxes on their land, instead of the man in her life. This in itself reflects how women were on the same legal level as men, as they dealt with the same property contracts as men, and were allowed to own their own property. All in all, liberty for women was extensively demonstrated in Ancient Egypt through the …show more content…
They were displayed as countless numbers of Goddesses, and a few of the most famous pharaohs were women, one of these being Cleopatra. Cleopatra is arguably the most well known pharaoh of ancient egypt, and was an amazingly powerful ruler. She fought her way to be the sole ruler of Ancient Egypt, being an image of woman-power to Ancient Egyptians, especially a role model to the women of the civilians. The significance of a pharaoh being a woman was that they got to be in a position of power as high as the head of state, which really says something about Egypt when women weren't even allowed to be in senate in 1930. The mere fact that women could be in such a high position of power shows the rising progression of ancient egypt and how much power women were really allowed to