Sample Essay on Gender Equality in Ancient Egypt

In ancient Egypt, gender equality was not observed in its entirety since Egyptians treated women very well compared to other ancient nations. Women were given the right to own properties; they would borrow and get loans easily, sign important contracts, file for an annulment unlike men were subjected to do hard labor, and they did not enjoy so many rights compared to women.

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It is generally presumed that a man is the head of a household in ancient Egypt, but women disagree with this statement as they argued out as women could also become pharaohs so concerning leadership women were recognized as not suitable for the position. During the day, women remained home with their daughters and trained them on housekeeping skills such as cooking cleaning utensils, clothes and the house (Meriwether, 2018). Young girls were taught how to interlace dance and play music, boys, on the other hand, learned how to be scribes and also studied subjects like fortune-telling, astronomy, Arts and Architecture, numbers, games, and sports. Hence the gender equality was based on the roles each gender played in the society.

If a boy misbehaved, he was disciplined through been whipped or beaten while women would be talked to and in extreme cases they would be given punishment like doing house chores the whole week among others. Children would spend more time engaging in leisure activities, spend time with their families, dance play with pets and participate in parties and feasts. Their favorite games were "snake and sent."

Concerning fashion women and older kids wore light linen apparel made from flax, boys wore little kilts, and in some instances, tunic-style shirts and children did not wear anything they were only wrapped in saddles. Women had a lot of jewelry like bracelets, rings, necklaces, earrings, sequined collars and many more and the ownership of silver did not depend on who was rich sooner all women had jewelry. Men were not associated with pieces of jewelry.

Women had the right to bring litigations against anyone in the court women were winning cases against those who they came up with in the court. Women could receive trusteeship of property, unlike men. Women were free to go the fields and work there. They would be betrothed in less energetic actions like fetching firewood, farming just like their fellow counterparts men and this shows that gender equality between them was not widely spread but close.

Regarding crime, women were seen as victims of rape being committed by men. Those women who participated in crimes and robberies were convicted just like men. A woman was imprisoned at the jail at Thebes since she escaped her district to dodge the corvee service on a royal estate. Women in Egypt were constantly finalizing agreements, including matrimony and separation settlements, actions of wet-nurses, acquisitions of property, even activities for self-enslavement. Self-enslavement in Egypt was the practice of indentured servitude. Women worked as leaders, e.g., "kings, dowager queens and regents," (Meriwether, 2018), even as usurpers of rightful successors, women could introduce proceedings (and appeal to the court of the vizier) women were given permissible verdicts (and had choices reversed on appeal) women acted as observers before a court of law. In overall we can conclude that there was a gap in gender equality regarding education, work, and court proceedings between men and women in ancient Egypt.

Reeferences

Meriwether, M. L. (2018). A social history of women and gender in the modern Middle East. Routledge.