Marriage and Divorce in Ancient Egypt
Marriage
Marriage was the normal and most desirable state for Ancient Egyptians
of both genders and all social classes. Most Egyptian men were eager to
follow the advice of the wisdom literature urging them to take a wife
while still young so they could found a household and raise a family.
Marriage contracts do not generally tell the age of the parties, but from
other documents known that marriage almost always occurred after
sexual adulthood. The average age for girls to enter puberty was 12 to 13,
and around 14 for boys who had to achieve some work abilities in order
to support a wife and future children. Paintings and statues show husband
and wife with their arms around each other. Love and affection were a
part of Egyptian marriages. Monogamy was the general rule1.
When a man and a woman officially set up house together as husband and
wife, it is customary in most societies to mark the event with some form
of ceremony before witnesses. Such a ceremony may take the form of a
religious rituals or a civil contact. It couldn't find what the law had to say
in the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms when a girl and her parents
disagreed on her choice of mate, the situation became abundantly clear in
the reign of Amasis, in the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty. From that point on
marriage deeds involve the husband and the wife. A great number of
documents have survival which record marriage settlements. In each case
the documents are concerned with establishing the financial rights and
1
A. MILLARD, The Position of Women in the Family and in Society in Ancient Egypt, with Special
Reference to the Middle Kingdom, Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the Ph.D.
degree, University of London, 1976, (Unpublished), p. 384.
obligations of the couple, not with the act of marriage itself 2. It was
concern primarily to safeguard the property held before marriage, and
ensuring the support and inheritance of spouses and children3.
Egyptian Engagement: The couple had a lot of chances to get to know
each other before the engagement. The engagement customs began by the
suitor’s parents visiting his fiancée’s house to get her family approval to
complete this marriage and reaching an agreement. There is no evidence
of having woman a wedding ring at the engagement ceremony4.
Marriage contracts fall into two general types. In the first, the man gives
a sum of money so that the woman will become his wife. It is possible
that the practice is a holdover from the old days of “bride price” when a
man had to compensate his wife’s father for the loss of his daughter’s
labor, but a more likely explanation is a simple symbol of serious intent.
The value is given and received as a sign that the parties are serious about
entering into an agreement. The size of the payment varies from a low of
a half deben of copper (about a quarter the cost of a pair of sandals) to a
high of 2 silver deben (about the value of a female slave).
In the second type it is the woman who makes a payment to the husband
for the purchase of a “Maintenance Contract”. He spells out in detail
the amount he must spend on her food and clothing and guarantees her a
place to live. Any time she wants to leave she may do so, requiring him
to either return her money or continue to support her. Sometimes there is
an out for the husband if she commits adultery, but usually these
2
A. MILLARD, p. 385.
3
D. REDFORD, in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt 2, New York, 2001, s. v. «Marriage and
Divorce».
4
J. G. WILKINSON, Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, Vol II, London, 1878, p 340.
2
contracts require him to continue supporting her even if he wants a
divorce.
Marriage contracts invariably contained a list of “the goods of a woman”
that the wife brought with her to the marital home. These items were very
personal clothing, jewelry, and the sorts of thing that is found in every
home. Each item was valued and the husband promised to return them or
their value if she should decide to leave.
Polygamy: Among the Pharaohs, polygamy appears to have been
practiced regularly, probably from a very early date, it cannot be assumed
that the ordinary Egyptians enjoyed the same matrimonial privileges as
their divine rulers5. In practice, however, polygamy was uncommon
outside of the royal family, cases of polygamy among nonroyals are
uncommon and often ambiguous. The Egyptian tended toward multiple
marriages in the form of monogamy rather than polygamy, since the ease
and the acceptance of divorce, as well as the mortality rate, made
marriage and remarriage the most common pattern for individuals with
multiple spouses. Definite cases of polygamy are rare, in part because of
the impression of terminology used refer to a "second" or "third" wife
could easily be taking into account a dead or divorced "first" wife. The
primary reasons for polygamy seem to be to produce children, but divorce
in this case of infertility seems to have been more common6. Some
documents of the Middle and New Kingdoms mention re-marriages, but
5
A. MILLARD, p. 392.
6
D. REDFORD, in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt 2, New York, 2001, s. v. «Marriage and
Divorce».
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in every case, the first wife was either dead or divorced, prior to her
husband's second marital venture.
In the Middle Kingdom at Beni Hasan Khnemhotep married to Khety
who was treated with all the respect due to her high rank as his "beloved
wife," and as "lady of the house," yet the love of Khnemhotep seems
previously to have been bestowed upon a lady of his household, the
"mistress of the treasury Tatet7. Contrary to former custom, Khnemhotep
caused this lady to be represented in his tomb immediately behind his
official family. She also accompanies him in his sporting expeditions,
though she sits behind Khety, and does not wear as beautiful a necklet as
the legitimate wife. There is no doubt that these women belong to the
harem of the prince as they were wont to say. The harem is rarely
mentioned in the tombs, yet doubtless at all times it existed as one of the
luxuries of the rich8.
Divorce
No description has so far been discovered of the steps by which a
marriage was formally terminated in ancient Egypt, but many at the
marriage contracts of the Late Period do contain a clause relating to
divorce, and these begin simply "If I put you away", suggesting that a
statement of intent probably before witnesses, and possibly accompanied
by the formal quittance of the place of co-habitation by one party, was all
that was needed to finalize a separation. The terminating of marriage was
a private affair which either of the parties could initiate. Adultery, cruelty,
and inability to bear children seem to have been considered the greatest
7
P. NEWBERRY, Beni Hassan, ASE, Part I, London, 1893, p.41.
8
A. ERMAN, Life in Ancient Egypt, London, 1894, p. 152.
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reasons for divorce. If the marriage ended in divorce, the rights of the
wife were equally protected. Generally, she was entitled to support from
her husband. If a woman divorced her husband, or was divorced by him,
she could take away her personal property, together with an additional
amount to which she was legally entitled, unless she was being divorced
for adultery, in which case she forfeited all right to the matrimonial
property, though her personal assets were inviolate.
Egyptian divorce would therefore seem to have been a relatively easy
process to which no religious obstacle or social stigma was attached, and
either partner could ask for the separation. It was up to the deserted wife
to free herself from her worthless partner and to find herself a more
loving and reliable spouse. However, the occasion of a divorce, besides
formally severing the marriage bond, also required a property settlement9.
9
A. MILLARD, p. 398.
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Bibliography
ERMAN (A.), Life in Ancient Egypt, London, 1894.
Millard (A.), The Position of Women in the Family and in Society in
Ancient Egypt, with Special Reference to the Middle Kingdom, Thesis
submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the Ph.D. degree,
University of London, 1976, (Unpublished).
NEWBERRY (P.), Beni Hassan, ASE, Part I, London, 1893.
REDFORD (D.), in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt 2, New
York, 2001, s. v. «Marriage and Divorce».
WILKINSON (J. G.), Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians,
Vol II, London, 1878.
