WOMEN

IN WORLD
HISTORY
Volume 1
Readings from
Prehistory to 1500
 Sources
and
studies
in World
History

Kevin Reilly, SeriesEditor

THE ALCHEMY OF HAPPINESS

Abu Hamid Muhammadal-Ghazzali
translatedby Claud Field, revisedandannotatedby Elton L. Daniel
LIFELINES FROM OUR PAST
A New World History
L. S. Stavrianos

NATIVE AMERICANS BEFORE1492

TheMoundbuildingCentersof the EasternWoodlands
LyndaNoreneShaffer
GERMS,SEEDS,AND ANIMALS
Studiesin EcologicalHistory
Alfred W. Crosby
BALKAN WORLDS
The First and Last Europe
Traian Stoianovich
AN ATLAS AND SURVEY OF
SOUTH ASIAN HISTORY
Karl J. Schmidt
THE GOGO:HISTORY, CUSTOMS,AND TRADITIONS
MathiasE. Mnyampala
Translated,introduced,and editedby GregoryH. Maddox
WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY
Volume1-Readingsfrom Prehistoryto 1500
Volume2-Readingsfrom 1500to the Present
Sarah ShaverHughesand Brady Hughes
 Sources
and

WOMEN
studies
in World
History

IN WORLD
HISTORY
Volume 1

Readings from
Prehistory to 1500

Sarah Shaver Hughes

Brady Hughes

Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
LONDON ADN NEW YORK
 First published1995 by M.E. Sharpe

Published2015 by Routledge
2 ParkSquare,Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
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Library of CongressCataloging-in-PublicationData

Hughes,SarahS.
Women in world history I SarahShaverHughcsand Brady Hughes.
v. cm. - (Sourcesand studiesin world history)
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
Contents:v. I. Readingsfrom prehistoryto 1500.
ISBN 1-56324-310-5. - ISBN 1-56324-311-3(pbk.)
I. Women-History. I. Hughes,Brady, 1933-
II. Title. III. Series.
HQI121.H93 1995
305.4'09-dc20 94-23644
CIP

ISBN 13: 9781563243110(Pbk)

ISBN 13: 9781563243103(hbk)
 CONTENTS

Forewordby Kevin Reilly xi

Preface xv

Introduction:GenderiogWorld History, Globalizing

Women'sHistory 1
Prehistory 2
The Value of Genderin Historical Analysis 3
DifferencesamongWomen 5
Searchingfor Victors as Well as Victims 6
SuggestedFurtherReadings 6
1. PrehistoricWomen:ShapingEvolution, Sustenance,
and Economy 9
1.1 Womenin the "Gatherer-Hunter"Phase 11
AdrienneL. Zihlman, "Women in Evolution"
1.2 Who InventedFarming? 16
MargaretEhrenberg,Womenin Prehistory
1.3 Women'sCarding,Spinning,andWeaving 20
E.J.W.Barber,Prehistoric Textiles
1.4 Cooking: Women'sWork in the Division of Labor 22
JaneI. Guyer, "The Raw, the Cooked,and
the Half-Baked"
SuggestedFurtherReadings 25

2. The Womenof Ancient Egypt 27

2.1 Hatshepsut'sReign, 1473-1458B.C.E. 28
InscriptionfromHatshepsut'sTemple
2.2 A Brother-SisterMarriage 31
The Story ofNaneferkaptahandAhwere
2.3 Women'sWork 33
BarbaraS. Lesko, The RemarkableWomen
ofAncientEgypt
 2.4 Cleopatra,69-30 B.C.E. 35
HansVolkmann, Cleopatra: A Studyin
Politics and Propaganda
SuggestedFurtherReadings 45

3. India: Women in Early Hindu and Buddhist Cultures 47

3.1 The Laws of Manu 49
The Laws ofManu
3.2 The Carpenter'sWife 51
A Folk Tale
3.3 Sita, the Ideal Hindu Wife 52
The Ramayana
3.4 Psalmsof the BuddhistNuns 56
Therigatha
SuggestedFurtherReadings 61

4. Israel: Jewish Women in the Torah and the Diaspora 63

4.1 Eve'sPurposeand Her Sin in Genesis 65
Genesis2:7-9,16-8,21-5
Genesis3:1-7, 9-13
Genesis3: 16-7
4.2 Marriageand Childbirth amongEve'sDescendants 67
Genesis29: 13-32
Genesis30: 1-6
Genesis38:6-26
4.3 The Rites of JewishWomen 71
Leviticus 15:16-30
4.4 Marriagein the Diaspora:Medieval Egypt 73
S.D. Goitein, A MediterraneanSociety
SuggestedFurtherReadings 78

5. Greece: Patriarchal Dominance in ClassicalAthens 79

5.1 The Reign of Phallocracy 81
Eva C. Keuls, The Reignofthe Phallus
5.2 The PerfectWife at Home 82
Xenophon,Oeconomicus
5.3 AthenianSlavery 88
Eva C. Keuls, The Reignofthe Phallus
5.4 Neaera,a Courtesan 90
Court Recordsof the Trial ofNeaera
SuggestedFurtherReadings 96
6. China: Imperial Womenof the Han Dynasty
(202 B.C.E.-220C.E.) 97
6.1 The Regencyof EmpressLu 98
PanKu, The History ofthe Former Han Dynasty
Correspondence ofEmpressLu and Mao-tun
6.2 ChineseWomenas Pawns 105
From Tsai Yen, "EighteenVersesSungto a
TatarReedWhistle"
6.3 Princessesas PowerBrokers 108
JenniferHolmgren,"Imperial Marriagein the Native
Chineseand Non-HanState,Han to Ming"
SuggestedFurtherReadings 111

7. Womenin the Late RomanRepublic: Independence,

Divorce,·andSerialMarriages 113
7.1 Lettersfrom Ciceroto His Wife, Terentia 114
Cicero: The Lettersto His Friends
7.2 The Proscriptionof 43 B.C.E. 118
Appian'sRomanHistory
7.3 Hortensia'sSpeech 120
Appian'sRomanHistory
7.4 The RomanFamily 122
SusanTreggiari, "Divorce RomanStyle"
K.R. Bradley, "Remarriageand the Structure
of the Upper-ClassRomanFamily"
SuggestedFurtherReadings 127

8. WesternEurope:ChristianWomenon Manors,in
Convents,and in Towns 129
8.1 Christianity'sDual Vision of Women 130
The PassionofSaint Perpetua
Galatians3:26-8
Colossians3: 18-22
1 Corinthians4:33-5
1 Timothy 2:8-15
8.2 Conversionof the Franks 133
SaintRadegund,"The ThuringianWar"
8.3 Nuns as PopularAuthors: Hildegardof Bingen 137
PatriciaH. Labalme(ed.), BeyondTheir Sex
8.4 A Nun's Poetry 141
Hildegardof Bingen, "Eve" and "The Virgin Mary"
 8.5 Christinede Pisan,ProfessionalWriter 142
PatriciaH. Labalme(ed.), BeyondTheir Sex
Christinede Pisan,"Objectionsto The Romance
ofthe Rose"
Christinede Pisan,How Ladies Who Live on Their
LandsShouldConductThemselves
8.6 ParisianWomen'sOccupationsin 1292 and 1313 C.E. 146
David Herlihy, Opera Muliebria: Womenand
Work in MedievalEurope
SuggestedFurtherReadings 148

9. The Middle East: Islam, the Family, and the

Seclusionof Women 151
9.1 The Quran 152
The Holy Quran,24:32
Nikki R. Keddie, "The Pastand Presentof
Womenin the Muslim World"
9.2 Aisha, Muhammad'sBelovedWife 156
NabiaAbbott, Aishahthe BelovedofMohammed
9.3 Muslim Womenin Medieval Cairo 162
HudaLutfi, "MannersandCustomsof
Fourteeth-Century CaireneWomen"
SuggestedFurtherReadings 171

10. China and Japan: The Patriarchal Ideal 173

10.1 ConfucianMothers 176
Liu Hsiang,The BiographiesofEminent
ChineseWomen
10.2 Footbindingin China 180
SharonL. Sievers,"Womenin China,Japan,
andKorea"
10.3 Womenin the Japanese Emperor'sCourt 182
Sei Shonagon,The Pillow Book
Ono no Komachi, "Did He Cometo Me"
Izumi Shikibu, "This Nameof Hers"
SuggestedFurtherReadings 187

11. Africa: Traders, Slaves,Sorcerers,and QueenMothers 189

11.1 FemaleSlaveryandWomen'sWork 190
AI-Bakri, The BookofRoutesand Realms
Ibn Battuta,Journey
 11.2 Women'sFriendshipwith Men 193
Ibn Battuta,Journey
11.3 Sorcerersand Queens 195
D.T. Niane,Sundiata:An Epic o/Old Mali
11.4 QueensandQueenMothers 200
Ibn Battuta,Journey
11.5 The Meaningof Nudity 204
Ibn Battuta,Journey
SuggestedFurtherReadings 205

12. SoutheastAsia: The Most Fortunate Women in the World 207

12.1 GenderAutonomy 208
Anthony Reid, SoutheastAsia in the Age
o/Commerce,1450-1680
12.2 Marriage 212
Anthony Reid, SoutheastAsia in the Age
o/Commerce,1450-1680
Ho Xuan Huong, "Sharinga Husband"
12.3 Merchants,Diplomats,andQueens 217
Zhou Daguan,The Customs0/ Cambodia
Anthony Reid, SoutheastAsia in the Age
o/Commerce,1450-1680
FernaoMendesPinto, The Travels0/
Mendes Pinto
12.4 WidespreadLiteracy 224
Anthony Reid, SoutheastAsia in the Age
o/Commerce,1450-1680
SuggestedFurtherReadings 226

13. The Americas: Aztec, Inca, and Iroquois Women 227

13.1 Aztec Greetingsto NewbornBabies 228
Bernadinode Sahagun,The Florentine Codex
13.2 Aztec Women'sCareersandCharacter 230
Bernadinode Sahagun,The Florentine Codex
13.3 The Aztec Ceremonyof the Sweepingof the Roads,
September1-20 235
Inga Clendinnen,Aztecs:An 1nterpretation
13.4 The Politics ofIroquois Cooperation 238
Nancy Bonvillain, "Iroquois Women"
13.5 Food andPower 241
Judith K. Brown, "Iroquois Women"
 13.6 Pawnsof the Inca 242
Irene Silverblatt, Moon, Sun, and Witches
SuggestedFurtherReadings 244

Glossary 247

Aboutthe Editors 251

 FOREWORD

Neither world history nor women's history was widely taught a

generation ago. Proponentsof women's history had to fight the
widespreadassumptionthat conventional histories of "man" or
"mankind" were universal,that they spoke forthe lives of womenas
well as men. A major problem with such histories was that the
preponderanceof sourcesused were written by men. Despite the
insistencethat "man" stoodfor women as well as men, studentswere
often left with the distinct impressionthat history was madeby men.
In the last twenty years,scholarsof women'shistory have shown
that there were many more important women, more sourceswritten
by women, and more sourcesaboutwomen than had previouslybeen
assumed.A first stageof scholarshipin women'shistory called for the
inclusionof womenwriters, artists,thinkers,rulers, andpublic figures.
The recoveryof importantwomen,largely from elite families, was
a valuablecorrection.But historiesthat only addedwomen were still
centeredon what cameto be seenas men'stopics: war, diplomacy,
statecraft,andindustry.
Increasingly, historians became conscious of the degree to
which past societieshad been dividedalong sexual lines, expect-
ing different work and preparing different lives for men and
women. In this secondstageof scholarship,it becameobvious that
the historical experiencesof men and women were different. There
was no way that the lives of men could representthoseof women.
The prior historical division of men's and women's lives had de-
fined the male role as public and political, concernedwith city,
state, war, and foreign relations. History had been written largely
by and for men as a way of understandingand celebratingthose
male activities.
The secondstage of scholarshipin women's history has chal-
xi
 xii FOREWORD

lengedthis idea of history. A generationof studieshas taught us to

see the ways in which men and women are socially and culturally
conditionedto certain kinds of behavior.This is why scholarsspeak
now about "gender,"the social and cultural behaviorthat may build
upon or ignore biological sexualidentity. To seegenderin history is
to see the ways in which men and women are trained in different
(and similar) activities, to explorethosediverserealms,and to under-
standthe dynamic of genderinteraction. In plain words, this means
not just adding a queen for a day but studying kinship as well as
kingship, the family as well as the state,domesticrelationsas well as
foreign relations. Activities in which women have played more im-
portant roles than men--childrearing,planting, clothing production,
local marketing,health care, education-andthose,like art and reli-
gion, in which women's role has been as great as men's, are as
important a part of the human past as the largely male-dominated
"outside"activities of traditional history books.
Thus, the new historiansof women have openedup vastrealmsof
human activity that were largely ignored in past histories because
men did not deem them important. And since men's recordsof the
past are more numerousthan women's,they have shown us how to
read betweenthe lines of those documents,to find new sourcesin
myths, oral traditions, art and artifact-in short, to develop new
methodsof investigationand analysis.
It is remarkablethat scholarsof women'shistory and allied schol-
ars of what has come to be known as the "new social history" (the
study of everyday life, averageand marginal people, daydreams,
diets, dreads,diseases,hopes,and haircuts) haveopenedup the past
at the sametime that world history as a field of study has become
established.The field of history has exploded both within and be-
yond traditional boundaries.
There is no turning back. Just as we cannotignore the daily lives
and inner experiencesof women, we cannot ignore the peoplesof
Asia, Africa, and the Americas. We must know all of ourselvesand
all of our world.
Sarahand Brady Hugheshave set themselvesan enormoustask.
To "genderworld history and globalize women'shistory" is a tall
order. But it is a necessaryone, and one for which they are espe-
 FOREWORD xiii

cially well qualified. They both have beenteachingwomen'shistory

and world history throughoutthe recentdecadesof explosive innova-
tion. They have beenleadersin the effort to make world history genu-
inely inclusive while expandingour knowledgeof women in the world.
In this book they show us how easyit is to do both at the sametime.

Kevin Reilly
This page intentionally left blank:
 PREFACE

This volume of readings(and its sequelcovering history since 1500)

was preparedto meet dual needs: to gender world history and to
globalize women'shistory. Many world history texts are misnamed,
for too often they are histories of the activities of the world's men.
The authorsseemto be unawarethat their portrayal of the historical
male emphasizesthe aggressive,power-driven,and sadistic aspects
of his character.Stirring in a dollop of women's history only con-
trasts with narratives focused on how powerful empires dominate
weakerneighbors.Accuratehistory demandsmore than inclusion of
fragmentsof women'shistory as a gesturetoward equity to half of
humankind.The social interactionsof women and men in the house-
hold are a fundamentaldynamic of any society,an explanatoryfactor
crucial to understandingother relationshipsof power betweenclans,
classes,political factions, religions, or nations. Until scholars de-
velop an adequatebaseof knowledgeaboutgenderrelationships,our
understandingof the structureunderlyingany society'spolitical, eco-
nomic, or intellectual history will remainedflawed. This book at-
tempts only to suggesthow consideringthe lives of women reveals
the complex personal basis of social hierarchies and the family-
oriented politicsof premodernsocieties.
Synthesisof women'shistory generally has been debatedwithin
the narrow confinesof the Mediterraneanregion and WesternEurope
as preludes to the American experience.World history is moving
away from suchbiasedinvestigation.Somewhattardily following the
lead of feminist anthropologistsand economists(who have theorized
about genderin contemporarysocietieswithin a global framework
for over twenty years), historiansof women have recently begunto
examineearlier centuries.Viewing women'searliesthistory through
a wider lens that also encompasses societiesof Asia, Africa, and the
xv
 xvi PREFACE

Americas revealsa far more complex panorama.Patriarchydid not

triumph in the sameways everywhere,and women were not always
deniedpublic political or economicroles. Femalestatusin Western
civilizations should not be the measureof women'spossibilities be-
fore 1500. Ratherthan ignoring women'sglobal history before 1500,
historians can find much in the ancient past that is fundamentalto
constructing modem gender. This volume is only an appetizer,
thoughone which opensup a very promisingbanquet.
Womenin World History is organizedon a regional basis, with
readings within each chapter placed in chronological sequence.
Themesemphasizefemale agency in the state, religion, literature,
economy, and family, as well as oppressiveideologies, laws, and
customs.As we attemptedto shapea narrativethat would be useful
to studentsin world or women'shistory courses,somehard choices
and compromiseswere necessary.Mesopotamiansocietiesare omit-
ted. But Egypt is well representedin selectionsthat illustrate the
continuity of its women'shistory from ancient pharoanicdynasties
to the RomanMediterranean.Readingson religions that shapedmil-
lions of women'sspiritual and temporallives purposelystretchover
centuriesto comparethe beliefs of the founding eras with the prac-
tices of later centuries.Women of SoutheastAsia, Sub-SaharanAf-
rica, and the WesternHemisphereenter into our history later than
thoseof other continentsbecauseof the paucity of availablewritten
sourcesbefore 800 C.E.
Women's own writings have not been preservedor are poorly
preservedfrom many literate societies. Women in several regions
pioneeredwriting in their vernacular languagesbecauseso many
were deniededucationin Latin, Sanskrit,Arabic, or Chinese.These
authors are only now beginning to be translatedinto English. In
contrastto the scarcity of female authors,there are an ample number
of documentsabout women, availablein English translation,written
by men for use by men. This plenitude of sourcesis due to a long
tradition of scholarshipin many disciplines. We are indebtedto the
numerousscholarswho havebeentranslatingimportanttexts fortwo
centuriesand to thosewho haverecentlyreexaminedthep<ltSt..seeking
the overlookedandignoredhistory of our ancestors.
We also have specialdebtsto Kevin Reilly, editor of M.E. Sharpe's
 PREFACE xvii

Sourcesand Studiesin World History series,andto SigneKelker and

Diane Kalathasof the interlibrary loan departmentof Shippensburg
University.

On Transliteration

This volume containsa numberof words from foreign languages.In

order to be consistentand becausemost of our readerswill not be
familiar with scholarly systemsof translation,we have restrictedall
spelling to the Romanalphabetand omitted diacritical marks.

SarahShaverHughes
Brady Hughes
March 1995
This page intentionally left blank:
 INTRODUCTION
Gendering World History,
Globalizing Women's History

In 1835 the American abolitionist author Lydia Maria Child pub-

lished a History and Condition of Womenin Various Agesand Na-
tions. Child's book reflected a need women had long felt, and
expressedin their writings in earlier centuries,to understandtheir
placein the world in the broadesthistorical context. In the 160 years
since Child wrote, history has been professionalized,and too often
efforts to comprehendthe global history of women have been
marginalized. There still is no satisfactory general history of all
womenavailablein English.
The readingsin this volume suggestthe richnessof women'shistory
beyond North America and Europe and of world history beyond the
impersonal,implicitly male story of cities, economies,wars, and em-
pires.The readingsare structuredwithin regionalchaptersto correspond
with modem history's geographic/nationalstructure.Selectionsreveal
critical facets of women's lives in particular places and periods. But
importantthemesthat crossboundariesof culture and time also appear.
For example,a readermay comparehow Buddhism,Judaism,Christi-
anity, and Islam affectedtheir female believersor how some of these
religions affectedwomen in different times or places.Recurringglobal
themesanalyzethe political powerof womenas regents,diplomats,and
queensin monarchies;women'sfundamentalcontributionsto the pro-
duction of goods and servicesnecessaryto sustainsociety and to de-
velop economies;enslavementof women; marriage practices and
motherhood; and religious and social beliefs that proscribed some

1
 2 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

women as beyondrespectability.Representativesamplesof literature

written by women also appear.In thesepagesthere are somefamous
women, such as Hatshepsut,Cleopatra, Hortensia, Aisha, and Sei
Shonagon,along with many lesswell known or anonymousones.

Prehistory

Explaining the asymmetricalrelationshipsof gender is not simple.

History does not supply an easy answer to why men subordinated
women in so many societies, though women seem never to have
dominatedmen so dramatically. Researcherscannotfind convincing
universalevidenceof a "golden age" of matriarchy(which many nine-
teenth-centurywriters, including Friedrich Engels, believed existed
before patriarchy'sdominion replacedit). Today somefeminists posit
there was a prehistoric,Neolithic time when the widespreadworship
of goddessesheraldedwomen'stemporal power. Links can be made
amongfemale figurines, fertility, the importanceof motherhood,and
belief in goddesses,but generalizingfurther to explain a global social
structure,or the Neolithic relationshipsof power betweenwomenand
men, is contraryto the evidenceof decadesof research.
The scholarshipof archaeologists,anthropologists,and historians
illustrates how varied the ways are in which human beings divide
social functions by gender,including some that are obscuredif we
assumeonly a female/malemodel. For more than one hundredyears
Westernscientistsand social scientistshavesoughtto formulate gen-
eral explanationsfor the social differences societiescreate around
issuesof gender. Primatologistscomparebehaviorsof various ani-
mals with thoseof humans,seekingthe origins of genderdifferences
in distant evolution. Archaeologistslook among the ruins and arti-
facts of lost antiquity. Biologists considerhow chromosomes,hor-
mones, reproductive organs, and muscles shape social patterns.
Psychologistssearch for distinctive female behavior patterns, and
anthropologistscomparehow culturesvariously constructgender.
The origins of patriarchy have so far defied explanationbecause
there is no simple universalbiological, prehistoric,or historical pat-
tern. A trajectory seemsclear, evenin Westerntraditions, only when
much is omitted. Nor is it even certain that patriarchyhas prevailed
 INTRODUCTION 3

everywhere,though it is evident in the recordsof the literate, domi-

nant world civilizations. Conquest, private property, slavery, and
subordinationof womento men are embeddedtogetherin the history
of empires in Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas. Although history
focuseson thesepopulations,most of the world's women probably
havelived outsidesuchculturesin the lesshierarchicsocietieswhere
women'sstatushasoften beenhigher.

The Value of Genderin Historical Analysis

Nevertheless,women in the premodern,literate historical world

lived, often with few civil rights, in societiesdominatedby men.
Many women were sold by their fathersto their husbands,abusedby
them, and legally consideredto have no more intellectual capacity
than a child. On the other hand,women were loved by their parents,
husbands,and children. Women used the lever of family relation-
ships to gain advantageswithin their social restraints.They negoti-
ateda daily balanceof genderpower,often ignoring disadvantageous
laws or ritual regulations.While applaudingsmall victories, we must
also considerthe wider meaningof thesesocieties'constructionsof
genderto favor males.NorwegianhistorianIda Blom notesthat

applying genderas an analytical tool-not stopping at analyzing women's

oppressionbut also continuingto locatetheir strengthsand their participation
in class,casteand ethnic hierarchies-yieldsimportantknowledgeas to how
societiesfunctioned.Suchanalysisrevealsthat every areaof society,be it the
family, the workplaceor the political arena,is gender-structured.Inheritance
rules, divisions of work and of authority, beliefs as to psychologicalcharac-
teristics of an individual, evenpolitical power relationsare structuredaround
dichotomiesof gender.*

Particularly striking is women's economic importance.Consider

the productionof human necessities-food,clothing, and shelter-
and think of their immensevalue to peoplein preindustrialciviliza-
tions. Women'slabor in growing, processing,and cooking daily food
*Ida BJorn, "Global Women's History: Organizing Principles and Cross-Cultural
Understandings,"in Karen Offen, Ruth RoachPierson,and JaneRendall, eds., Writing
Women'sHistory: International Perspectives(Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
1991), 139.
 4 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

has beensuchan acceptedreality that it is difficult to find documents

describingthat essentialwork. In somesocietiesbuilding and repair-
ing housing has also fallen to women in the division of labor, but
almosteverywheremaking garmentsto cover bodiesand groundwas
their job. Women have largely producedthe clothing of mankind,
from harvestingraw fibers or skinning small animalsto carrying out
all the stepsof production to the finished product. Even the poorest
person was dependentfor clothing on female labor, yet economic
developmentalso hinged upon female-producedtextiles. Monarchs
levied taxes in home-wovenfabrics and supportedfactories where
womenwove linen or silk to drapethe opulentdisplay of court power
or to exchangefor armed allies. Textiles constitutedso much of the
value and volume of international trade throughout the premodern
era that the topic cannot be discussedwithout considering them.
Usually, however, the value of silk yard goods carried on the Silk
Road, calicos of India, batiks of Indonesia,featheredcapesof Te-
nochtitlan, or woolens of Florenceis measuredwithout mentioning
the women who made them. Under hand manufacture,women al-
ways dominatedthe early stagesof producing thread from cotton,
flax, hemp,wool, feathers,or silk-the tediousprocessesof cleaning,
carding, and spinning. Weaving the threadswas an exclusively male
job in somecultures,but more often it has beenwomen'swork. Men
replacedwomen at looms often when cash earningsfrom weaving
rose significantly, probably as an economywas monetized.The im-
portanceof discerning gender patterns in textile production might
seemobvious, but this work, like much of women'slabor, is often
not evenreckonedin countingthe wealth or productof an economy.
Americansassumethat householdlabor meanswhat they know of
vacuuming,laundry, cookery,and child care.It is hard to imaginethe
physical effort or the significanceof earlier women'sdomesticlabor
in gatheringand growing crops; processingas well as cooking food;
weaving, sewing, and launderingclothes; marketing surpluses;and
nursing, educating, and comforting children. It is equally hard to
understandpersonalrelationshipsnot basedon individual choice-
critical differences in the family foundations of societies, varying
from how marriageswere contractedand ancestrycalculatedto how
property was transferredand classesformed. That women had no
 INTRODUCTION 5

public role in classicalAthensis relevantto democratictheory and to

understandingwhy Americanwomen'sdemandfor voting rights was
ridiculed before 1920. Whetherconsideringreligion, literacy, health,
art, slavery,war, or trade,genderusually mattered.

DifferencesamongWomen

Womenwere not all alike in any society,nor did they act as if they
perceived themselvesas sisters united against male oppressors.
Instead,women divided againstone anotheron the basis of class,
family, caste, religion, and respectability. Women policed their
own social bounds,as often persecutingas protectingwomen who
disobeyedrestrictionson sexuality,dress,or occupation.
Unfortunately, most surviving documentstell about the lives of
elite women in civilizations and are seldom adequateto reflect the
variationsin women'sexperiences.Within literate societiesthe least
information remainsaboutrural women,working urban women, and
slaves. Women's own spacesand cultures are poorly documented
either becausemen were more often literate (except in Southeast
Asia) or becausemen preservedrecords they perceivedas signifi-
cant. Glimpses of women'sromantic love for one anotherindicate
that within the silences of gender-segregated cultures were many
possibilitiesunknown to history. Women in nonliteratesocietiesare
leastknown to historians.The pastsof somecan neverbe retrieved,
though more may be recoveredas scholarsin many fields become
sensitiveto genderin origin myths,art and architecture,written texts,
andoral histories.
In interpretingthe known past, a misconceptionto be avoided is
that women'shistory progressesfrom a time of unconscioussubmis-
sion to oppressionto a liberated twentieth-centuryWest. The read-
ings in this volume presentmany conditionsof women,which varied
over time. Were the aristocraticwomen of the Japanesecourt in the
tenth century C.E. more or less privileged than their modemsucces-
sors?Why might one argue that the statusof women in Thailand,
Burma, and Indonesiahas declined since 1500? Muslim Arabian
womenof Muhammad'sgenerationwould havebeenhorrified by the
restrictionsimposedon their sistersunderthe urbanAbbasidempire.
Upper-classwomen in the late Roman Republic lived far more se-
 6 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

cure lives than sixth-centuryFrankish women, someof whom were

undoubtedlydescendants of the Romans.

Searchingfor Victors asWell as Victims

Within recordedhistory, women's achievementswere normal, not

anomalies.But it can be easyto miss this, especiallywhen attention
focusesupon the lawsof any land. Men, when they dominatedpublic
offices, creatednumerouslaws and regulationsrestricting women's
use of space.Sometimesfemale spaceswere confined to the home.
Often public debatingforums were proscribed,as were somestreets,
theaters,or temples. Women did internalize these rules and aid in
enforcingthem. But women also resistedsuch limitations or ignored
them, just as some women overcamethe horrors of slavery, exile,
and war. Whether it be veiled shoppersin Cairo boldly seizing the
streetsand gossipingin the bazaaror the AtheniancourtesanNeaera
bargaining for her freedom, seemingly victimized women demon-
stratedinitiative andcourage.
Every chapterin this book contains descriptionsof women who
broadenedthe boundariesthat sought to restrict them. Few women
changedthe fate of empires,though Cleopatratried. Many readings
describe women who had the power to influence large and small
personaland political decisions.Frequentlywomen usedtheir influ-
enceas agentsof their families or clans,becausein the ancientworld
most people did not think of themselvesas individuals as much as
membersof the family group. Almost all marriageswere arranged
with the important objective of allying two families. Young women
and men were subordinatedto their elders. Although forced mar-
riages of prepubescentgirls to elderly men may be shocking, pity
does little to further historical understanding.How did theseyoung
women survive, to overcomethe sacrifice of their youth in the plea-
suresof motherhood,adultery, widowhood, or spiritual repose?This
book emphasizestheir successes, as well as their subordination.
SuggestedFurtherReadings

Without questionthe most useful sourcefor those seekingmore in-

formation on non-Westernwomenis Cheryl Johnson-Odimand Mar-
 INTRODUCTION 7

garetStrobel,eds.,RestoringWomento History (Bloomington: Indi-

ana University Press, forthcoming). Its sections on Africa, Asia,
Latin America, the Caribbean,andthe Middle Eastcontainbibliogra-
phies and excellentregional historical summariesfrom prehistoryto
the present. Writing Women'sHistory: International Perspectives
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991), edited by Karen
Offen, Ruth RoachPierson,and JaneRendall, surveyswomen'shis-
tory broadly, in this caseby country. A fine essayby Ida Blom on
"Global Women's History" analyzesproblems in writing women's
history cross-culturally.One of the few books that comparekinship
practicesin Africa, Asia, and Europeis The Oriental, the Ancientand
the Primitive: Systemsof Marriage and Family in the Pre-industrial
Societiesof Eurasia (New York: CambridgeUniversity Press,1990),
written by the anthropologistJack Goody. GerdaLerner's The Cre-
ation of Patriarchy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986)
seeksthe origins of men'sdominationof womenin Westernsocieties
in the ancient history of the Middle East. Bonnie S. Andersonand
Judith P. Zinsserin A History of Their Own: Womenin Europefrom
Prehistory to the Present, vol. 1 (New York: Harper Collins, 1988),
examine,in Part 1, varioustraditionsderiving from EuropeanandMed-
iterraneanpeoplesthat shapedthe early history of Westernwomen.
This page intentionally left blank:
 -1-
PREHISTORIC WOMEN
Shaping Evolution, Sustenance,
and Economy

A 2,OOO·year-oldfigurine from a Bronze Age tomb in present-dayIran.

(UPI/Bettmann,photo 0 1975 by AndreasFeiningerfrom his book Rootsoj Art)
 10 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

When anthropologistsand archaeologistsexplain the origins of

human societies, "man the hunter" is the dominant figure. The
meat he lugs to the family fire sustainshis dependentwife and
children. The powerful image of his protective brawn pervades
Western culture from cartoonsto serious science.A weak, sub-
ordinant woman is his implied mate: someonewhosedull, repet-
itive chores need not be discussed becauseshe contributed
nothing to culture, history, or civilization. The assumptionthat
the representativehuman being is male is rooted in nineteenth-
century speculationabout the beginningsof human cultures. In
the past twenty-five years, some scholarshave worked from dif-
ferent assumptions.What if "woman the gatherer" returned to
camp with most of the family food? What if women's choices
were fundamental to human evolution? What if the first great
human technological revolution-thediscovery of agriculture-
was carried out by women?What if the earliesteconomicdevel-
opment of human societieswas basedon trade in surplus food
and textiles producedby women?
Much of the writing of archaeologistsand anthropologistsis
speculative,so assumptionsmatter. Stone ruins, burials, broken
pots, fragments of cloth, and arrowheadscan reveal material
cultures of the prehistoric past, but they do not speakdirectly of
the social environment.Who chippedthe arrowhead,shapedthe
clay, wove the cloth, shroudedthe body, lifted the stones?Usu-
ally there is no way to know the answers to these questions.
Scientific analysis has transformedthe study of prehistory in the
past fifty years: radiocarbon dating and physical and chemical
studies of trace elements in pottery shards, human bones, and
ancient seedshave solved many old puzzlesabout when settle-
mentswere built and what botanical and mineral resourceswere
available.
Less progresshas been made in genderingthe prehistoric past.
The gender and age of skeletonsare routinely consideredtoday
when graves are opened,and it is possibleto determineby car-
bon isotope values and chemical analysis whether men or
women, adults or children, were fed better during their lifetimes.
Until new techniquespermit analysesto determine the sex of
fingerprints or other molecular residues, no one can tell us
whether women or men created the baskets, pottery, cloth, or
metal artifacts of a prehistoric people. Even when that is known,
interpretationand assumptionswill guide teasingout the motiva-
 PREHISTORIC WOMEN 11

tions underlying a social structure. New techniques and more

evidence may fail to yield a better understanding of prehistoric
peoples unless there is an acknowledgment of present androcent-
ric biases.

1.1 Women in the "Gatherer-Hunter" Phase

Before we can confidently say what gender had to do with

human accomplishments in any prehistoric period or place-or
how gender patterns may have changed over many thousands of
years-we need to free our minds from stereotypes of "man the
hunter," as Adrienne Zihlman illustrates.

About 5 million years ago forest-ranging,knuckle-walking apes-

very much like living chimpanzees--evolved through the processof
natural selectioninto the earliesthumans,the hominids, who walked
upright on two legs, usedtools, and lived and gatheredfood on the
African savannas.Females,so long ignored in evolutionary recon-
structions,must haveplayeda critical role. Influencing the evolution-
ary direction of the species,they investeddme and energy in their
offsprings' survival (maternalinvestment)and choseas their mates
thosemalesmore protectiveand willing to sharefood than the aver-
agemale ape(sexualselection).Whereasmale apesdepartfrom their
mothers and siblings at puberty, male hominids were integrated
along with the femalesinto their mothers'kin group and contributed
to the survival of long-dependentyoung (kin selection).Theserelatively
sociable males probably becamethe preferred sexual partnersof fe-
malesin neighboringgroups,and, in this way, reinforcedthe evolution-
ary processby changinghumanmalesthroughsexualselection.
The presently popular "hunting hypothesis"of human evolution
arguesthat hunting as a techniquefor getting large amountsof meat
was the critical, defining innovation separatingearly humansfrom
their ape ancestors.This view of "man the hunter" has beenusedto
explain many featuresof modemWesterncivilization, from the nu-
clearfamily and sexualdivision of labor to powerand politics. But as
more and more data have accumulatedin recent years, and as ap-
proachesto them have changed,the notion that early "man" was
primarily a hunter,and meatthe main dietary item, hasbecomemore
and more dubious.Consequently,interpretationsof early humanso-
 12 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

cial life and the role of eachsex in it must be reevaluated.The usual

questionin most interpretationsof human prehistory is "What were
the women and children doing while the males were out hunting?"
Here I ask instead,"How did human males evolve so as to comple-
ment the femalerole?"
Even without fossil evidence,Darwin deducedthat bipedalismand
tool using must have been early characteristicsof the human line
which originated in Africa. Evidence supporting his hypothesis
beganturning up in South Africa in the I 920s. In the past two de-
cades,hundredsof hominid fossils and thousandsof stonetools have
been unearthedin both East and South Africa. Our early ancestor,
Australopithecus,"southern ape," was neither ape nor exclusively
southern.It had a brain size that was a little larger than that of the
apes,but was entirely bipedal, with small unapelike canineteeth and
large molar and premolarteeth-similarto thoseof plant-eating,not
meat-eatinganimals.... During the past decade,new fossils, dating
between I and 4 million years old, have been coming to light in
Africa at a rapid rate. The time spanof thesefossils is consistentwith
the biochemicallyestimateddivergenceof humansfrom African apes
about5 million yearsago....
The African savanna,where all these fossils have been found,
consistedthen as now of grasslands,low bush,and riverine forests-
a mosaic of vegetationtypes.... The diversity of plant, and conse-
quently animal, life on the savannapresentedan opportunity to the
evolving and omnivorous hominids for exploiting these abundant
resources.
We cannotescapethe evolutionary implication that, to some ex-
tent, we are what our ancestorsate. Among the hominids, social
organizationwould have been different if the diet was mostly vege-
tarian than if the diet was primarily one of meat acquired through
hunting. The importanceof plant food in the diet of early hominids
has long been acknowledged,but its significance tended, until re-
cently, to be obscuredby the overemphasison meatand hunting. The
fallacious picture of early hominids as a newly emergingmeat-eating
primateis refutednot only by their omnivore-likemasticatorysystem
but also by numerousobservationson predationand meat-eatingin
chimpanzeesand baboons-aconfirmationof the principle of evolu-
tionary continuity. Studies of living peoples who gather and hunt
 PREHISTORIC WOMEN 13

reveal that throughout the world, except for specializedhunters in

arctic regions, more caloriesare obtainedfrom plant foods gathered
by women for family sharing than from meat obtainedby hunting.
Due to the relative durability of bone as opposedto plant refuse,the
archaeologicalrecord may exaggeratethe amount of meat in the
early hominid diet.

Adrienne L. Zihlman, "Women in Evolution, Part II: Subsistenceand Social Orga-

nization amongEarly Hominids," Signs4 (1978): 4-7. Reprintedby permissionof
the publisher,the University of Chicago.© 1978by the University of Chicago.

Part of the "man the hunter" argumentwas basedon the nu-

merouscollectionsof animal and hominid bonesfound together
in African sites. Archaeologistswho have examinedthe bones
more carefully have argued that they are not the hominid
hunter'strash pile but the predator'sgarbage.And the hominid
remainsin the piles are thoseof the victims, not the victors.

Although there is no direct evidencefor australopithecinepredation

or for boneand stonetoolmakingbeforeabout2 million yearsago, it
is likely that, continuing the ape ancestralpattern, they engagedin
predation and making tools, albeit of organic materials. Tools for
digging and carrying food meant that greater quantities could be
collected for sharing. Large carnivoresposeda real dangeron the
savanna.Thereforepart of the food-gettingprocesshad to include the
ability of hominids to protect themselves.Their small canine teeth,
integral to the food-grinding mechanism,also imply that they used
meansotherthan physicalprowessin predatordefense.Both females
and malescould deal with predatorsin a variety of ways: by avoiding
them and being active during the day; by traveling, sleeping and
getting food in the companyof severalother individuals and so find-
ing safety in numbers;or, in the eventthat a confrontationoccurred,
throwing objectsas part of threatening,noisy displaysnot unlike the
bipedal,branchwaving andobjectthrowing of chimpanzeedisplays.
The hominid way of life, which relied on bipedalism and tool
using, required a long period for the young to learn and develop
associatedmotor patternsbefore they were completelyindependent,
perhapsnot beforeeight or ten yearsof age.
 14 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Adrienne L. Zihlman, "Women in Evolution, Part II: Subsistenceand Social Orga-

nization amongEarly Hominids," Signs4 (1978): 7-8. Reprintedby permissionof
the publisher,the University of Chicago.© 1978 by the University of Chicago.

Human children must be carried for three to five years, and

they lack the endurance to take long walks at the adult's pace
until they are eight at least. Furthermore, they probably cannot
master the use of even simple tools before they are five years old.

The early hominids,whoseway of life dependedupon making and

using tools both for obtaining and preparingfood and for using ob-
jects in defense,must have required even more time to learn such
skills. A long dependencyprior to walking long distancesand mas-
tering tools meant a major investment by mothers in each off-
spring-in time and energy and in physical, social, and economic
efforts.
Thereis no evidencethat, at this early time in prehistory,australo-
pithecine "campsites" or "home bases" existed where the young
could be left by mothersand caredfor by other group members,as is
typical of Kalahari gatherer-hunterstoday. The burden of child care
could only havebeenpossible,I propose,if carewas sharedby other
group memberswho, at this stage,were close kin. Males who were
brothers and sons of the females were regular membersof the kin
group. Their roles in socialization and care of the young, defense,
obtaining meat, sharingfood, and, perhaps,collecting raw materials,
were significant contributions to the group as a whole. Thus male
and female kin contributedto the survival of their young relatives.
With this support, motherscould have anotheroffspring before the
previous onewas entirely independent.Without this involvementof
kin-a social solution to a physical problem-birth spacingwould
have to be extendedto more than three or four years, leaving little
time for reproductionin a specieswhose life span may have been
little more than twenty years.
Australopithecinefemalesand maleshad similar-sizecanineteeth
and no more than moderatedifferencesin body size, that is, minimal
sexualdimorphism.The degreeof sexualdimorphismin canineteeth
and body sizes, within the many monkey and ape speciesstudied,
correlateswith behavioraldifferencesin predatordefenseand social
 PREHISTORIC WOMEN 15

roles. The small canine teeth in early hominids must be related to

three things: diet and mastication,predatordefense,and mating pat-
terns. First, the reducedcaninesin both sexesof early hominids ...
function as part of the biting and grinding mechanism.Second,large
male canineteeth and body size differences,as in baboons,function
as part of the species'defensesystem. For the hominids, predator
defensewould have little anatomicalbasis. Both sexesprobably en-
gaged in a variety of antipredatorbehaviors.Finally, and perhaps
most importantly, the small caninesof male hominids suggestthat
they were more sociableand lessaggressivein their interactionswith
other males and with females. They probably competedwith each
otherfor mating with femalesin agreeableways ratherthan by overt
fighting or dominancebehavioras monkeys and apesdo. Hominid
male sociablebehavior would be advantageous,and indeed neces-
sary, for integrationinitially into their kin groupsand, subsequently,
into larger social groupings.Femalesmost frequently chosesexual
partnersfrom among the sociablemales outside the immediatekin
group.... Sexualbehaviorthen, as now, was only one expressionof
social bondsbetweenfemalesandmales.

AdrienneL. Zihlman, "Women in Evolution, Part II: Subsistenceand Social Orga-

nization among Early Hominids," Signs 4 (1978): 8-10. Reprintedby permission
of the publisher,the University of Chicago.© 1978 by the University of Chicago.

In this model the formation of sharing food networks and fam-

ily units should be clarified.

Sharingfood among the nonhumanprimatesis infrequentand is of

social,ratherthan nutritional, significance.The new andfundamental
elementsin the humanway of life included food sharingas a matter
of survival, regular sharing betweenmother and offspring, and the
expansionof sharing networks to include adult females giving to
adult males.This latter kind of sharing mayhave developedinitially
within the kin group: mothersgaveto their young male offspring and
continuedto do so when they grew up and stayedwith the mother-
centeredgroup. Femalesalso sharedwith their male siblings. Later
thesebehaviorswould be a basis for generalizingthe sharing with
adult malesoutsidethe immediatekin group.
 16 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Adrienne L. Zihlman, "Women in Evolution, Part II: Subsistenceand Social Orga-

nization among Early Hominids," Signs 4 (1978): 10. Reprintedby permissionof
the publisher,the University of Chicago.© 1978 by the University of Chicago.

In the "man the hunter" hypothesis, both economic and repro-

ductive functions occur in the nuclear family, just as they do
today.

I propose,alternatively, that among the australopithecinesthe eco-

nomic units were primarily the smaller kin groups that sharedplant
and animal foods and cared for the young. Sexual behaviorand the
"reproductiveunits" occurredwithin the larger associationsof unre-
lated individuals who came togetherin their kin groups at food and
water sourcesand sleepingplaces. These two units becamelinked
much later in time and, eventhen, only in somesocieties.
A picture then emergesof a cooperative,sociablekin group of both
females and males learning to make and use tools; opportunistically
gatheringfood of many plant types covering a large rangeon the sa-
vanna; sharing plant and animal foods; and defending themselvesin
conjunction with other kin groups more or less effectively againstthe
lions, leopardsand hyenas whichwere even more abundantthen. The
presenceof males,unencumberedby infants, would haveenhancedthe
survival of such a group. They could range farther in searchof food,
help carefor the young, andcontributeto defenseagainstpredators.

Adrienne L. Zihlman, "Women in Evolution, Part II: Subsistenceand Social Orga-

nization amongEarly Hominids," Signs4 (1978): 10-11. Reprintedby permission
of the publisher,the University of Chicago.© 1978 by the University of Chicago.

1.2 Who Invented Farming?

The first representatives of our genus, Homo habilis, appeared

perhaps about 2.5 million years ago. They also lived in gatherer-
hunter bands. In time several species of the genus spread out
across Africa and Eurasia. All of them lived in gatherer-hunter
bands, although with improved hunting potential. Our own spe-
cies, Homo sapienssapiens, arose about 500,000 years ago in
Africa. Margaret Ehrenberg considers the transition from gather-
ing to farming.
 PREHISTORIC WOMEN 17

From the point of view of the lives of women, the Neolithic period
[beginning about 7000 B.C.E.] is perhapsthe most importantphaseof
prehistory.... At the end of the [earlier] Palaeolithicand Mesolithic,
womenenjoyedequality with men. They probablycollectedas much,
if not more, of the food eatenby the community and derived equal
statusfrom their contribution. But by about four thousandyearsago,
in the BronzeAge, many of the genderroles and behaviourtypical of
the Westernworld today had probablybeenestablished.The implica-
tion is that the crucial changesmust have taken place during the
Neolithic period.
The chief characteristicof the Neolithic was the establishmentof
agriculture in. south-westAsia [the Middle East] and south-east Eu-
rope, perhapsaround the seventhmillennium Be or earlier. ... Nu-
merous other inventions and adaptationsin lifestyle seem to have
occurred more or less at the same time. These include the change
from a nomadic to a sedentarysettlementpattern, the invention of
pottery and the useof polishedstonetools....
One of the most momentouschangesin the history of the human
specieswas surely the domesticationof plants and animals-thein-
vention of agriculture.. . . The transition from foraging to farming
would have made profound differencesto nearly all aspectsof the
lifestyle of prehistoric women and men. Ratherthan moving around
in searchof food, the discovery of agriculture allowed, or perhaps
necessitated,a sedentarylifestyle. It would also havegiven rise to, or
perhapswas precipitatedby, an increasein the size of the population.
. . . The discoveryof farming techniqueshas usually beenassumedto
have been made by men, but it is in fact very much more likely to
havebeenmadeby women.On the basisof anthropologicalevidence
for societiesstill living traditional foraging lifestyles and thoseliving
by simple, non-mechanicalfarming, taken in conjunctionwith direct
archaeologicalevidence,it seemsprobablethat it was women who
madethe first observationsof plant behaviour,and worked out, pre-
sumablyby long trial and error, how to grow and tend crops....
How may we imagine the discoveryof agriculture was made?By
analogy with present-dayforaging societies ... it was almost cer-
tainly women who were responsiblefor gatheringplant foods, which
... make up the bulk of the diet in nearly all traditional societies.
They would therefore have been aware of the most likely place to
 18 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

find a certain plant growing: for example,one plant food may have
grown beside a river, another underthe shelter of trees. After a
lifetime of watchingplantsgrowing, thesewomenwould have under-
stood a great deal about the complicatedbusinessof plant biology;
they would have recognizedthe young seedlingswhich had become
fully grown crops when they returnedto the sameplace later in the
year. They would soonhaverealizedthat if there was lessrain or less
sunshinethan usual the plants would not be so big and there would
be less to eat, and they would have realized also that the seeds
neededto fall to the ground if more of that food was to grow in the
sameplacenext year. If the whole plant was pulled up or eaten,none
would grow there the next season,but if some of the seedswere
dropped or sprinkled somewhereelse then that plant might grow
there instead. Undoubtedly many thousandsof foraging women
would haverealizedthis, but to most there would not haveseemedto
be any advantagein controlling the placeswhere the food grew....
Many present-dayforagers, for example the !Kung of the Kalahari
desert,are well awarethat their neighbourspracticeagriculture,and
even of how it works, but they chooseto retain their traditional, easy
practices: "why bother to grow crops when there are so many
mongongonuts in the world...."
Around 10,000 Be women all over Europe and south-westAsia
would have spent part of their days gathering the crops and plants
which grew aroundthem.... When women thought a plant growing
someway from home would be getting ripe, or the men noticed that
there were fewer and fewer animals nearby, they would take their
small collection of belongingsand move perhapsa few miles, per-
haps many, till they came to a better source of supply. How often
such a move was necessarywould vary tremendously.... The foods
that were actually eaten, of course, varied from area to area, and
some would have been more obvious candidatesfor domestication
than others.In the mountainvalleys of south-westAsia there grew a
number of grasses,the seedsof which, it was discovered,could be
boiled or groundinto flour, and were particularly tasty and nutritious.
Thesegrasses,which we know as the cerealswheatand barley, were
only found in the mountainvalleys, but other foods eatenin the area
seem to have grown on lower land, near the river valleys. Cereals
only ripen once a year, but the seedscould be kept and eaten in a
 PREHISTORIC WOMEN 19

later season.Foragersdo not as a rule carry food aroundwith them,

but someof the women gatheringthesecerealsmay have found that
they could easily gatherenoughfood in a few days to last for some
time; somepeoplewould probablyhavestayedwherethe seedswere
harvested,while others may have preferredto carry them somedis-
tanceto otherplaces,whereperhapsotherfoods were to be found.
Thesediscoverieswould probably have had two importantconse-
quences:firstly a changefrom a nomadiclifestyle to sedentism,and
secondly a significant increasein population. In the first place it
would have beendifficult to carry heavy bagsfull of cerealsaround;
and if they were left somewhere,with the intention of returning to
them later, someoneor some animal would be very likely to find
them, and eat them before the harvesterscame back. For theserea-
sons,therefore,it would soon have beendiscoveredthat it was best
to leave at least some of the group guarding the grain stores.... If
sufficient grain was collected to last for a considerablepart of the
year, it may have become easier to stay in one place for many
months,providedthat someothersourcesof food were also available
nearby. When the cereal grain was moved from its storageplace to
whereit was to be eaten,someseedswould inevitably have dropped
on the ground, and some may eventually have germinated.If the
group was still living in, or had returnedto, the sameplace the next
spring, some of the women would no doubt have noticed the new
plants of wheat and barley growing there. Some particularly obser-
vant women, or perhapseven a child, may have watchedas the seed
lying on the ground sprouted,and gradually grew bigger and bigger,
until it was recognizableas a cereal plant. This would happenyear
after year in many different settlementsaroundthe naturalsourcesof
wheat and barley. However, it would have beena major and signifi-
cant step deliberatelyto drop or sprinkle some preciousseedsnear
the homebaseand to be confidentthat new plants would grow there.
On the otherhand,oncethis stephadbeentaken,it would havesaved
the trek to the place where the cereal was normally harvested.It
would then have been important to remain nearby while the young
plants were growing in order to ward off scavenginganimals and
people. And once the ripe grain had been harvested,it would have
had to be carefully storedand protectedwhile it was graduallybeing
eaten over the winter. So, without any original intent, the group
 20 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

would have had to remain in the same place all year round; at no
seasoncould the whole community have easily moved away. From a
nomadicforaging society the group would thus have becomeseden-
tary horticulturalists.

From Womenin Prehistory by MargaretEhrenberg,77-8, 84-6. © 1989 by Mar-

garetEhrenberg.Reprintedby permissionof the University of OklahomaPress.

1.3 Women's Carding, Spinning, and Weaving

Before the Neolithic period, both women and men were capable
of performing any of the tasks needed by the group. Men were
usually hunters and women gatherers, but most other tasks were
not identified with one gender. By the end of the Neolithic pe-
riod much more routine work was assigned to only one gender.
Scholars naturally wondered what reasoning was used to assign
some jobs to women and others to men. Judith Brown* made an
interesting suggestion based on the observation that women were
customarily in charge of raising their children.
E.J.W. Barber has used Brown's suggestion in her explanation
of women's production of textiles.

Why should the making of textiles be so predominantlya female

occupationin early societies?Under what circumstanceswas it
not? What, in fact, are the socioeconomicfactors at work on
textile production?
To begin with, in an article on basic subsistenceactivities, Judith
Brown points out that one obtainsa much higher degreeof predictabil-
ity in the division of labor by sex on the basisof one particularobserva-
tion than on any otherfactor that hasbeenproposed.That observationis
that "nowherein world is the rearingof childrenprimarily the responsi-
bility of men, and in only a few societiesare women exemptedfrom
participationin subsistenceactivities. If the economicrole of women is
to be maximized,their responsibilitiesin child care must be reducedor
the economicactivity must be such that it can be carried out concur-
rently with child care." After elaboratingher data she summarizesby

*Judith Brown, "A Note on the Division of Labor by Sex," AmericanAnthropol-

ogist 72 (1970): 1073-8.
 PREHISTORIC WOMEN 21

saying that certain "societiesare able to draw on womanpower be-

causetheir subsistenceactivities are compatible with simultaneous
child watching. Such activities have the following characteristics:
they do not require rapt concentrationand are relatively dull and
repetitive; they are easily interruptableand easily resumedonce in-
terrupted;they do not placethe child in potentialdanger;and they do
not require the participantto rangevery far from home." Subsistence
activities that fall under these categoriesinclude such typically,
though not exclusively, female activities as "gathering,hoe agricul-
ture, and [local] trade." They do not include "the herding of large
animals, the hunting of large game,deep-seafishing, or plow agricul-
ture." It is not that women are incapableof such activities-societies
can be cited in which women participatein anyoneof these,just as
societiescan be cited in which men gather, trade locally, etc. But be-
causenone of them can be accomplishedsafely with tots underfoot,
societiesdo not dependfor themon its [sic] womenalone.
The model gives equally accuratepredictions outside the realm of
direct subsistenceactivities. The mine, with its deep holes and falling
rocks, and the smithy, with its flying hammersand sparks,are hardly
safe play-groundsfor little ones.On the other hand, domesticspinning,
weaving,fiber preparation,etc. havebeenfound the world aroundto be
ideal for women'schores:they are not dangerousto children, they can
be done at home, and they are repetitious and simple enough to be
interruptedand resumedeasily aroundthe frequentlittle crisesof child-
raising....
So Brown's observationpredicts,and in an intuitive satisfying way,
that textile productionwill generallybe women'swork. But how, then,
are we to understandthose recordedcasesin which the men were
weaving?Are they random flukes, is the model wrong, or are there
subsidiaryprinciplesof socioeconomicsthat explain them.
Considerthe men we seeweaving in Egypt. Throughoutthe Middle
Kingdom, for all the many representationsof weaving, it is always
women who are shown at the task, using the ancient ground-loom.
Then, well into the New Kingdom, we begin to seea few depictionsof
men weaving-andweaving on a newly introducedvertical loom. The
two go together-newloom and new type of weaver....
Male weaversexisted in classicalAthens, too, in this casework-
ing in small, private shopsin order to sell the resulting clothing in
 22 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

the market, while the women madecloth and clothing for home and
personaluse....
We have not far to go for predictive principles. In both casesthe
womanpoweris still being used maximally in the home, where the
children are, and for basic subsistencepurposes.But the men, who in
eachcaseare weaving in addition to the women, are weaving either
for the luxury of their masters(if they are slaves) or for their own
profit (if they arefree).

E.J.W. Barber, Prehistoric Textiles: the Developmentof Cloth in the Neolithic and
BronzeAges with SpecialReferenceto the Aegean(Princeton,NJ: PrincetonUni-
versity Press,1991),289-90.

In additional examples, Barber gives instances of men weav-

ing for subsistence and women weaving for luxury or the market.
Still, women dominated textile production then and now. As
Barber concludes, "Clothes may make the man, but women
spent their lives making the clothes" (298).

1.4 Cooking: Women'sWork in the Division of Labor

Anthropologist Jane Guyer challenges claims that the "natural"

division of labor between women and men originated in the
biological fact of women's childbearing and nursing of infants.
Guyer develops her argument on the basis of comparative an-
thropological data on the division of labor by gender in 185
societies, compiled from the World Ethnographic Survey by
George P. Murdock and Caterina Provost.*

Of the fifty technologicalactivities studied, fourteen are almost exclu-

sively male in the pre-industrialsocietiescompared;a further nine are
predominantlyassignedto men, twenty are what is termed"swing ac-
tivities" which vary in sex specificity, sevenare predominantlyfemale
and noneare exclusivelyfemale.... The male activities tend to require
relatively great physical strength,and are performedat a greaterdis-
tance from the home base.... [Some scholarsacceptJudith Brown's

*George P. Murdock and CaterinaProvost, "Factors in the Division of Labor by

Sex: A Cross-CulturalAnalysis," Ethnohistory12 (1973): 203-25.
 PREHISTORIC WOMEN 23

suggestion] that "simultaneouschild care responsibilities" limit

womento relatively safe,interruptable,home-bound work ....
An alternativehypothesis,which I put forward here,seemsequally
plausible. . . . Childbearing and nursing are unambiguouslyfemale
activities, but if one searchesthrough Murdock's tables there is one
technologicaltask which comesclose to being universally assigned
to women, namelycooking. Thinking carefully aboutcooking as one
task in a set of fifty, one is increasinglystruck by the limitations of
the "task" approach.Cooking is a true universal; it is different in
kind from other tasks.Cooking must be one of the earliestmanifesta-
tions of the superiorimaginationof homo sapiens.It exists in every
known society,regardlessof the generallevel of technicaland social
complexity, and the natureof the resourcebase.Without a shadowof
a doubt cooking as a task must be the greatestsingle consumerof
humantime, effort and routine attention,evenin the most technolog-
ically advancedof societies.If work were to be graphedin terms of
time allocation, many of the tasks on Murdock and Provost'slist-
bone-setting,collection of wild honey,lumbering,and bodily mutila-
tion, for example-wouldsimply disappearnext to cooking. Further,
as a consumerof female labor time it surely outstrips nursing and
child care sincecooking is a life-long occupationregardlessof child-
bearingstatus.Girls often take part in cooking before puberty,child-
less women are not exempt, and cooking does not become a
redundantactivity at menopause.
In terms of combinability with a variety of occupationsoutsidethe
domestic sphere,caring for a baby who is still exclusively at the
breastposeshardly any of the logistical problemsinvolved in ensur-
ing an adequateand regular food supply for weanlings and for the
rest of the family. This is particularly true for work requiring travel at
a distancefrom home. What brings a motherhome quickly is not the
nursling strappedto her back or side, but the small child who is too
heavy to carry along, the man returning from work or the old people
unableto provide for themselves ....
One might argue, however, that cooking is a simple extensionof
nursing and is therefore subsumedby the child care and nurturing
argument.On the contrary, I would arguethat, while they appearto
be related on the ideological level, they are much more difficult to
combinein practicethan the functional argumentssuggest.
 24 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

It is neitherconvenientnor safe for a woman to cook and care for

small children at the sametime. Doing it is nerve-wracking,and one
only has to observeit during field-work to seethat every child's first
experienceof the categorical imperative [No!) takes place in its
mother's kitchen, and one of its earliest comprehendedwords is
"hot." Of course,the situation is managed,usually by having older
children or other adults to do the strict surveillancenecessary.But as
soon as one admits that the social contextof child care is important in
allowing mothersto do dangeroustasks,like tendingthe cooking fire or
moving pots of boiling water and oil, then a whole range of other
activities becometheoreticallypossibleto combinewith child care.
One is inclined to arguethat cooking is assignedto women in spite
ofchild care....
Jane1. Guyer, "The Raw, the Cooked,and the Half-Baked: A Note on the Division
of Labor by Sex," working paper no. 48, 1-6, African Studies Center, Boston
University, 1981.

Guyer completes her case for cooking by noting that among

the 185 societies, men did most of the cooking in only two and
shared the task equally with women in another two.
Guyer's speculation is based on ethnographic evidence col-
lected by anthropologists from modern cultures. Both she and
Judith Brown believe that prehistoric gender patterns might re-
semble those most common among nonindustrialized world so-
cieties nearly 8,000 years later.
Why do scholars bother theorizing about what we may never
know? They do so because assumptions and speculation shape
the interpretation of the writings at the beginning of history, just
as they do the evidence from prehistoric periods. Consider, for
instance, what gendering prehistoric and ancient economic his-
tory means in thinking about the origins of human civilizations.
At the most fundamental level, increasing social complexity
rests on the generation of surplus products. What seem to have
been predominantly male activities like hunting and mining
played a role in creating a surplus, but the spread of agriculture
is generally assumed to have been the critical factor in expand-
ing productivity. If men sowed and harvested the grain, while
boys herded and sheared the sheep, then women and girls disap-
pear from the economy into the home. If women sowed and
 PREHISTORIC WOMEN 25

reaped, while girls herded geese, sheep, and goats, the basis of
economic growth shifts. If, as many later cultures will demon-
strate, women also "owned" their products- and sold them in the
local market, trade was also complicated by gender.
Another key product of early societies was textiles. Humans,
lacking enough protective hair to withstand cold, needed syn-
thetic skins of leather; animal fur; or cloth made from tree bark,
plant fibers, or animal hairs. Whatever the process, wherever the
society in historic times, women have produced most clothing.
The methods derive from prehistory-whether tanning leather;
sewing fur; spinning thread; or making cloth by knotting, knit-
ting, weaving, or felting. Because women have traditionally
made fabrics to clothe the living and shroud the dead in their
families, their labor is often regarded as "housework." Too often
its economic importance to their societies is disregarded. Kings
and priests from the ancient Mediterranean to Incan Peru under-
stood the value of the textiles they appropriated to support their
rule. Perhaps women's textiles were the most important item of
local and world trade from prehistoric times to the age of indus-
trialization.

Suggested Further Readings

Readings in Sandra Morgen, ed., Genderand Anthropology:Crit-

ical Reviewsfor Researchand Teaching(Washington, DC: Amer-
ican Anthropological Association, 1989) are a good introduction
to the literature on gender and primates, evolution, and archaeol-
ogy. Articles in Frances Dahlberg, ed., Woman the Gatherer
(New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1981) present case stud-
ies of contemporary foraging societies in the Philippines, Canada,
Australia, and Zaire. Margaret Ehrenberg, in Women in Prehis-
tory (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989), presents a
balanced and readable review of anthropological and archaeo-
logical evidence about prehistoric women in Europe. Karen
Sacks, in Sistersand Wives: The Past and Future of SexualEqual-
ity (Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1979), reviews
the history of anthropology's hypotheses about gender and ar-
gues against the theory of women's universal subordination by
using comparative evidence from many societies.
Those interested in women's production of textiles should
read Elizabeth W. Barber, Women's Work: The First 20,000
 26 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Years: Women, Cloth, and Societyin Early Times (New York:

w.w. Norton, 1994). Two discussionsof the critical place stud-
ies of ancient Greek peoples had in setting the parametersof
Western thought about women are Nicole Loraux's "What Is a
Goddess?"and Stella Georgoudi's"Creating a Myth of Matriar-
chy," in GeorgesDuby and Michelle Perrot, eds., A History of
Women, vol. 1, From Ancient Goddessesto Christian Saints
(Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press,
1992).
 -2-
THE WOMEN
OF ANCIENT EGYPT

Girl musicians. a detail from a wall paintingin the tomb of Nakht at Thebes,Egypt
(Photographby Egyptian Expedition,The Metropolitan Museumof Art.)
 28 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Egypt is a North African Mediterranean society with written re-

cords spanning almost 2,500 years of ancient history. It is possi-
ble to trace a continuity of state throughout most of those years
down to Alexander's conquest in 332 B.C.E. After his death a
Macedonian dynasty, the Ptolemaic, ruled by developing a syn-
thesis of Egyptian and Greek culture known as Hellenistic.
Ancient civilizations were almost always ruled by men, and
Egypt fits that pattern. Nevertheless, it had several female pha-
raohs. Two of its female rulers are famous: Hatshepsut, who
reigned from about 1473 B.C.E. to 1458 B.U.; and Cleopatra, who
lived from 69 B.C.E. to 30 B.C.E. Successful women monarchs tend
to be determined, intelligent, and capable. Frequently they come
to power during a period when national traditions of administra-
tion have been under stress because the nation has experienced
a trauma such as a revolutionary change in government or a
foreign occupation. In other words, the people feel they have
lived through momentous and dangerous times.
In the case of Cleopatra, the Roman Empire had de facto
control of most of the weaker states surrounding the Mediterra-
nean. The trauma was the impact on those states of the difficult
transformation of the Roman empire from a republic to a monar-
chy. Julius Caesar was the first of the Roman emperors, and
Cleopatra sought an alliance with him, but he was assassinated
in 44 B.C.E. She replaced Caesar with Mark Antony in her quest to
maintain Egyptian autonomy. During these years the whole em-
pire was in turmoil. Different factions maneuvered their armies
around the Mediterranean, seeking resources, mainly money,
and support.
In Hatshepsut's era, the trauma was the expansion of Egypt
after its domination by a foreign invader. The northern part of
Egypt had been occupied by the Hyksos for about 150 years.
During that time, the southern part was a tributary state of the
occupiers. A famous pharaoh from the south, Ahmose I, drove
out the invaders and ushered in a period when Egypt conquered
neighboring countries and became quite wealthy. Historians
have called this period the New Kingdom, and some consider it
the high point of Egyptian history.

2.1 Hatshepsut's Reign, 1473-1458B.C.E.

Hatshepsut's genealogy was an important bulwark supporting her
claim to power. She was the sole surviving grandchild of Queen
 THE WOMEN OF ANCIENT EGYPT 29

Ahmose-Nefertari. Queen Nefertari's husband was Pharaoh

Ahmose I, the founder of the eighteenthdynasty. That dynasty
gave more respectto their queensthan most others.This tradition
beganwith King Ahmose'smother, who had been a leader in the
resistanceto the Hyksos. As pharaoh,Ahmose createda special
title for his wife, God's Wife of Amon-Re, which reflected the
popular belief that the god Amon-Re inhabited the king's body
and impregnatedthe queenwith divine seed.
Hatshepsutwas also the sole surviving royal daughterof her
father, Pharaoh Tutmose I, a great general. His successor,a
concubine'sson, was married to Hatshepsut.They had no sons,
so when her husband died, one of his concubine'ssons was
made pharaoh, but he was a child. As Chief Royal Wife,
Hatshepsutacceptedher role as regent for the young pharaoh.
The expectation was that she would relinquish control of the
country when he was an adult. But something undocumented
happened,and she ruled directly even after he becamean adult.
There has been scholarly controversyover the natureof her rela-
tionship with her stepson,the pharaoh. Either she engineereda
coup, or they ruled jointly; a majority of the scholars favor a
coup as the explanation of her long reign. Her stepson, the
young pharaoh, was given a military command and becamea
very successfulgeneral.As such he was in an excellent position
to organize an army revolt against Hatshepsut,but he did not.
When shedied, he begana long and notablecareeras pharaoh.
When Hatshepsutruled, she was publicly portrayedas a male.
Male pronounswere used and statuesdepicted her with a beard
and dressedin a male kilt, although with breasts.Evidently she
had to becomea cross-dresser on official occasions.This engen-
dering a female ruler as male is frequently found in societies
when female political authority is an anomaly.
In the twenty-two years of her reign, Hatshepsutproved to be
an exceptionallycompetentruler whose policies were designed
to increaseher supportamong key groupsof Egyptians.As God's
Wife of Amon-Re, she won the backing of the priests, who ac-
cepted her claim that her father was the god Amon-Re. Further-
more, she restoredand staffed abandonedtemples. For the army,
she conducted four successful military campaigns, mostly in
Nubia, or modern Sudan,where her soldiersacquiredas booty a
shareof the plunder in slavesand conqueredland. The treasury
was increasedby the output of the gold mines in Nubia. And for
 30 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

the manufacturers, she sent expeditions to Punt, probably mod-

ern Somalia, to bring back tree stock that was used in making
incense. Well could she boast on a temple inscription:

Hear ye, all peopleand the folk as many as they may be, I have done
thesethings through the counselof my heart. I have not slept forget-
fully, [but] I have restoredthat which had beenruined. I have raised
up that which had gone to piecesformerly, since the Asiatics [the
Hyksos] were in the midst of Avaris of the Northland,and vagabonds
were in the midst of them, overthrowingthat which had beenmade.
They ruled without Re, and he did not act by divine commanddown
to [the reign of] my majesty. [Now] I am establishedupon the
thrones of Re. I was foretold for the limits of the years as a born
conqueror.I am comeas the uraeus-serpent of Horus, flaming against
my enemies.I have made distant those whom the gods abominate,
and earth has carried off their foot[prints]. This is the preceptof the
father of [my] fathers, who comesat his [appointed] times, Re, and
there shall not occur damageto what Amon has commanded.My
[own] command endureslike the mountains, [while] the sun disc
shinesforth and spreadsrays over the formal titles of my majestyand
my falcon is high above [my] name-standardfor the duration of
eternity.

JamesB. Pritchard,ed., AncientNear Eastern TextsRelating to the Old Testament

(Princeton,NJ: PrincetonUniversity Press,1969), 231.

Egyptian women were fortunate in having more equality with

men than the average woman of Eurasia. Perhaps it is not coinci-
dental that they also manufactured vital products for domestic
consumption and export. However, even though they had legal
equality with men and produced products with significant eco-
nomic importance, women in Egypt shared with their sisters in
the ancient world exclusion from direct participation in the polit-
ical system.
In the ancient period most Eurasian women had few legal
rights. They were usually treated as legal dependents whose
every legal act had to be authorized by a male guardian such as
a father or husband. In contrast, Egyptian women had the same
legal rights as Egyptian men. On their own they could buy, sell,
 THE WOMEN OF ANCIENT EGYPT 31

inherit, and will property both immovable (land) and movable.

They could sue and be sued. They could sign contracts, even those
of their own marriages. At that time, these legal rights for women
were remarkable. Even though Egyptian women had the right to
take legal action, in reality most legal acts were taken by men.
Socially women enjoyed considerable freedom, being able to
leave their homes to visit or to conduct business freely. Egyptian
parties had both male and female guests. In contrast, Athenian
women were not even supposed to leave their houses without an
escort. The legal and social position of Egyptian women can be
compared to that of women in the late twentieth century.
Why were they so fortunate? One explanation points to the
different way Egyptians determined descent and kinship-
through the females. An Egyptian man identified himself by his
mother's name, not his father's: for example, Hay, son of the
woman Hener.

2.2 A Brother-Sister Marriage

The principle of female inheritance in ancient Egypt was import-

ant for the royal family. When a pharaoh or king died, his male
replacement did not necessarily have to be his son. But whoever
was chosen sought to marry a royal heiress, who then became
the queen. Marriage to a royal heiress, though not necessary,
legitimized the king's claim to the throne. Sometimes this meant
that the king married his full sister, or even his own daughter.
The Egyptians did not consider close marriages improper or in-
cestuous. Still, historians have found few examples of brother-sister
royal marriages before the Ptolemaic dynasty. The story of
Naneferkaptah and Ahwere illustrates one example. In this ro-
mantic version a woman's desire, rather than legitimacy, appears
to be the issue.
In the reading, Princess Ahwere refers to her time of purifica-
tion. Women in much of the ancient world were considered
unclean during menstruation. At the end of their period, they
were required to undergo religious cleansing, usually involving
rituals as well as bathing. By ceasing to perform the ritual, a
woman indicated that she was pregnant.
Ahwere's story was written during the Ptolemaic period but is
set in an early dynasty. Ahwere narrates the story. She and
Naneferkaptah were sister and brother and the only children of
 32 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

King Mernebptah.They were in love and wanted to marry. But

their father, the pharaoh,wantedthem to marry outsidethe fam-
ily to secure powerful allies. Ahwere asked the steward of the
pharaoh'spalaceto plead with her father for the brother-sister
marriage. When Mernebptah heard the steward'sargument, he
was upset.The stewardaskedwhy, and the pharaohreplied:

"It is you who distress me. If it so happensthat I have only two

children, is it right to marry the one to the other? I will marry
Naneferkaptahto the daughterof a general,and I will marry Ahwere
to the son of anothergeneral,so that our family may increase!"
When the time camefor the banquetto be setbeforePharaoh,they
camefor me and took me to the banquet.But my heart was very sad
and I did not have my former looks. Pharaohsaid to me: "Ahwere,
was it you who sent to me those foolish words, 'Let me marry
[N aneferkaptah,my] elder [brother]'?"
I said to him: "Let me marry the son of a general, and let him
marry the daughterof anothergeneral, so that our family may in-
crease!"I laughedand Pharaohlaughed.
[When the steward of the palace came] Pharaoh said to him:
"Steward, let Ahwere be taken to the house of Naneferkaptahto-
night, and let all sortsof beautiful things be takenwith her."
I was taken as a wife to the houseof Naneferkaptah[that night,
and Pharaoh]sent me a presentof silver and gold, and all Pharaoh's
householdsent me presents.Naneferkaptahmade holiday with me,
and he entertainedall Pharaoh'shousehold.He slept with me that
night and found me [pleasing.He slept with] me againand again,and
we loved eachother.
When my time of purification cameI made no more purification.
It was reportedto Pharaoh,and his heart was very happy. Pharaoh
had many things taken [out of the treasury] and sent me presentsof
silver, gold, and royal linen, all very beautiful.

Miriam Lichtheim, ed., Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol. 3, The Late Period
(Berkeley: University of California Press,1980), 127-8.

Ahwere had a son. King Mernebptah had not objected to his

children's marriageon moral grounds. His objection was politi-
 THE WOMEN OF ANCIENT EGYPT 33

cal, for if his son and daughtermarried into other families, his
dynasty'sinfluence would be broader.Yet his daughter'sunhap-
pinessswayedhim to approvea love match instead.

2.3 Women's Work

The materials made by Egyptian women were important to the

Egyptian economy.Historians have generally ignored the labor
of women, assumingit to be merely "domestic," even though
they discuss men's work as economically "productive." In an-
cient civilizations this division of labor into women's produc-
tion for the householdand men's production for the market is
misleading. Adults of both sexes, free and slave, produced
necessitiesof family consumption,and women's work could
be as commercial as men's. In the sophisticatedancient Egyp-
tian economy this was especially true. The variety of female
occupationsextendedfar beyond those tasks traditionally as-
sociatedwith domesticlife.
BarbaraLesko describesthe many jobs of Egyptian women:

The tomb paintings show women harvestingand winnowing wheat

and handpickingflax for the linen that all Egypt wore. It was hard
hot labor, and the wall scenesshow long lines of heavily ladened
female as well as male basketbearerscarrying producefrom field to
storehouse.
While thereis, admittedly, no glory in drudgery,it is gratifying to
note that there is evidencefrom the householdaccountsof an Egyp-
tian farm in 2000 B.C. that all membersof one family were paid in
proportionto the work they did, independentofage or sex.
Men and women worked side by side at jobs indoors as well.
Innumerabletomb scenesshow kitchen staffs of male and female
servantsgrinding wheat, brewing beer and baking bread.Both male
and female servantswaited on guestsat banquetsto which both men
and women were invited. Women guestswere not segregatedoff in
their own quarters,but intermingled with the male guestsat social
events....
No excessiveprudery seemsto haveexistedamongthe Egyptians.
Scenesof women workers stripped to the waist or totally without
their confining slim-line skirts are not unusual.Likewise, the mem-
 34 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

bers of the all-women bands-alwaysin demandfor festive occa-

sions-oftendressedin transparent,filmy garments,while the danc-
ers they accompaniedappearednude. At the other end of the scale,
there is little to differentiate the fashions for wealthier men and
women in the empireperiod of the New Kingdom when both donned
voluminous robes and jewelry. Eyepaint was used by both sexes
throughoutthe ages.
Certain occupationsseem to have been dominated by women.
Judging from tomb art, dancersand acrobats were almost always
female while musiciansvery frequently were. Written sourcesyield
titles of women in supervisorypositions in commerceand industry
such as "Mistress of the Wig Workshop" or "Mistress of the Dining
Hall." Most important of all were the state textile factories and per-
fume manufacturies,both staffed and supervisedby women almost
exclusively. These were major state industries occupying a central
role in Egypt's economy. The textile industry was Egypt's largest
industry after agriculture, producing everything from the coarsest,
most utilitarian weave(for the sails of ships) through various grades
of lighter fabrics used as bedlinensand clothing, down to the finest
cambrics ever produced,for those who desired the very best. This
last, known as "royal linen," was used for royal gifts and temple
offerings. Although the basic Egyptian wardrobe was all white, it
could be accentedby border trims and sashesof brightly colored
fabrics. Good clothingand even the sails of yachts were often com-
pletely embroideredwith an array of colorful designs.
Fragrant oils and perfumes were a necessityfor both men and
women in the hot, dry climate of Egypt-hencethe importanceof
this industry. Like the textile mills, the perfume housesoften were
associatedwith the Chief Royal Wife's estates,thosein the areanear
the Fayum lake in particular. Teamsof women picked and pressed
lilies to extract their essences.The fragrancesextractedwere added
to oils used to rub into the skin after bathing. Even statuesof gods
were anointedin the daily temple ritual, and the fragrant oils were so
soughtafter and valuablethat they are generally amongthe precious
things recordedalreadyin antiquity as stolenby tomb robbers.
BarbaraS. Lesko, The RemarkableWomenof Ancient Egypt (Berkeley, CA: B.C.
ScribePublications,1978), 15-7. © 1978 by BarbaraS. Lesko.
 THE WOMEN OF ANCIENT EGYPT 35

The importance of wig making is not apparent to us, since today

wigs are seen as an occasional fashion accessory. Egyptian tomb
art shows both men and women wearing wigs from the earliest
periods on. Men either shaved their heads or cut their hair short.
To avoid sunstroke or sunburn they wore wigs outdoors. Women
used wigs to supplement thinning hair, but mostly as a decora-
tion. There were changes in fashion from curls to braids, and
ornaments, sometimes of gold, were worn on the wigs. Some
wigs were so valuable that they were mentioned in wills or care-
fully placed in their special box and put into the owner's tomb.

2.4 Cleopatra, 69-30 B.C.E.

Fourteen hundred years after Hatshepsut's reign, another of

history's most famous queens, Cleopatra VII, sat on Egypt's
throne. She, as a Hellenistic monarch, sought to restore the
power and glory Egypt had enjoyed during the Eighteenth Dy-
nasty. Cleopatra was eighteen in 51 B.U. when her father died
and she was made Queen of Egypt. It was hardly the time or
place to launch a career that would bring lasting fame. Rome
dominated the Mediterranean and most of the bordering coun-
tries, including Egypt. The Roman republic itself was struggling
with the civil wars that led to its collapse. A small group of
ambitious Roman generals, including Pompey and Caesar, were
competing with each other for enormous political power.
Egypt was a wealthy client-kingdom. Rome increasingly inter-
fered with its internal affairs. Cleopatra's father, Ptolemy XII, had
to bribe Caesar with 6,000 talents (bars of silver usually weighing
57 pounds) for confirmation by the Roman senate of his right to
the Egyptian throne. When he returned to Alexandria the people
rebelled, and he fled back to Rome seeking aid. The Romans sent
an army, which made the Egyptians take him back. In gratitude
he appointed a Roman, Rabirius, minister of finance. Rabirius
made so much money out of his appointment that a mob sought
to kill him before he escaped to Rome. Roman interference was
bad enough; worse was the possibility that Egypt might become a
Roman province under a Roman governor. While Ptolemy XII
was disgraced and exiled in Rome, his two daughters, Cleopatra
VI and Berenice IV, were recognized as Egypt's joint sovereigns;
when Cleopatra VI died, her sister Berenice ruled alone. Her
father was finally able to resume the throne only by assassinating
 36 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

her. At his death, power passed to his younger children, who

reigned as Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XIII.
The Ptolemies, who believed that royal brother-sister mar-
riages were an Egyptian tradition, practiced such unions with a
frequency that bel ied any custom of ancient Egypt. Cleopatra VII
became queen when she married her brother Ptolemy XIII, who
was only ten years old. Although three guardians had been ap-
pointed to rule for the three years before he reached maturity,
they allowed Cleopatra to reign. This was not unusual, for the
older sisters or mothers of male Ptolemaic heirs often exercised
power for the underaged pharaohs, sometimes retaining sover-
eignty themselves even after the heirs attained maturity. At least
seven queens of the Ptolemaic dynasty before Cleopatra had
ruled in a span of only some 225 years. As the time approached
when her brother might take over the government, his relatives
and friends forced her to flee Egypt. Her administration had been
successful, so she was able to assemble an army to reconquer
Egypt. As her brother moved his army to oppose her, events took
an unexpected turn.
The Roman civil war was the source of the renewed interfer-
ence in Egypt. Caesar had defeated Pompey, who then sailed to
Alexandria to get money and aid while he regrouped. Ptolemy
XIII and his advisors were uncertain how to greet the fugitive.
They chose what they thought was the safe plan-to kill Pompey
and wait for a reward from Caesar. When Caesar arrived, also
seeking money, and was presented with Pompey's head and
signet ring, he burst into tears. Then he ordered the royal pair to
cease their controversy, dismiss their forces, and submit to his
arbitration. Her brother was determined to keep Cleopatra away
from Caesar and sought to deny all avenues of approach. Histo-
rian Hans Volkmann takes up the story:

Only one thing countedfor her now: the crown of Egypt was at stake.
This crown her fraternal consort and his partisansdenied her: and
this Romanwas going to give it to her.
The daring plan was as daringly executed.She left her camp and
managedto reachAlexandria, where a single confidant, the Sicilian
Appollodorus, conveyedher in a boat through the darknessof the
night into the Great Harbour, without anything being noticed from
the hostile guard-posts.On the steps of the royal palace she had
 THE WOMEN OF ANCIENT EGYPT 37

herself rolled up in a carpet. Her companioncarried the carefully-

corded bale past the sentries to Caesar'sapartment.The bale was
openedand the twenty-one-year-oldQueenof Egypt stoodbeforethe
astonishedRoman and conquered.And then a miracle befell. The
brief interview, the result of cool political calculation, endedin no
fleeting sensualfit, but inaugurateda deeperbond, in which personal
inclination and political reflection were indistinguishablyfused.
For her sake Caesarinterrupted his victorious career for six
months,and set at hazardall he had gained.For during this time the
Pompeiansreassembled,and collectednew forces againsthim. It is
the privilege of the poet to look deep into the heart of man, but we
too may divine what fettered Caesarto this royal woman. As a
woman, indeed, she was no beauty: the extant coin-portraits show
her with a long hookednoseand a large mouth. Of courseshe knew
how to improve her appearancewith every fashionabledevice of the
toilet customaryat court in this cosmopolitancity ....
Cleopatra'scontemporarieswere already aware that the unique
power of enchantmentwhich she wielded lay rather in her mental
gifts and her mannerof behaviour.While not one of her predecessors
in the dynastyhad beenable to overcomea reluctanceto learn Egyp-
tian, and some of them even neglectedthe Macedoniandialect spo-
ken in their homeland, Cleopatra'sgenius for language was
conspicuous.In addition to the tonguesmentionedand, of course,the
standardGreek, she enjoyed a command of the dialects and lan-
guagesof the Ethiopians,Arabians and Trogodytes,not to mention
thoseof the peoplesof hither Asia, including Syrian, Median, Parth-
ian and Aramaic. With this linguistic versatility, which permittedher
to dispensewith interpreters,went dexterity and addressin personal
intercourse."Her society had an irresistible attraction; her form, to-
gether with the persuasiveness of her conversationand the style of
her behaviourhad an almost magical effect. It was a delight to listen
to the soundof her speech.Her voice was like a lyre of many strings,
which shecould usefor any languagewith equalease."For Caesar,a
masterof style, who ponderedover the "elegentia summa scribendi,"
and was as knowledgeablein art and scienceas in politics, her com-
pany must havebeenenchanting.Here was a woman mentally alive,
a woman about whom gleamedthe auraof the Ptolemaiccrown, and
who bravely pursueda policy of her own. She appealedto Caesar's
 38 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

bent for gaming and adventure.... His political interestshad fallen

into line with his human inclinations. Love and politics-often an-
tagonists-hadstrucka bargain.
The sudden arrival of Cleopatra and her attempt to obtain the
support of the Roman power immediately kindled the wrath of the
Alexandrians.When on the following day Ptolemy XIII was sum-
moned, so that he could be reconciledwith his sister, he no sooner
set eyes on her than he flew off to the massesin a rage and tore the
diademfrom his head.The throng surgedon the palace.To calm the
peopledown, Caesarhad to grant material concessions.At a solemn
ceremony he announcedhis decision. Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra
were to rule jointly in Egypt, in accordancewith their father's will.
Their youngerbrotherPtolemyXIV and youngersisterArsinoe were
to rule over Cyprus, likewise jointly. The conqueringRoman, who
had recently beennameddictator in Rome and was now performing
his first official act in that capacity,thus gave away without a strug-
gle a piece of Roman imperial territory annexedonly ten yearspre-
viously. Cleopatra,on the other hand, enjoyedher first triumph: the
PtolemaicEmpire had beenhalted on its backwardcourse.Would it
be her missionto restoreit to its ancientglory?
Hans Volkmann, Cleopatra: A Study in Politics and Propaganda, trans. T.1.
Cadoux(New York: SagamorePress,1958),66-8. © 1958 by Elek Books Ltd.

The Alexandrians revolted, and the Egyptian army joined in

the attack on Caesar's small force. Ptolemy XIII and the younger
sister Arsinoe were leaders of the Egyptians. Caesar put down the
revolt, with Ptolemy XIII dying in battle and Arsinoe being taken
prisoner. Caesar left after marrying Cleopatra to her eleven-year-
old brother Ptolemy XIV.

Once again Cleopatra'sdestiny was kind to her, and drew closerthe

bonds betweenCaesarand herself. In the summerof 47 she bore a
son. From the momentof its birth she deliberatelypressedthe child
into the serviceof her political propaganda.She gave him the proud
namesof Ptolemy and Caesar.... The babe was not only to be a
prince, like Ptolemy, progenitorof the dynasty,but should also feel
that he was Caesar'sheir: for, sincethe deathof his beloveddaughter
Julia, Caesarwas childless....
 THE WOMEN OF ANCIENT EGYPT 39

An importantofficial character[coins issuedwith his image] was

thus bestowedon the birth of Caesarion[Caesar'schild]. This fact,
togetherwith the surnameof Caesargiven him by his own mother,is
comprehensibleonly if Caesarwas really his father. For Caesarto
haveallowed his nameto be borneby the son of someunknownman
becomesall the more improbablewhen we learn that in the summer
of 46 he actually allowedthe Queento cometo Rome.

Hans Volkmann, Cleopatra: A Study in Politics and Propaganda, trans. T.1.

Cadoux(New York: SagamorePress,1958),74-7. © 1958 by Elek Books Ltd.

Cleopatramoved into Caesar'sgardenoutsidethe walls of Rome

with her husband and child. Unfortunately, when her patron
Caesarwas assassinatedeighteen months later (March 15, 44
B.C.E.), his will recognizedhis grandnephewOctavian as his heir.
Soon Octavian made an alliance with Antony and Lepidus, the
other triumvirs, againstCaesar'smurderers.Realizing that in the
ensuing civil war Egypt would be a valuable prize, Cleopatra
returned to Alexandria to protect Egypt if possible. Soon after
their arrival Ptolemy XIV died. To strengthenher position she
married her three-year-oldson PtolemyXV Caesar.
Egypt suffered one of its periodic famines, and Cleopatradis-
tributed food from the governmentwarehouses.A terrible plague
causedmany deaths.In the midst of theseproblemsCassius,one
of the murderers,attackedsome of the forces loyal to Caesarin
Syria. Cleopatradid not want to aid Cassius,but both her military
and her naval commanderssupportedhim. She refused to pro-
vide anythingfrom Egypt itself, pleadingthe effects of the famine
and plague.
By 42 B.C.E. Caesar'smurdererswere dead.

The fate of the RomanRepublic was sealed:the victorious triumvirs

divided the Empire betweenthem. Italy was declaredtheir common
possession,Spain assignedto Octavian and northern Africa to
Lepidus. Antony, the most powerful of the three, received as his
portion the whole of the East,in addition to Gaul in the West. To the
Easthe now betookhimself, with a view to restoringtranquillity and
raisingmoneyto pay for the war.
Antony in the East was the right man in the right place. Of san-
 40 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

guine temperament,and with somethingmagnificentabout him, he

was better fitted for the brilliant pomp of a Hellenistic monarch's
court than for the type of public life which the Romanshad inherited
from their remoteancestors.The Antonii, as customwas, tracedtheir
descentback to a divine ancestor,in this caseHeracles.Antony was
now a man of forty. With his bulky but powerful frame and the thick
neck revealedby his coins he felt himselfto be in very truth a second
Heracles.He evencopiedthe hero'soutwardappearance.He strutted
about in a heavy war-cloak, with his tunic hitched up, and was girt
with a large sword: he also wore a full curly beard. A dazzling
cavalry officer, he had openedthe road to Alexandriafor Cleopatra's
father and had later proven himself underCaesar .... While the dic-
tator was detainedin Egypt by Cleopatra'saffairs, Antony headed
the administrationin Italy as his masterof horseand principal repre-
sentative.Consciousof his power, he seizedthis opportunity to taste
life and its pleasuresto the full. A mighty toperlike Heracles,on one
occasionhe drank so heavily that he was obliged to vomit in the
Forum when about to deliver a speech. Another time he drove
through the narrow streetsof Rome in a coachdrawn by two lions,
accompaniedby the fashionableactressCytheris.... In his jests he
was blunt and coarse,though always ready for a laugh againsthim-
self; generouswith his friends, chivalrousto his enemies....
It was an exceptionalstroke of good luck for Cleopatrathat fat~
brought this particular man to the East. He immediately won the
sympathyof the Athenians.... Then as he moved from festival to
festival, the dynasts of the Orient thronged about him.... At
Ephesus... Antony was welcomedby the customaryprocession,not
however as a victorious general, but as a god, as the "New
Dionysus."... They hailed him as Dionysus"the giver of joy," "the
graciousone." The Romancan hardly haverealizedthe full political
significanceof the honoursthus heapedon him.
Cleopatra,on the other hand, who had grown up amid the jargon
of political propaganda,and whosefather had also beenhailed as a
"New Dionysus,"did not fail to perceivethat Antony's receptionin
the East offered unique possibilities. She might use this "New
Dionysus"to further her political plans;shemight form a permanent
tie with him underthe form of the ruler-cult. As a "New Dionysus"
Antony steppedright into the Ptolemaictradition: it was only neces-
 THE WOMEN OF ANCIENT EGYPT 41

sary to make him consciousof this, and bring it to fulfillment in the

sight of the world.
When the opportunity came, she made striking use of it. At first
she had held aloof from the doings of the various local rulers in
Antony's court. Then in 41 he invited her to appearbeforehis tribu-
nal to answerfor her equivocalconductduring the civil wars that had
recentlyended... Cleopatraagreedto go.... Antony and his friends
were already making repeatedenquiries about her arrival, when at
last shecame.
Antony was in the city of Tarus in Cilicia.... One day he was
sitting in the market-placedispensingjustice, when the throng of
peopleround him suddenlyfell into a commotionand rushedoff to
the harbouron the river-bank.He found himselfalone."A sayingran
through the crowd, that Aphrodite was to come to revel with
Dionysusfor the good of Asia." This messagewas a masterpieceof
diplomacy, whoseseductiveappealand manifold significancecould
only be appreciatedin full by those who lived in the world of the
disappointments
Helleni~ed East, with its disappointmentsand hopes.Cleopatra,the
new Aphrodite-Isis,invited Antony, the new Dionysus, to servethe
good of Asia. All the resentmentof the ransackedEast againstthe
rule of Rome ... all the prophesiesuttered by the Sibylline oracle
aboutthe coming triumph of Asia over the unrighteousness andgreed
of Rome-allre-echoedin this promise.Was this the beginningof a
new and betterage? ...
Cleopatrawent to meet Antony with the dignity that befitted an
exaltedgoddess.Sherejectedhis invitation to dinner, and summoned
him to eat with her on board her ship. He went: and the soldier,
habituatedto coarsepleasures,saw displayedfor his benefitthe taste-
ful andrefinedtable-luxuryof the royal court.
Light streamedfrom all sides,reflectedby an array of mirrors. All
the table-ware was of gold studdedwith jewels and adornedwith
exquisitework by the bestartists.Purpletapestries,embroideredwith
gold, coveredthe walls. Twelve dining-couchesstood ready to re-
ceive the triumvir and his retinue. Antony expressedhis surpriseat
the magical speedwith which this splendid receptionhad beenpre-
pared.The Queenreplied with a smile that he must make shift with
what had beendone, and pardonthe deficienciesdue to the hasteof
her arrival. She would know how to make them good if he would
 42 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

consentto dine againwith her on the morrow. Shealso invited him to

acceptfrom her, as a gift, everythinghe saw....
He was utterly carried away by this enchantingqueenof twenty-
eight years."Everything that Cleopatraaskedfor was done, irrespec-
tive of whetherit was just, or in accordancewith divine law." ... At
her wish Antony had the haplessArsinoe [Cleopatra'syoungersister]
killed .... A man who had pretendedto be PtolemyXIII, the older of
Cleopatra'stwo brothers,who had fallen in battle by the Nile, like-
wise lost his life ....
It was Cleopatrawho made thesedecisions;and it was Cleopatra
who decided when these days of revelry were to end.... She had
taken this Roman by storm: would she be able to hold him perma-
nently? Risking the experiment, she suddenly returned to Egypt
alonein the autumn41: and the eventjustified her.
All over the Eastpressingtaskswaited for Antony's attention....
These considerations,however, troubled Antony but little. With
the utmost haste he dischargedonly the most urgent of his duties.
Then he hurried to Alexandria to join Cleopatra.He said to himself
perhapsthat, after all, Egypt would be his most important sourceof
help in the coming war with the [Parthian] empire that threatened
from the East, and that therefore it now behovedhim to go there
himself and seethe land with its treasuresand marvels.
If he did entertain such political notions, they recededfrom his
mind throughout the winter of 41/0 which he spent in Egypt. This
winter was entirely devoted to pleasurableliving: it was one long
Bacchanalianfeast. ...

Hans Volkmann, Cleopatra: A Study in Politics and Propaganda, trans. T.J.

Cadoux(New York: SagamorePress,1958),94-100. © 1958 by Elek Books Ltd.

In the spring of 40 S.C.E. Antony left Cleopatra and was involved

in affairs in Italy. He drew closer to Octavian (who later assumed
the title Caesar Augustus), and their alliance was strengthened by
Octavian giving his sister to Antony in marriage. Cleopatra was
eclipsed. In 39 S.C.E. and 38 S.c.E. his subordinates successfully
campaigned against the Parthians, but Antony stopped the war
before a total victory was achieved. Then, in the winter of 37-36
S.C.E., Antony prepared to take personal direction of the Parthian
 THE WOMEN OF ANCIENT EGYPT 43

campaign. He sent his pregnant Roman wife to Italy and invited

Cleopatra to join him in Antioch:

Antony summonedthe Queento cometo him at the momentwhen he

was embarkingon the war with Parthia [presentday Iran], and to a
place suitablefor the necessarypreparations.Time and place, then,
give this encountera markedlypolitical stamp.
To Antony, in fact, Cleopatrawas the queen and ruler of a land
which becauseof its wealth had an important part to play in the
Roman system of defence in the East. Whereas,in the West, the
RomanEmpire was divided into provinces,administereddirectly by
Roman governors armed with all necessaryauthority, and Roman
troops protectedthe frontiers, the easternhalf of the Empire exhib-
ited an entirely different structure, owing to its historical develop-
ment. Provincial administrationof the usual type was to be found in
the provincesof Macedonia,Asia, Bithynia and Syria: but elsewhere
this systemyielded placeto various local forms, suchas the indepen-
dent city or princedom,enjoying self-governmentsubjectonly to the
generalsupervisionof Rome. The aim of Romanpolicy was to pass
the burden of defendingthe easternfrontiers of the Empire to these
client-states.... The rulers of these territories naturally felt more
closely attachedto the Roman statesmanor generalwho had for the
time being securedthem in their position, or had originally grantedit,
than to the RomanEmpire as such....
Somescholars,indeed,think that Antony could haveexploitedthe
wealth of Egypt for his purposesindependentlyof Cleopatra;and that
in caseof needhe could havedeposedher....
To whom could Antony have more safely entrustedthe govern-
ment of this important country than to the woman who was devoted
to him? His greatmasterCaesar,on whoseplan of a Parthianexpedi-
tion he meantto improve, had also entrustedEgypt to the care of his
mistress. Again,it was not merely love, but political sagacity,which
inducedAntony to enlargethe PtolemaicEmpire by gifts of territory.
The client-statesof the East, being very numerousas well as diverse
in form, were easily sunderedby any shock, as the Parthianinvasion
had shown.When Antony looked aboutfor someclamp to hold these
unequalforces together,it seemedan obvious step to go back to the
traditional form of union-thatis, to the PtolemaicEmpire. Extended
 44 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

to its old frontiers, and with its long tradition of rule and administra-
tion, it offered a solid basisfor a great empire of the East such as he
dreamedof ruling. And his claim to do so was legitimized by his
marriagewith Cleopatra.
The easternpolicy, on which Antony, led by the Queen,had now
decided, thus led him inevitably to Egypt, the political centre of
gravity of the East.
Hans Volkmann, Cleopatra: A Study in Politics and Propaganda, trans. TJ.
Cadoux(New York: SagamorePress,1958),124-6. © 1958 by Elek Books Ltd.

The Parthian expedition of 36 B.U. was a horrible failure. Antony

lost approximately one-third of his forces in a disastrous retreat.
When he finally returned, Cleopatra brought him money and
supplies to rearm his forces. His next campaign did not begin
until 34 B.C.E. When he captured Armenia, on the Parthian bor-
der, he returned to Alexandria to proclaim his Empire of the East
in a triumphal celebration.

In the spacioushalls of the gymnasiuma gigantic throng of people

witnessedthe solemnproclamationof the Empire of the East.Antony
and Cleopatratook their places on golden thronesraised on a plat-
form of silver. At their feet sat the royal children.... Then Antony
divided the landsof the EastbetweenCleopatraand her children....
It was a signal triumph for Cleopatra.None of the Pto1emieshad
ever wielded the sceptreover suchextensivedomainsas Antony had
now placedunderher andher children....
As yet, however, things were still in the stage of development.
This is shownby the somewhatambiguousposition assignedto Ant-
ony in the new imperial system.By the side of Isis-Cleopatrahe was
the god Dionysus-Osiris.... He was the 'God and Benefactor',as an
inscription nameshim. But he did not take the final constitutional
step.He did not assumethe diademor the title of King ....
Hans Volkmann, Cleopatra: A Study in Politics and Propaganda, trans. T.1.
Cadoux(New York: SagamorePress,1958),147-50. © 1958 by Elek Books Ltd.

The proclamation of the Empire of the East was Cleopatra's great-

est triumph. After this high point, destiny seems to have turned
 THE WOMEN OF ANCIENT EGYPT 45

against her. Rome could not ignore the plan to divide the Roman
empire into two parts, and the Senate declared war on Cleopatra
in 32 B.C.E. The ensuing war was decided the next year in one
famous sea battle at Actium. Cleopatra and Antony escaped to
Egypt only to wait for the victorious Octavian's arrival. The two
committed suicide there in 30 B.C.E.
Cleopatra's subsequent fame can be credited primarily to dra-
matists, although other authors and painters have contributed.
Some of the best-known plays in English were written about
Cleopatra, by such greats as William Shakespeare, George Ber-
nard Shaw, and Thornton Wilder. Her character has been played
by Sarah Bernhardt, Theda Bara, Vivian Leigh, and Elizabeth
Taylor. Most of these dramatizations draw upon the contempo-
rary propaganda of her enemies in portraying her as malevolently
using her sexual wiles to entrance Caesar and Antony. While this
narrative resonates powerfully within cultures that presume polit-
ical power is a male prerogative, it lacks historical accuracy in
representing Cleopatra's real motives as queen of Egypt.

Suggested Further Readings

The history of Egyptian women during the first three millennia of

the Egyptian empire, prior to the invasion of Alexander, is the
topic of Gay Robins's Womenin AncientEgypt(Cambridge: Har-
vard University Press, 1993). She has written a fine survey in
which she discusses royal women, marriage, family, work, law,
and religion. For the Hellenistic period, Sarah B. Pomeroy's
Womenin Hellenistic Egypt: From Alexanderto Cleopatra (New
York: Schocken Books, 1984) is the authoritative text. Pomeroy's
focus is on Greek women in Egypt, rather than on Egyptian
women, so she underestimates the impact of Egyptian customs in
the changes attributed to Hellenistic influences.
This page intentionally left blank:
 -3-
INDIA
Women in Early Hindu and
Buddhist Cultures

The abductionof Sita, heroine of the Hindu epic poemThe Ramayana,by the len-
headeddemonking, Ravan.Ravanhaskilled the giant bird,jatayu,who tried LO
to rescueSita. An eighteenth-centurypainting by an unknown Indian anist.
(The Brooklyn Museum, anonymous gifL)
 48 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Hinduism, the dominant religion of India, arose in a nation of

cattle herders called Aryans, who migrated from the Plateau of
Iran into the northwest region of India about 1700 B.C.E. and
slowly spreadacrossmuch of the subcontinent.They adoptedthe
farming practices of the peoples they conquered, cleared the
forests, and settled in villages. Originally illiterate, between 700
and 500 B.U. Hindu Indians began writing in Sanskrit. Sacred
ancient Vedic versesand the Mahabharata and Ramayana,two
epic poems,portray their beliefs.
Aryans divided society into four categories,or varnas: warriors
and administrators;priests and teachers(Brahmans);merchants,
artisans,and farmers; and the servantsof the upper varnas. Over
the centurieseach varna subdivided into many castes,then fur-
ther subdivided into jatis. jati members had to remain in the
occupation of the jati of their parentsand to marry within spe-
cific groups. Below the varnas were people isolated from the
castes,the "outcastes,"or "untouchables,"whose work and sta-
tus made their very "touch" dangerousto the spiritual purity of
those higher in rank. Midwives, who handledwomen'spolluting
blood and afterbirth, were among the lowest of the un-
touchables.For Hindus, all human emissionsand materials in-
volved in humanor animal deathscontaminatedany personwho
touched them. Women, with monthly bleeding and periodic
childbirth, were potentially threateningto themselvesand to the
men of their families. As the Hindu caste system, developing
complexity over time, became India's most distinctive social
characteristic,women'sstatuswas entwined in its strictures.
Brahmanssupportedthemselvesby performing rituals and pu-
rification ceremoniesderived from sacredVedic texts. About 600
B.U. a female scholar, Gargi Vacaknavi, publicly debatedVedic
philosophyat King Janaka'scourt. A century later that would be
impossible,for the Brahmanshad solidified their dominanceover
the other groups, in part by strictly enforcing caste rules and
subordinatingwomen. The priests forbade women to learn-or
even hear-thesacred verses of the Vedas and excluded them
from sacrifices. Thenceforththe practice of Hindu Sanskrit rites
was reservedfor male Brahmans,though women might emotion-
ally worship the god Vishnu through pure love. Hindu religious
beliefs grew in continuing interaction with non-Aryan cultures, a
processthat provided anotheravenuefor women's religious ex-
pression.Although goddesseswere relatively unimportantin the
 WOMEN IN EARLY HINDU AND BUDDHIST INDIA 49

Aryan pantheon, several powerful ones were incorporated into

Hindu beliefs from non-Aryan religions. Three female personifi-
cations of belief in an ultimately feminine universe were the
mother goddess Devi; the powerful Durga; and the embodiment
of death and destruction, Kali.
Among the reform movements that arose in response to the
Brahmans was that of the Buddha, born Siddhartha Gautama (ca.
560-480 B.U.). Like Hindus, Buddhists believe in reincarnation.
Right living and right actions in a balanced life, Buddhists be-
lieve, lead to reincarnation or rebirth on a higher level. Instead of
preaching the concept of reincarnation as a justification of the
caste system, the Buddha said that human desires cause the suf-
fering inevitable in life. Seeking Nirvana, or the renunciation of
all desire and action, a person might escape further reincarnation
by ceasing to exist as an individual essence. Buddhists opposed
the Brahman priesthood, the caste system, and animal sacrifices.
Stressing self-education and self-discipline, they accepted men
and women of all castes as well as outcastes as candidates for
spiritual enlightenment.
The classic cultural age of India occurred in the 700 years
between 300 B.C.E. and 400 C.E., spanning the eras of the Maurya
and Gupta empires. Buddhism spread in India and abroad, even-
tually becoming the prevalent religion of East and Southeast Asia,
though languishing within India by the medieval period. Hindu-
ism, capable of absorbing many local beliefs, developed as the
dominant religion of India, with no serious rivals until the
Muslim invasions of about 1200 C.E. During this classic period,
the versions of the Mahabharataand the Ramayanaknown today
emerged, as did a codification of Hindu legal concepts about
women, called the Laws of Manu. Compiled between 200 and
400 C.E. from traditional social practices, these laws express the
Brahman males' ideal of female subservience.

3.1 The Laws of Manu

In childhood a female must be subjectto her father, in youth to her

husband,when her lord is dead,to her sons; a woman must neverbe
independent[Laws of Manu, bk. 5, law 148].
A wife, a son, and a slave, these three are declaredto have no
property; the wealth which they earn is [acquired] for him to whom
they belong[Laws of Manu, bk. 8, law 416].
 50 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

A man, aged thirty years, shall marry a maiden of twelve who

pleaseshim, or a man of twenty-four a girl of eight years of age; if
[the performanceof] his duties would [otherwise] be impeded, [he
must marry] sooner[Laws of Manu, bk. 9, law 94].
Manu, The Laws of Manu, trans. G. Buhler (Dehli: Motilal Banarsidass,1964), 195,
326,344.

The Laws of Manu were written over three centuries, with the
earliest composed in the second century C.E. to give religious and
secular instruction to the Hindu community. Brahmans were ex-
pected to follow these rules more closely. The expectations for
others, especially those with little status, were lower; they could
bend or break the rules for practical reasons. For example, poor
men of lower castes might marry women nearer their own age
because they needed the labor of an adult woman.
Obviously there were many widows in India, since brides
were often sixteen to eighteen years younger than their hus-
bands. Although the Laws of Manu were harsh regarding women,
they did not require widows to commit ritual suicide, or sati.
Although the earliest documented instance of sati was in 316
B.C.E., it was an infrequent practice during the classical period.
The spectacle of a widow climbing up the funeral pyre of her
husband and burning to death was seldom seen. The Laws of
Manu disapproved of widow remarriage in any form, and the
status of widows without sons was often little different from that
of a servant to her in-laws.

A virtuous wife who after the death of her husbandconstantly re-

mains chaste,reachesheaven,thoughshehaveno son,just like those
chastemen [Laws of Manu, bk. 5, law 160].
But a womanwho from a desireto haveoffspring violatesher duty
towards her [deceased]husband,brings on herself disgracein this
world, and loses her place with her husband[in heaven] [Laws of
Manu, bk. 5, law 161].
Manu, The Laws ofManu, trans.G. Buhler (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass,1964), 197.

Although she was expected to remain chaste, a widow in a

wealthy family might be pressured to adopt a son. The preferred
 WOMEN IN EARLY HINDU AND BUDDHIST INDIA 51

adoption was from her husband'sfamily so that her property

would remain within that family.
Laws can describethe limits that society would like to place
on behavior. By their naturetheselaws generallypresenta nega-
tive view of a society-whatpeople should not do. To find out
what people actually did, with the approval of their neighbors,
other sourcesmust be used. Folk tales can be a very useful and
dramaticform of evidence.

3.2 The Carpenter's Wife

India has a long tradition of folk stories.While the telling of folk

tales has died out in Europeand the United States,it still survives
in India. The stories are transmitted orally from generation to
generation.In the repetitive storytelling minor points are changed
but the central theme is kept. Becausethey reflect the day-to-day
lives of the listeners,thesestories provide evidenceof how peo-
ple lived.
Women are usually importantcharacters.They are depictedas
either good or bad. One of the common "bad" charactersis the
adulterous wife who is obsessedwith sex. "The Carpenter's
Wife" is an example,with the deceivedhusbandportrayed as a
foolish object of community ridicule.

In a small town there was a carpenterwhose lovely wife was as

unfaithful as the carpenter'sfriends and family reported.In order to
determinethe truth of theserumors,the carpentersaid to his wife one
day, "My dear,thereis a palaceto be constructedin a distantcity and
I must go there to work. I will leave tomorrow and will spend a
numberof days there. Pleasemake somefood for my journey." The
carpenter'swife joyfully preparedthe provisions her husband re-
quested. Earlyin the morning while it was still dark, the carpenter
took his knapsackof provisionsand said to his wife, "I am going, my
dear, pleaselock the door." Insteadof leaving, the carpentercircled
his house,camein the back door and situatedhimself and his appren-
tice underhis own bed.
The carpenter'swife was overjoyed at the thought that she could
meether paramourwith no fear of being caughtby her husband.She
quickly summonedher lover througha closefriend and the lovers ate
 52 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

and drank a meal togetheras though they were children freedfrom

parental guidance. When they climbed into bed the wife's foot
brushedagainsther husband'skneeas he lay coiled up underthe bed.
Terrified, the wife thought, "Without a doubt, that must be my hus-
band! What can I do?" Just then her lover asked, "Tell me dear,
whom do you love more, me or your husband?"
The quick-witted wife responded,"What a silly questionto ask.
As you know, we women are accusedof being immoral creatures
who resortto all kinds of activities to satisfy our naturallongings. In
fact, somemen would claim that we women would eat cow dung if
we did not have nosesto smell. But I would die on the spot if I
shouldhearof any harmcoming to my dearhusband."
The carpenterwas deceivedby the lying words of his shameless
wife, and he said to his apprentice,"Long live my belovedand fully
devotedwife! I will praiseher before all the peopleof the town." As
he spoke,the carpenterrose up with the bed on his back, bearinghis
wife and her lover through the streetsof the town proclaiming his
wife to be devotedand honorable.And all of the peopleof the town
laughedat the foolish carpenter.

From Lustful MaidensandAsceticKings: Buddhistand Hindu StoriesofLife, 27-8,

by Roy C. Amore and Larry D. Shinn. © 1981 by Oxford University Press,Inc.
Reprintedby permission.

3.3 Sita, the Ideal Hindu Wife

In the "good" wife tales, the heroine faces a seriesof extraordi-

nary tasks. Sita, the wife of Rama, is generally presentedas the
appropriateimageof an ideal Hindu wife.
Sita of Videha is the heroine of the famous Hindu epic poem
The Ramayana. There are many different versions of this tale.
Through approximately24,000 couplets,she survived a remark-
able series of disasters.Always faithful, obedient, devoted, and
loyal to her husband,the hero Rama, Sita received few rewards
for her exemplaryconduct.
Rama'sfather wanted to make his son regent and designated
heir but was forced to banish him to the forest for fourteen years.
Sita choseto accompanyhim. She was kidnapped by Ravan, a
king from Sri Lanka. When Ramadiscoveredwhat had happened
 WOMEN IN EARLY HINDU AND BUDDHIST INDIA 53

to Sita, he organized an army and defeated Ravan. Finally Rama

and Sita met, but insteadof celebrationsthey had a confrontation:

For she dwelt in Ravan'sdwelling,-Rumorclouds a woman'sfame-

RighteousRama'sbrow wasclouded,saintly Sita spakein shame:

"Whereforespakeye not, my Rama,if your bosomdoubtsmy faith,

Dearerthan a dark suspicionto a womenwere her death!

Wherefore,Rama,with your token cameyour vassal0' er the wave,

To assista fallen womenand a taintedwife to save,

Whereforewith your mighty forcescrossedthe oceanin your pride,

Riskedyour life in endless combatsfor a sin-pollutedbride?

Hast thou, Rama,all forgotten?-saintlyJanaksaw my birth,

Child of harvest-bearingfurrow, Sita sprangfrom Mother Earth,

As a maidentrue and stainlessunto theeI gavemy hand,

As a consortfond and faithful roved with theefrom land to land!

But a womanpleadethvainly when suspicioncloudsher name,

Lakshman,if thou lov' st thy sister,light for me the funeral flame,

When the shadowof dishonordarkenso'er a women'slife,

Deathaloneis friend and refugeof a true and trustful wife,

When a righteouslord and husbandturns his cold avertedeyes,

Funeralflame dispelssuspicion,honor lives when womandies!"

Dark was Rama'sgloomy visageand his lips were firmly sealed,

And his eye betrayed no weakness,word disclosed no thought
concealed,

Silent heavedhis heartin anguish,silent droopedhis torturedhead,

Lakshmanwith a throbbingbosomfuneral pyre for Sita made,

And Videha'ssinlessdaughterprayedunto the Godsabove,

On her lord and weddedconsortcasther dying looks oflove!

"!fin act and thought," sheuttered, "/ am true unto my name,

Witnessof our sins and virtues, may this Fire protectmyfame!
 54 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

If afalseand lying scandalbrings afaithful womanshame,

Witnessofour sins and virtues, may this Fire protectmyfame!

Ifin lifelong loving duty I amfree from sin and blame,

Witnessofour sinsand virtues, may this Fire protectmyfame!"

Fearlessin her faith and valor Sita steppedupon the pyre,

And her form of beautyvanishedcircled by the claspingfire,

And an anguishshookthe peoplelike the oceantempest-tost,

Old and young and maid and matronwept for Sita true and lost,

For bedeckedin goldensplendorand in gemsand rich attire,

Sita vanishedin the red fire of the newly lighted pyre!

Rishisand the greatGandharvas,Godswho know eachsecretdeed,

WitnessedSita'shigh devotionand a woman'slofty creed,

And the earthby oceangirdled with its wealth of teeminglife,

Witnesseddeedof dauntlessduty of a true and a stainlesswife!

Slow the red flames rolled asunder,God of Fire incarnatecame,

Holding in his radiantbosomfair Videha'ssinlessdame,

Not a curl upon her tresses,not a blossomon her brow,

Not a fibre of her mantledid with tarnishedlustre glow!

Witnessof our sins and virtues, God of Fire incarnatespake,

Badethe sorrow-strickenRamaback his sinlesswife to take:

"Ravanin his impious folly forced from theethy faithful dame,

Guardedby her changelessvirtue, Sita still remainsthe same,

Temptedoft by femaleRakshasin the dark and dismal wood,

In her woe and in her sadnesstrue to theehath Sita stood,

Courtedoft by royal Ravanin the forest far and lone,

True to weddedtroth and virtue Sita thoughtof theealone,

Pureis shein thoughtand action, pure and stainless,true and meek,

I, the witnessof all actions,thus my sacredmandatespeak!"
 WOMEN IN EARLY HINDU AND BUDDHIST INDIA 55

Rama'sforeheadwas uncloudedand a radiancelit his eye,

And his bosomheavedin gladnessas he spakein accentshigh:

"Never from the time I saw her in her maidendaysof youth,

Have I doubtedSita'svirtue, Sita'sfixed and changelesstruth,

I haveknown her ever sinless,-letthe world her virtue know,

For the God of Fire is witnessto her truth and changelessvow!

Ravanin his pride andpassionconquerednot a woman'slove,

For the virtuous like the bright fire in their native radiancemove,

Ravanin his rageand folly conquerednot a faithful wife,

For like ray of sun unsulliedis a righteouswoman'slife,

Be the wide world now a witness,-pureand stainlessis my dame,

Ramashall not leavehis consorttill he leaveshis righteousfame!"

In his tearsthe contrite Ramaclaspedher in a soft embrace,

And the fond forgiving Sita in his bosomhid her face!

RameshC. Dutt, The Ramayana& The Mahabharata (New York: lM. Dent &
SonsLtd., 1966 [1910]),138--40.

Rama and Sita returnedto the kingdom of his birth, his fourteen-
year exile over. He was given the crown and acceptedas king.
However, rumors continued, expressing doubts that Sita had
been faithful, and Rama banishedher to the forest again. There
shegave birth to twins, whom Ramaeventuallyrecognizedas his
sons. Then Rama had the nerve to bring Sita back and ask her
forgiveness.Sita wasn't tempted into submitting to an emotional
whiplashing again. She called upon the Earth Mother to take her
back-the earth yawned and granted her request. Today those
Hindus wishing to follow a traditional life-style still considerSita
the ideal wife.
After reading classical Indian literature, it is easy to pity the
women of India as powerlessdependentsof jealous male rela-
tives. But that is not the whole story. Customs provided wives
with someprotectionand security.
 56 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

When a Hindu father agreed to his daughter's marriage, he

may have said, "I give my daughter to" the groom, as if she were
a present. In wealthy families expensive wedding presents were
also exchanged, some of which were consumed during the wed-
ding ceremony; others eventually ended up in the household of
the newlyweds. The bride had a claim on these gifts, since in a
divorce her family could demand that part of the presents should
be returned to them.
At the wedding, the bride wore her jewelry and might bring
expensive clothes and money with her. These objects were kept
in a locked box in the bedroom-a box to which she had the
only keys. During a family crisis, a husband could ask for some
of her jewelry for sale or pawn. If she gave him any, he was
obligated to replace or return it when normality returned. In a
divorce, the contents of the box were hers and went with her.
After marriage, a woman continued to visit her natal family. If
she had an abusive husband or was treated inappropriately, she
might appeal to her father and brothers for help.

3.4 Psalmsof the Buddhist Nuns

By 600 B.C.E. increasing caste discrimination, ritualization, and

the Brahman priests' domination of Hinduism led to dissatisfac-
tion among the people of India. New religions avoided these
problems. Buddhism and Jainism, two of the most successful,
both offered women more opportunities than Hinduism, although
neither offered equality.
The Buddha was ambivalent about the spiritual role of women
and was reluctant to change their traditional inferior status. A
crisis arose among Buddhists over the question of whether
women could become nuns. Buddhist monks were active in
spreading the new religion. They were not supposed to own
anything and had to beg for food and all their other needs.
Except during the rainy season, monks were homeless. They did
not lie and they abstained from sex. Conventional wisdom stated
that women were incapable of learning religious teachings and
maintaining ascetic discipline.
The Buddha had been raised by his aunt, and she asked him if
women could become nuns; he responded negatively. Then his
favorite male disciple, Ananda, asked the same question three
times with the same result. Ananda realized that there was a
 WOMEN IN EARLY HINDU AND BUDDHIST INDIA 57

contradiction in the refusal. The Buddha proclaimed enlighten-

ment was possible for all, but at the same time he denied women
the opportunity to take an essential step in reaching enlighten-
ment. Those seeking enlightenment had to renounce their
homes, live in a homeless state, and study to gain control of
mind and body. The men who lived this way were monks. So
Ananda asked the Buddha whether women were capable of
reaching enlightenment, and the answer was yes. Realizing the
contradiction in his denial of the state of nun to women while
urging everyone to seek enlightenment, the Buddha reluctantly
allowed women to become nuns.
The Buddha recognized nuns grudgingly, for they had to fol-
low not only all the rules for monks but eight special additional
rules. These additional rules forced the nuns into a status inferior
to that of the monks. For example, any nun, even though she
might be 100 years old, had to stand up and show respect to any
monk, even the youngest. Initially the nuns had very little control
over their religious ceremonies, which were performed by
monks. The nuns opposed this practice and sought to create
separate female communities, distinct from male monasteries.
Using various strategies, the nuns achieved this goal. One
technique they employed was to publicly embarrass the monks.
In India, priests were expected to be married, and Brahmans
were encouraged to have sex with their wives. Nuns exploited
this aspect of their culture by stopping monks in public, kneeling
before them, and openly performing the religious rituals of re-
spect the Buddha had required. Non-Buddhist observers interpre-
ted this performance as a ceremony between husbands and
wives and thought the monks and nuns were later having sex.
The Buddha then changed the rules to allow religious ceremo-
nies to be conducted by designated nuns. Through a series of
similar episodes the nuns achieved practical self-government.
Poems written by nuns at the time of their enlightenment have
been preserved under the title Therigatha (Psalms of Nuns). The
poems and an accompanying commentary were passed down
orally until they were put into written form in 80 B.C.E. An analy-
sis of the psalms and commentary explains why women became
nuns. The explanations fall into two categories. First, many
women wanted to leave a hard life. Some were widows, others
had suffered a series of misfortunes. For example, all members of
their family might have died, or they might have been worn
 58 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

down by the "Five Woes of Women": leaving their parents'

home when young to live with strangers; menstruation; preg-
nancy; giving birth; and having to wait on men (father, husband,
and possibly their own sons) all their lives. Second, some
women, through study and practice, were already well along in
the process of reaching enlightenment.
Sumangala's mother was born into a poor family and was
married to a rush plaiter, who mistreated her. Her first son be-
came an influential monk. When she received enlightenment
she was able to master her emotions. She reflected upon her
married life and composed the following poem:

°womanwell setfree! How free am r,

How thoroughlyfree from kitchen drudgery!
Me stainedand squalid 'mong my cooking-pots
My brutal husbandrankedas evenless
Than the sunshadeshe sits and weavesalways.

Purgednow of all my former lust and hate,

r dwell, musingat easebeneaththe shade
Of spreadingboughs-O,but 'tis well with me!

C.A.F. Rhys Davids, Psalmsof the Early Buddhists, vol. 1, Psalmsof the Sisters
(London: Luzac, 1964 [1909]), Therigatha,XXI, 25.

The Buddha advised women who wished to become nuns, but who
still had obligations to infirm parents or husbands who depended
on them, to fulfill their familial responsibilities first. Applicants were
told to obtain the permission of the male who controlled them.
Hence many women were not able to pursue a spiritual life until
they were old, as was Mettika when she composed her poem:

Thoughr be suffering and weak, and all

My youthful spring be gone,yet haveI come,
Leaningupon my staff, and clomb aloft
The mountainpeak.

My cloak thrown off,

My little bowl o'ertumed:so sit I here
Upon the rock. And o'er my spirit sweeps
 WOMEN IN EARLY HINDU AND BUDDHIST INDIA 59

The breathof Liberty! I win, I win

The Triple Lore! The Buddha'swill is done!

C.A.F. Rhys Davids, Psalmsof the Early Buddhists,vol. 1, Psalmsof the Sisters
(London: Luzac, 1964 [1909]), Therigatha,XXIV, 28.

As nuns became absorbed in their religious experience, they lost

concern with their physical appearance. Ambapali was one of
several courtesans who became nuns. Her poem emphasizes the
law of impermanence by reflecting on her inevitable loss of
beauty in an aging body.

Glossyand black as the down of the beemy curls onceclustered.

They with the wasteof yearsare liker to hempenor bark cloth.
Such and not otherwiserunneththe rune, the word of the Soothsayer
[the Buddha].

Fragrantas casketof perfumes,as full of sweetblossomsthe hair of me.

All with the wasteof the yearsnow rank as the odor of hare'sfur.

Denseas a grove well planted,andcomely with comb,pin, andparting.

All with the wasteof the yearsdishevelledthe fair plaits and fallen.

Glittered the swarthyplaits in head-dresses

jewelledandgolden.
All with the wasteof the yearsbroken,and shornare the tresses.

Wroughtas by sculptor'scraft the brows of me shone,finely pencilled.

They with the wasteof yearsare seamedwith wrinkles, 0' erhanging.

Flashingand brilliant asjewels,dark-blueand long-liddedthe eyes

of me.
They with the wasteof yearsspoilt utterly, radiantno longer....

Gleamedas I smiled my teethlike the openingbudsof the plantain.

They with the wasteof the yearsare brokenand yellow as barley.

Sweet was my voice as the bell of the cuckoo through woodlands

flitting.
Now with the wasteof the yearsbrokenthe music and halting....

Beauteousof yore were my soft hands with rings and gewgaws

resplendent.
They with the wasteof the yearslike roots are knottedand scabrous.
 60 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Full and lovely in contourroseof yore the small breastof me.

They with the wasteof yearsdroop shrunkenas skins without water....

Suchhath this body been.Now age-wearyand weak and unsightly.

Home of manifold ills; old housewhencethe mortar is dropping.

c.A.F. Rhys Davids, Psalmsof the Early Buddhists, vol. 1, Psalmsof the Sisters
(London: Luzac, 1964 [1909]), Therigatha,LXVI, 121-5.

The nun Subha describeshow a man stopped her in the forest

and tried to seduceher. She pointed out to him the many bad
effects of sensual pleasuresand why she had renouncedthem,
but he only saw the beautyof her eyes.She replied:

"What is this eye but a little ball lodgedin the fork of a hollow tree,
Bubble of film, anointedwith tear-brine,exudingslime-drops,
Compostwrought in the shapeof an eye of manifold aspects?"
Forthwith the maidenso lovely tore out her eye and gaveit to him:
"Here, then! take thou thine eye!" Nor sinned she, her heart unob-
structed.
Straightwaythe lust in him ceasedand he her pardonimploring:
"0 that thou mightestrecoverthy sight, thou maid pure and holy!
Neveragainwill I dareto offend theeafter this fashion.
Sore hast thou smitten my sin; blazing flames have I claspedto my
bosom;
PoisonoussnakehaveI handled-butO! be thou heal'dandforgive me!"

C.A.F. Rhys Davids, Psalmsof the Early Buddhists,vol. 1, Psalmsof the Sisters
(London: Luzac, 1964 [1909]), Therigatha,LXXI, 154-5.

Subha went on her way, and when she was in the Buddha's
presenceher eye was restored.
Women were able to createnew careersas nuns after nunner-
ies were establishedthat were largely staffed by women. These
careersoffered opportunitiesthat had not existed before and that
gave them a rough equality with monks. But lay women also had
a vital role in the support of Buddhism on a daily basis. Since
 WOMEN IN EARLY HINDU AND BUDDHIST INDIA 61

both nuns and monks were homeless,they had to beg daily for
food and other necessities.It was women to whom they natu-
rally turned, for women were the cooks and in charge of
household goods. Wealthy women, including numerous
queens,supportedboth nuns and monks with endowmentsof
land and monasteries.
One of the personalitiesfamous for her support was the
courtesanmentionedabove,Ambapali, who was very wealthy.
Becauseher son was a Buddhist elder, she built a monasteryin
her garden.She becameinterestedin the religion, so when she
heard the Buddha was nearby, she went to see him. After he
had finished teaching, they had a religious discussion. She
invited him and his accompanyingmonks to dinner at her
home the next night, and he accepted. Soon afterward the
local prince invited him also, but the Buddha declined. The
next night the prince came to Ambapali's with his gorgeous
chariots, but the Buddha preferred the courtesan'shome.
Eventually Ambapali gave her mango grove to the Buddhaand
becamea nun.
Buddhist nuns remainedan important minority among Indian
women for more than a thousand years. They last appear in
recordsin the ninth centuryC.Eo

SuggestedFurther Readings

Two older books on women of India, both with an emphasison

women'shelplessdependency,are A.S. Altekar, The Position of
Womenin Hindu Civilization (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass,1963
[1938]), a twentieth-centuryclassic; and I.S. Hoerner, Women
under Primitive Buddhism: Laywomenand Almswomen(Delhi:
Motilal Banarsidass,1975 [1930]). Note: these books are not
easyto read. Romila Thapar has written an excellentshort essay
on Indian women in ancienttimes, called "Looking Back in His-
tory," in Indian Women(New Delhi: Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting,Governmentof India, 1975), edited by Devaki Jain.
The superbanthologyof literature, WomenWriting in India: 600
soc. to the Present,vol. 1, 600 soc. to the Early TwentiethCentury
(New York: Feminist Press,1991), edited by Susie Tharu and K.
Lalita, includesmostly writings of non-Hindu women in the early
centuries.The editors' introductionsare particularly informative.
 62 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

For women in the Hindu religion, a good source is Julia Leslie,

"Essence and Existence: Women and Religion in Ancient Indian
Texts," in Pat Holden, ed., Women's Religious Experience
(Totowa, NJ: Barnes and Noble Books, 1983). And for women in
the Buddhist religion, there are Janice D. Willis, "Nuns and
Benefactresses: The Role of Women in the Development of Bud-
dhism," in Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and Ellison Banks Findley,
eds., Women, Religion and Social Change (Albany, NY: State
University of New York, 1985); Nancy Falk, "An Image of
Woman in Old Buddhist Literature: The Daughters of Mara," in
Judith Plaskow and Joan Arnold, eds., Womenand Religion, rev.
ed. (Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1974); and Diana Y. Paul,
Womenin Buddhism:Imagesof the Feminine in Mahayana Tra-
dition, 2d ed. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press,
1985).
 -4-
ISRAEL
Jewish Women
in the Torah and the Diaspora

Scenestrom the story of Adam and Eve as depicted in a haggadah, or

commentaryon the Torah, from founeemh-cemurySpain. The scenes
shouldbe "read" in the follow ing sequence:top right, top left, bOltom right,
and bottom left. They show, respectively, bliss, temptation, shame and
expulsion from the Garden of Eden, and the requirementto work. This
haggadahis known as the SarajevoHaggadahbecauseit has been in the
SarajevoNational Museum since 1894.
 64 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Patriarchalcultures dominatednearly all of the ancient Mediter-

raneanworld. The earliest Hebrewswere not unique in delegat-
ing to fathers unlimited powers of life or death; freedom or
slavery; and love or exile over their wives, sons, daughters,ser-
vants, and slaves. It was the patriarchal God of Judaismthat set
the Jewsapartfrom Babylonians,Assyrians,Persians,and Greeks.
While other peoples worshiped a pantheon of gods and
goddesses,those who claimed descent from Abraham and
Sarah had covenantedtheir obedienceto only one male deity.
Though the numbers of Jews were small, their vision of God
the Father was ultimately persuasive.When transmitted from
Judaism to Christianity and Islam, it became the prevailing
form of monotheism in the world. In the Mediterranean,
shrines to Ishtar, Isis, Demeter, and Vesta disappeared,as did
their human priestesses.
Judaismembodiedthe religious, cultural, and legal traditions
of Hebrewsocieties.The oldest scripturesare the Mosaic laws of
the first five books of the Bible, or the Torah. Scholars believe
that the Torah, the later books of the Prophets,and the books of
writings were composedbetweenthe twelfth and third centuries
B.CE. Jewish society underwent drastic changesthrough those
centuries. After the exodus from Egypt to Israel (about 1250
B.CE.), the Hebrew people lived a seminomadic existenceorgan-
ized in clans and tribal leaguesthat were governed by elders.
Then gradually the Israel.is turned more and more to agriculture.
Towns sprang up and eventually a nation was formed under a
monarchy.After civil wars divided the land into the kingdoms of
Israel and Judah, the Jews were repeatedlyconqueredby West
Asian neighborsuntil their land becamea Roman province in 63
B.CE. Jewish families migrated throughout the Mediterranean,
seeking new opportunities and fleeing repression after revolts
againstthe Romans, until by the end of the fifth century CE. the
kingdoms of Israel and Judah were only a memory in the com-
munities of the diaspora.
Patriarchalpower dimmed as the social environmentchanged
from nomadic tribes to sedentaryvillages and towns. Fathers
heading farm and town householdshad less control over their
dependentsas communal rules governing marriageand children
were modified. Changewas circumscribed,however, by Mosaic
law, for the essenceof Judaismis daily obedienceto God's laws
in rituals, ethics,and morality.
 JEWISH WOMEN IN THE TORAH AND THE DIASPORA 65

4.1 Eve'sPurpose and Her Sin in Genesis

Woman'splace in the societywas establishedwhen God created

Eve from Adam's rib.

The Lord God formed man from the dust of the earth. He blew into
his nostrils the breathof life, and man becamea living being.
The Lord God planteda gardenin Eden, ... and placedthere the
man whom He had formed. And from the ground the Lord God
causedto grow every tree that was pleasingto the sight and good for
food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden,and the tree of
knowledgeof good and bad....
And the Lord God commandedthe man, saying, "Of every tree of
the garden you are free to eat; but as for the tree of knowledge of
good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soonas you eat of it, you
shall die."
The Lord God said, "It is not good for man to be alone; I will
make a fitting helperfor him." ... So the Lord God casta deepsleep
upon the man; and, while he slept, He took one of his ribs and closed
up the flesh at that spot. And the Lord God fashionedthe rib that He
had taken from the man into a woman; and He brought her to the
man.
Then the man said,

"This one at last

Is boneof my bones
And flesh of my flesh.
This one shall be called Woman,
For from man was shetaken."

Hence a man leaveshis father and mother and clings to his wife,
so that they becomeone flesh.
The two of them were naked,the man and his wife, yet they felt no
shame.

Genesis2:7-9, 16-8, 21-5, Tanakh: A New Translation of the Holy Scriptures

According to the Traditional Hebrew Text (Philadelphia:The Jewish Publication
Society, 1985),5-6.
 66 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

It was the action of this woman-whether because of creative

initiative or fatal curiosity-that, according to the Bible, caused
the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and
subjected women to the rule of men.

Now the serpentwas the shrewdestof all the wild beaststhat the Lord
God had made.He said to the woman,"Did God really say: You shall
not eat of any tree of the garden?"The woman replied to the serpent,
"We may eat of the fruit of the other trees of the garden.It is only
aboutfruit of the tree in the middle of the gardenthat God said: 'You
shall not eat of it or touch it, lest you die.' " And the serpentsaid to
the woman, "You are not going to die, but God knows that as soonas
you eat of it your eyes will be openedand you will be like divine
beingswho know good and bad." When the woman saw that the tree
was good for eating and a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was
desirableas a sourceof wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate. Shealso
gave some to her husband,and he ate. Then the eyesof both of them
were openedand they perceivedthat they were naked....
The Lord God called out to the man and said to him, "Where are
you?" He replied, "I heardthe soundof You in the garden,and I was
afraid becauseI was naked,so I hid."
Then He asked,"Who told you that you were naked?Did you eat
of the tree from which I had forbidden you to eat?" The man said,
"The woman You put at my side-shegave me of the tree, and I
ate." And the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have
done!" The womanreplied, "The serpentdupedme, and I ate."

Genesis3:1-7, 9-13, Tanakh: A New Translation of the Holy ScripturesAccording

to the Traditional Hebrew Text (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society,
1985),6.

Relenting from his original threat of death for eating the fruit of
the tree of knowledge, God decreed separate punishments for
Adam and Eve before he drove them out of the Garden of Eden.

And to the womanHe said,

"I will makemost severe
Your pangsin childbearing;
 JEWISH WOMEN IN THE TORAH AND THE DIASPORA 67

In pain shall you bearchildren.

Yet your urge shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you."

To Adam, He said, "Becauseyou did as your wife said and ate of

the tree aboutwhich I commandedyou, 'You shall not eatof it,'

Cursedbe the groundbecauseof you;

By toil shall you eatof it
All the daysof your life ...."

Genesis3:16-7, Tanakh: A New Translation of the Holy ScripturesAccording to the

Traditional HebrewText (Philadelphia:ThelewishPublicationSociety,1985),7.

4.2 Marriageand Childbirth amongEve's Descendants

If bearing children was woman's painful duty, not bearing any

was worse in cultures that deemedmotherhoodto be her pur-
posein life. Barren or infertile women appearagain and again in
the lives of Adam and Eve's descendants.One of those was
Jacob'swife Rachel. Jacob'sfather sent him to Laban, Jacob's
mother'sbrother, to find a wife. When Jacobarrived he first saw
Rachel, Laban'syoungerdaughter,who tells her father of Jacob's
appearance.

On hearingthe news of his sister'ssonJacob,Labanran to greethim;

he embracedhim and kissedhim, and took him into his house....
When he had stayed with him a month's time, Laban said to
Jacob, "Just becauseyou are a kinsman, should you serve me for
nothing?Tell me, what shall your wagesbe?" Now Laban had two
daughters,the nameof the older one was Leah, and the nameof the
youngerone was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes; Rachel was shapely
and beautiful. Jacobloved Rachel; so he answered,"I will serveyou
sevenyears for your youngerdaughterRachel." Laban said, "Better
that I give her to you than that I should give her to an outsider.Stay
with me." So Jacobservedsevenyears for Rachel and they seemed
to him but a few daysbecauseof his love for her.
Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, for my time is
 68 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

fulfilled, that I may cohabit with her." And Laban gatheredall the
peopleof the place and madea feast. When eveningcame,he took
his daughterLeah and brought her to him; and he cohabitedwith
her-Labanhad given his maidservantZilpah to his daughterLeah
as her maid.-Whenmorning came, there was Leah! So he said to
Laban,"What is this you have done to me?I was in your servicefor
Rachel! Why did you deceiveme?" Labansaid, "It is not the practice
of our placeto marry off the youngerbeforethe older. Wait until the
bridal week of this one is over and we will give you that one too,
providedyou serveme anothersevenyears."Jacobdid so; he waited
out the bridal week of the one, and then he gave him his daughter
Rachel as wife.-Laban had given his maidservantBilhah to his
daughterRachel as her maid.-And Jacob cohabitedwith Rachel
also; indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he servedhim
anothersevenyears.
The Lord saw that Leah was unloved and he openedher womb;
but Rachelwas barren.Leah conceivedand bore a son....

Genesis29:13-32,Tanakh: A New Translation of the Holy ScripturesAccordingto

the Traditional Hebrew Text (Philadelphia:The JewishPublicationSociety, 1985),
44-5.

Leah eventually had four sons,eachtime expectingthat her hus-

band would love her, but he did not. The story continues:

When Rachelsaw that she had borne Jacobno children, shebecame

enviousof her sister; and Rachelsaidto Jacob,"Give me children, or
I shall die." Jacobwas incensedat Rachel,and said, "Can I take the
place of God, who has denied you fruit of the womb?" She said,
"Here is my maid Bilhah. Consortwith her, that shemay bearon my
kneesandthat throughher I too may havechildren." So shegavehim
her maid Bilhah as a concubine, and Jacob cohabited with her.
Bilhah conceivedand bore Jacoba son. And Rachel said,"Godhas
vindicatedme; indeed,He hasheededmy pleaand given me a son."

Genesis30:1-6, Tanakh: A New Translation of the Holy ScripturesAccording to

the Traditional Hebrew Text (Philadelphia:The JewishPublicationSociety, 1985),
45-6.
 JEWISH WOMEN IN THE TORAH AND THE DIASPORA 69

Rachel appropriatedBilhah's son from his mother, but that did

not end the competition between Rachel and Leah. Leah gave
her maid Zilpah to Jacob as a concubine; then she claimed
Zilpah's two sons as her own. After Leah herself had three more
children, "God rememberedRachel ... and openedher womb"
[Genesis30:22].
Rachel'sstory illustrates how barren wives longed to escape
their guilt and social stigmatization.It also shows how privileged
legal wives were in comparisonto slave concubines.Bilhah and
Zilpah had no choice about cohabiting with Jacob or yielding
their children to his wives. Inequality and jealousy was rampant
in Jacob'sfamily. Sons were what counted in the competition
betweenLeah and Rachel, not daughters.
Female children were less desirable than males. A Jewish
woman was always underthe legal control of a male: as a child,
her father; as a wife, her husband; and as a widow, a male
relative. In the Hebrew culture of the Torah, even when a
woman's husbanddied, she could not be independentof male
authority. The Jewish custom of levirate marriages,also found in
other ancient civilizations, meant that a widow without a male
child would have to wed one of her husband'sbrothers, who
was expectedto father her child. If the child were male, it would
carry her first husband'sname and would be given her first
husband'sproperty. The story of Judah and Tamar is about a
woman shamed when her brothers-in-law rejected her. Judah
had three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah.

Judahgot a wife for Er his first-born; her name was Tamar. But Er,
Judah'sfirst-born, was displeasingto the Lord and the Lord took his
life. Then Judahsaid to Onan, "Join with your brother'swife and do
your duty by her as a brother-in-law,and provide offspring for your
brother." But Onan,knowing that the seedwould not count as his, let
it go to wastewheneverhe joined with his brother'swife, so as not to
provide offspring for his brother. What he did was displeasingto the
Lord and He took his life also. Then Judahsaid to his daughter-in-
law Tamar, "Stay as a widow in your father's house until my son
Shelahgrows up"-for he thought, "He too might die like his broth-
ers." So Tamarwent to live in her father'shouse.
A long time afterwards ... the wife of Judah died. When his
period of mourning was over, Judahwent up to Timnah to his sheep-
 70 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

shearers,togetherwith his friend Hirah the Adullamite. And Tamarwas

told, "Your father-in-law is coming up to Timnah for the sheepshear-
ing." So she took off her widow's garb, coveredher face with a veil,
and wrappingherselfup, satdown at the entranceto Enaim,which is on
the road to Timnah; for shesaw that Shelahwas grown up, yet shehad
not beengiven to him as wife. When Judahsaw her, he took her for a
harlot; for she had coveredher face. So he turned aside to her by the
road and said, "Here let me sleepwith you"-for he did not know that
she was his daughter-in-law."What," she asked, "will you pay for
sleepingwith me?" He replied, "I will senda kid from my flock." But
shesaid, "You must leavea pledgeuntil you havesentit." And he said,
"What pledgeshall 1 give you?" Shereplied, "Your seal and cord, and
the staff which you carry." So he gave them to her and slept with her,
and sheconceivedby him. Then she went on her way. Shetook off her
veil andagainput on her widow's garb.
Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite, to redeemthe
pledgefrom the woman; but he could not find her. He inquiredof the
peopleof that town, "Where is the cult prostitute,the one at Enaim,
by the road?" But they said, "There has beenno prostitutehere." So
he returnedto Judahand said, "I could not find her; moreover,the
townspeoplesaid: There has been no prostitute here." Judah said,
"Let her keep them, lest we becomea laughingstock.1 did sendher
this kid, but you did not find her."
About three months later, Judahwas told, "Your daughter-in-law
Tamar has played the harlot; in fact, she is with child by harlotry."
"Bring her out," saidJudah,"and let her be burned."As shewas being
brought out, she sent this messageto her father-in-law, "I am with
child by the man to whom thesebelong." And she added,"Examine
these: whose seal and cord and staff are these?" Judah recognized
them, and said, "She is more in the right than I, inasmuchas 1 did not
give her to my son Shelah."And he was not intimate with her again.

Genesis38:6-26, Tanakh: A New Translation of the Holy ScripturesAccording to

the Traditional Hebrew Text (Philadelphia:The JewishPublicationSociety, 1985),
60--1.

Why did Tamar trick Judah? Most commentators on marriage

customs argue that the obligation of a widow to marry one of her
 JEWISH WOMEN IN THE TORAH AND THE DIASPORA 71

dead husband's relatives rested upon the desire of his family to

retain her dowry and her labor. She would have inherited noth-
ing else; she didn't even have a claim on their home. Judah's
sons' refusal to marry Er's widow is not explained, but their
contempt for her is implicit in the story. Tamar risked much in
retaliating for the humiliation Judah and his sons caused her.
Women's subordination did not render Tamar passive, nor is her
initiative condemned.

4.3 The Rites of Jewish Women

The meaning of the actions of Leah, Rachel, or Tamar may be

open to interpretation as symbolic, cautionary, or representative
of women's dilemmas in ancient Jewry. Elsewhere, Mosaic law of
the Torah was unambiguous in specifying women's obligations in
the ceremonies of daily life and religion.
Among Jews, ritual cleanliness was critical to the pursuit of
holiness. Women and men washed their hands each morning
before donning clothes appropriate to their gender. Whenever
men or women emitted body fluids they were considered to be
polluted beyond immediate cleansing. Then they were avoided,
as was anything they touched. After every menstrual period and
each birth, a woman required purification by a priest.

When a man has an emission of semen,he shall bathe his whole

body in water and remain uncleanuntil evening.All cloth or leather
on which semenfalls shall be washedin water and remain unclean
until evening....
When a woman has a discharge,her dischargebeing blood from
her body, she shall remain in her impurity seven days; whoever
touchesher shall be uncleanuntil evening.Anything that she lies on
during her impurity shall be unclean; and anything that she sits on
shall be unclean. Anyone who touchesher bedding shall wash his
clothes, bathein water, and remain uncleanuntil evening; and any-
one who touches any object on which she has sat shall wash his
clothes, bathe in water, and remain uncleanuntil evening. Be it the
bedding, or be it the object on which she has sat, on touching it he
shall be uncleanuntil evening....
When she becomesclean of her discharge,she shall count off
sevendays, and after that she shall be clean. On the eighth day she
 72 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

shall take two turtle doves or two pigeons, and bring them to the
priest at the entranceof the Tent of Meeting. The priest shall offer
the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering; and the
priest shall make expiation on her behalf, for her uncleandischarge,
beforethe Lord.

Leviticus 15:16-30, Tanakh: A New Translation of the Holy ScripturesAccording

to the Traditional Hebrew Text (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society,
1985), 179.

When a woman birthed a boy, she was unclean for seven days
and required thirty-three days for purification. When she had a
girl, both times were doubled. Maintaining her own purity while
undertakingthe onerouslaunderingto maintain that of her family
was a heavy obligation. Women were also responsiblefor their
family's observanceof dietary laws regarding what foods might
be eatenand how they should be cooked.
The ancient laws of the Torah harshly condemnedsexual
crimes.Adulterersmerited death.A girl who committed"fornica-
tion while under her father's authority" was stoned to death at
the entranceof her house[Deuteronomy23: 20-22]' Parentsof a
married woman kept the bloody cloth that proved her bridal
virginity in casethey might later need to defend her before the
elders.
Written scripturesform part of the Judaictradition. By the sixth
century B.C.E., when the Temple in Jerusalemwas rebuilt, another
tradition of biblical interpretationby priests and scholarsbegan.
Ratherthan relying only on literal readingsof the ancienttexts,
commentariesreconciling passagesin the Bible were developed
throughauthoritativeinterpretationsand collectedin the Talmud.
As Jews were expelled or emigratedfrom Israel, differing schol-
arly traditions arose. But there was general agreementin this
period that thrice-daily prayerwas a male obligation, that a ritual
religious community was composedof ten men, and that only
males could perform sacredrituals in the temple or synagogue.
Women were usually segregatedfrom men in public prayer.
Though public Judaismwas male, women remainedits essen-
tial conduit. Following the precedentof God's ruling when Abra-
ham had sonsby both his wife Sarahand his Egyptian concubine
Hagar, which was that only his heirs by his Jewish wife would
 JEWISH WOMEN IN THE TORAH AND THE DIASPORA 73

count among the chosen, children born to Jewish fathers and

non-Jewish mothers remained outside the Judaic community.
Rabbinic exegesis allowed the peoples of the Diaspora to adapt
to living as minorities in many countries of Asia, Africa, and
Europe, as well as to change their practices of marriage, divorce,
and inheritance to keep pace with their circumstances.

4.4 Marriage in the Diaspora: Medieval Egypt

Jewish women's lives were changed as they migrated from Israel

to lands where they lived as minorities. Those living in the city of
Fustat, Egypt, from the eleventh through thirteenth centuries C.E.
gained some legal rights. Fustat, the capital of Egypt during most
of the period, was an important commercial center not only for
Egypt but also for international trade with North Africa, Europe,
and later with the lands bordering the Indian Ocean. Fustat Jews
numbered over 3,000 in 1170 C.E. Families of merchants left the
bulk of the surviving personal documents that reveal women's
status.
Marriage contracts were written to provide protection for the
bride. At the time of the marriage the groom gave the bride an
"immediate gift," usually cash, which became her sole property,
and promised her a "delayed gift," also in cash. The immediate
payment varied with the wealth of the groom but represented
about one year of his income. The "delayed gift" was insurance
for the bride in case of a divorce or the death of her husband.
Normally three or more times larger than the immediate pay-
ment, it was seldom actually paid.
Few wedding contracts have been preserved, but several
engagement contracts specify the final terms of the marriage.
The following extracts summarize clauses protecting the
bride's interests.

That he was not permittedto take a secondwife, or to acquire a

maidservanthis wife disliked;
that his wife was regardedas trustworthy in all mattersconcern-
ing food and drink;
and that no oath, graveor light, could be imposedon her in this
matter;
and that "the equal shares"be observed,meaning,God forbid,
 74 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

that if after entering the bridal chamberSitt al-Turaf [the bride]

died without producing a living child, male or female, one-half
of her bridal outfit would return to her heirs from her father's
house;
and that the domicile was according to her wishes; and she
could not be forced to live whereshedid not like to....

S.D. Goitein, A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communitiesof the Arab

World, as Portrayed in the Documentsof the Cairo Geniza, vo!' 3, The Family
(Berkeley: University of Califomi a Press,1978),67.

Although the medieval Fustat Jewish community still accepted

polygamy, individual women demandedmonogamyas a condi-
tion of marriage. Further, women who, as wives, would be re-
sponsible for managing household expendituresand the
observanceof Jewish ritual dietary rules demandedacceptance
as "trustworthy" adults. The bridal outfit was the dowry, consist-
ing of her jewelry, clothes, furniture, copper utensils, and other
householdgoods. It usually was valued at about ten times the
amount of the husband'simmediategift. It was partly bought by
her father and partly given to her from her mother's or
grandmother'sdowries. Her husbandwas legally responsiblefor
replacing items that wore out, especiallythe bride's clothes, an
expensiveobligation becauseapparel was costly. A wife who
bore children retained her dowry if divorced or widowed. For
Jewish women of the Diaspora, the right to remain near their
own families was important.
Some brides could demand more, as the following contract
shows.

1. Should separationoccur, the document freeing Sitt aI-Dalal

("Lady Bold") will be producedby her husbandwithout delay.
2. She is trustworthy in her statementsconcerningeverythingand
no oath of any kind may be imposedon her.
3. He will not marry anotherwife [nor keepa slavegirl disliked by
her].
4. He will not beather.
5. He will not leave Fustatand travel anywhere[except with her
consent].
 JEWISH WOMEN IN THE TORAH AND THE DIASPORA 75

6. Before setting out on a journey he will write her a conditional

bill of divorce and deposit the delayedinstallment of her mar-
riage gift as well as the sumsneededfor her maintenanceduring
his absence.
7. The young couple will live in her parents'house.The husband
owesa yearly rent of 6 dinarsand will neverbe late in paying it.
8. He will not separateher from her parents,as long as the latter
are alive, and cannotforce her to live anywhereelse.
9. A fine of 50 dinars is imposedon him in casehe fails to fulfill
any ... of the precedingconditions.

S.D. Goitein, A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communitiesof the Arab

World, as Portrayed in the Documentsof the Cairo Geniza, vol. 3, The Family
(Berkeley: University of California Press,1978), 144.

This contract was framed to protect a woman whose husband

was expectedto be absentfor months, as his trading carried him
to distant cities. Travelers on sea or land were in considerable
danger. Attacks by bandits, pirates, even fellow travelers could
result in death, imprisonment,or slavery. If her husbandwas only
going to nearby towns and villages, his wife expected him to
honor his sexual obligationsto her. At this time it was customary
for couples to have sex on Fridays, before the Jewish sabbath
began. Rememberingthat menstruation created a period of
nearly two weeks of impurity out of every four, a wife could be
insistent that the schedulingof short trips not interfere with her
availableFridays.
The purpose of contracts was to secure married women's
emotional, physical, sexual, and economicwelfare. Thesedocu-
ments indicatethat medieval women expectedlove and personal
satisfaction,as well as economicsupport,from marriage. In con-
trast to the situation in ancient Israel, when couples lived in
patril ineal and patriarchal multigenerational households,Fustat
women remainedclose to their own protective parentsand sib-
lings. A woman without a family was severelydisadvantaged,but
she might be independentand determinedto protect herself.
S.D. Goitein tells of such a woman. Her story comes from
legal inquiries submittedto Moses Maimonides,a famousJewish
legal scholar,and his decisionsin reply.
 76 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

It was a fantastic story, in many respectscharaderisticof prevalent

social conditions and notions. It begins with a child marriage, ar-
rangedin order to keep a property together,but certainly also with a
view of providing a home for an orphan. A woman arrangedthe
marriageof an orphanedrelative, nine years old, who had a sharein
the housein which sheand her sonslived, to one of her sons,promis-
ing to maintain the young couplefor ten years.After sevenyearsshe
declaredthat she was no longer able to keep up her obligations. At
aboutthat time, the girl gavebirth to a son. When the child was about
nine months old, the husbandvanished,traveling to Palestine,Da-
mascus,and other places.He absentedhimself for three years with-
out leaving his wife money "sufficient for one supper." When he
cameback, he did not earna penny,but sired anotherson. He was so
poor that sometimeshis brotherand sometimeshis young wife or his
mother had to pay the poll tax for him-otherwisehe would have
been thrown into prison. As an indication of his utter penuriousness
the letter indicates that he never lighted a lamp for his wife ("not
even with linseed, let alone with olive oil"). If she wished to see
light, she had to visit the apartmentsof her [husband's]mother, or
brother-in-law, who, we remember,lived in the samehouse.A year
and half after the birth of his secondson the man disappearedagain
and roamedthe world for anotherthreeyears.
Meanwhile, the young wife had reachedthe age of twenty-five
years. In one respect she had made good use of her loafer of a
husband:she had learnedfrom him how to read the Bible, and per-
fected her knowledge during his absence.Her brother, a school
teacher, acceptedher as partner, and this arrangementlasted six
years. Then her brother left town, and she ran the school alone for
four years,employing her elder boy, who by then was seventeen,as
her associate.This shedid, as the letter is careful to stress,"so that he
could talk to the fathers of the schoolchildren,while she would take
careof the mothers."
During the years she taught school her husbandstayedwith his
mother. When he happenedto have some money, he would spend
it on himself and his mother, but neveron her and the children. He
never provided them with clothing ("not even shoes"), bedding,
school fees, or the poll tax. All he boughtfor the householdduring
twenty-five years of marriage was-a mat. She stayed with her
 JEWISH WOMEN IN THE TORAH AND THE DIASPORA 77

boys on the school premises,which she rented for 14 dirhems (per

month).
The law suit reflected in the two letters to Maimonidesstartedat
that juncture and probably went on for some time. The good-for-
nothing complained,(a) that it injured his dignity for his wife to be a
school mistress,and (b) that he had no one to servehim. She should
give up her teaching and stay with him; otherwise, he should be
permitted to take an additional wife. To this she retorted that she
could not leave the school to her son "even for one day," for the
parentssent their boys to her school becauseof her, not becauseof
him. If her husband agreedwith this, she was preparedto live with
him, either in'her own apartmentin the family houseor on the school
premises,and if the latter she would permit him to take for himself
the rent on the apartmentbelonging to her. She was also ready to
accepta divorce. The idea of a secondwife was preposterous.
From the letter in favor of the husbandit becomesevidentwhy he
preferreda secondwife to a divorce. Naturally, nothing is said of his
inability or unwillingnessto maintain his family. We read only that
during his repeatedtravels (on business,of course)his wife becamea
school mistress,with the result that she had constantlyto meet with
the fathersof her pupils, which he abhorred,"both in his own interest
and in hers." He further complainsthat shefailed to provide him with
the servicesexpectedfrom a wife (including the conjugalduties) and
that sheneglectedher children. He was unableto divorce her because
of her sharein the family home; she would "take it with her" and
marry anotherman, whereuponhis sonsmight lose their inheritance.
To this Maimonidesreplies that the husbandwas not permittedto
marry someoneelse without the consentof his wife. But the school
mistressshould be instructedby the local judge in the strongestpos-
sible terms that the demand of her husband that she desist from
teaching was endorsedby the law and therefore could never be a
claim for divorce.
The answerto the letter in favor of the wife was different in tone
and emphasis,but essentiallythe samein substance.If a husbanddid
not supporthis wife, he would be forced to sether free and to pay her
the delayed marriage gift. On the other hand, he had the right to
forbid her to teach, whethera craft or "reading." The way for her to
get free was a declaration thatshe could not live with him, in which
 78 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

caseshe would lose her marriagegift (which she had little prospect
of receiving anyway). As a divorcee, Maimonides concludes,"she
would have disposition over herself, she could teach what she liked
and do what sheliked."

S.D. Goitein, A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communitiesof the Arab

World, as Portrayed in the Documentsof the Cairo Geniza, vol. 3, The Family
(Berkeley: University of California Press,1978),344-6.

Suggested Further Readings

For those interested in the early history of Jewish women, the

best start would be to read some of their stories in the Torah.
Phyllis Trible wrote a short essay with numerous references to the
relevant stories in the Torah; the essay is found in the
Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible; Supplementary Volume, ed-
ited by Keith R. Crim et aI., under the entry "Women in the Old
Testament" (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1976). A more de-
tailed study, "Images of Women in the Old Testament," by Phyl-
lis Byrd, can be found in a useful anthology, Religion and
Sexism: Images of Women in the jewish and Christian Tradition,
edited by Rosemary Radford Ruether (New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1974). Judith Hauptman, in "Images of Women in the
Talmud," also found in Religion and Sexism, discusses how the
Rabbinic legal tradition affected later women. Gerda Lerner ana-
lyzes the early history of Hebrew women in The Creation of
Patriarchy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986), which
includes a bibliography of secondary sources. Also see Leonie
Archer, "Virgin and Harlot in the Writings of Formative judaism,"
History Workshop 24 (autumn 1987): 1-16; S.J.D. Cohen,
"Women in Synagogues in Antiquity," Conservative judaism 34
(1980): 23-9; Ross S. Kraemer, "Monastic Jewish Women in
Greco-Roman Egypt: Philo Judeaus on the Therapeutrides," Signs
14 (winter 1989): 342-70; and Ivan G. Marcus, "Mothers, Mar-
tyrs and Moneymakers: Some Jewish Women in Medieval Eu-
rope," Conservative judaism 38 (spring 1986): 34-45.
 -5-
GREECE
Patriarchal Dominance
in Classical Athens

Women working wool on a Greekvasefrom the sixth century H.C.E.

(The Metropolitan Museumof Art FletcherFund, 1931.)
 80 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Classical Greece, 500-338 B.C.E., has long been admired by

Westerners for its political theories, philosophy, science, and the
arts. Generally ignored are aspects of Greek civilization that
show a darker side. Slavery and subordination of women are
topics once dismissed as insignificant but now recognized as
important to understanding the culture. In the classical period,
there were actually many Greeces, with distinct societies devel-
oping in separate city-states such as Thebes, Sparta, and Athens.
Gender patterns varied considerably among these cities.
From the island of Lesbos, Sappho's lyric lines speak of
women's love for one another. In the sixth century B.C.E., she
expressed her emotions on parting from a friend:
'''The truth is, I wish I were dead.' She left me, whispering
often, and she said this, 'Qh what a cruel fate is ours, Sappho,
yes, I leave you against my wilL'
And I answered her: 'Farewell, go and remember me, for you
know how we cared for you .... "'
These rare fragments of the feminine voice from an outer
Greek island have no counterpart in Sparta or Athens. Sparta's
women were often left alone to acquire wealth and some auton-
omy when their mercenary husbands soldiered elsewhere. To
Athenian men like Aristotle, Spartan women were despicable,
licentious, and greedy. Ascribing Sparta's decline to them, Aris-
totle wrote: "What difference does it make whether women rule,
or the rulers are ruled by women?"*
Aristotle and other Athenian men dominate the discourse of
gender from classical Greece. Male descriptions, such as
Xenophon's of an ideal wife, brag of how Athenian society se-
cluded elite women, denigrated them, exploited them, and made
them legal dependents of men. Most records reveal the lives of
privileged women, yet many were slaves. Athenian enslavement
of females was exceptional in its concentration on prostitution.
Perhaps the large numbers of slave sex workers can be explained
by the' Athenians' desire to attract sailors and merchants to their
port. Marginal women, such as sex workers, are almost univer-
sally ignored in ancient writings. Court transcripts telling
Neaera's story provide a rare glimpse into the underclass and

*Quotations from Sappho and Aristotle in Mary R. Lefkowitz and Maureen B.

Fant, Women's Life in Greece and Rome: A Source Book in Translation (Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins Press, 1982),5,65.
 PATRIARCHY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS 81

must represent thousands of similar unknown women of the an-

cient world. Her biography indicates that even with the severest
initial handicaps, some strong women did take control of their
lives, notwithstanding the continuous danger of an enforced re-
turn to slavery.

5.1 The Reign of Phallocracy

The following descriptions are more detailed and graphic than

can be found for other civilizations. We are fortunate to know so
much about this period of Greek history. In fact, the domination
of women by men was so thorough in Athens that Eva Kuels
coined the term "phallocracy" to identify it.

In the caseof a society dominatedby men who sequestertheir wives

and daughters,denigratethe female role in reproduction,erectmonu-
ments to the male genitalia, have sex with the sons of their peers,
sponsorpublic whorehouses,createa mythology of rape, and engage
in rampantsaber-rattling,it is not inappropriateto refer to a reign of
the phallus.ClassicalAthenswas sucha society....
First of all, what is "phallocracy"?Literally meaning "power of
the phallus," it is a cultural systemsymbolizedby the image of the
male reproductive organ in permanenterection, the phallus. It is
marked by, but is far more particular than, the dominanceof men
over women in the public sphere. In historic times, at least, such
dominancehas been almost universal. Nor does phallocracy refer
simply to the worship of the male organ, a practice consideredbi-
zarre by most Westernersbut common in many parts of the world,
especially in conjunction with worship of the female counterpart.
Although cultures that revere sexuality are, like others, generally
dominatedby men, much of their art and rituals presentsthe phallus
as a symbol of generativityand of union with, ratherthan dominance
over, the female. Furthermore,phallocracydoes not allude to male
dominancesolely within a private sphereof sexualactivity. Instead,...
the concept denotesa successfulclaim by a male elite to general
power, buttressedby a display of the phallus less as an organ of
union or of mutual pleasure thanas a kind of weapon:a spearor war
club, and a scepterof sovereignty.In sexualterms, phallocracytakes
such forms as rape, disregardof the sexual satisfactionof women,
 82 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

and accessto the bodies of prostituteswho are literally enslavedor

allowed no other meansof support. In the political sphere,it spells
imperialismand patriarchalbehaviorin civic affairs....
The reign of the phallus comprisednearly every aspectof Athen-
ian life. Once alert to its implications, we can see it reflected in
architecture,city planning, medicineand law. In the public sphereof
men, buildings were massive and surroundedby phallic pillars,
whereasprivate dwellings, largely the domain of women, were box-
like, enclosed,and modest. In law, we can trace the origins of the
syndrome back to Solon, a founder of Athens and a father of its
democracy. In the early sixth century B.C., the great legislator not
only overhauled the Athenian political system but also instituted
many controls over sexual and family life. He originatedthe princi-
pIe of the state-controlledand price-controlledbrothel, and passed,or
singled out for perpetuation,"Draconian" laws for safeguardingthe
chastity of citizen women, including the notorious statutethat a fa-
ther could sell his daughter into slavery if she lost her virginity
before marriage. He also may have instituted the Women's Police
(gynaikonomoi), not securely attested in Athens until the post-
Classicalage but probably much older. At any rate, enoughdomestic
legislation goesback to Solon to considerhim a codifier of the dou-
ble standardof sexualmorality.

Eva C. Keuls, The Reign of the Phallus: SexualPolitics in AncientAthens, 2d ed.

(Berkeley: University of California Press,1993), 1-5.

5.2 The PerfectWife at Home

In ancient Athens, women in wealthy families were confined

inside their homes all their lives. Even within the home they
spent most of their time in the women's quarters. Of course,
women in other families worked outside; a common occupation
was selling goods in the marketplace. Although wealthy women
seldom went out, and then only with a companion, they could
attend religious festivals where they might mingle with the
crowd.
While marriage was the most important event in a woman's
life, it could also be a lifelong prison. Developing companion-
 PATRIARCHY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS 83

ship with her new husbandwas difficult for the bride. She had
not chosen him and might not have seen him before the mar-
riage. He was much older than she. Customarily in a first mar-
riage the bride was in her midteens,and the groom was roughly
twice as old. Her family would have provided a dowry sufficient
to feed and clothe her. As a result she was entitled to lifetime
maintenance.Everyoneknew that she was expectedto provide a
heir, but until she produceda male child she would not be fully
acceptedinto her husband'sfamily. At night her husbandmight
lock up all the females in the house, including his wife, for fear
of pregnanciesby another male. Her husbandthought of and
treated his wife as a child. Greeksthought men and women had
different characteristics:men were brave and logical, and
women were fearful and illogical.
The following conversationbetweenthe philosopherSocrates
and Ischomachos,a wealthy Athenian, illustrates some of the
young bride's problems from a male perspective.It was written
by Socrates'sstudent,Xenophon.Ischomachosdescribeshow he
trained his young bride. He is proud and smug about how eager
she is to follow his instructions. Ischomachosneededa wife to
managethe complicated operationsof his home and to be re-
sponsiblefor the valuable resourcesstored there-somethinghe
would be reluctant to entrust to slaves. She trained the house
slaves (called "servants"), thereby increasing their value. The
bride's nameis never mentioned.Socratesis the narrator.

Seeinghim then one day sitting in the colonnadeof Zeus the Deliv-
erer, I went over to him, and as he seemedto be at leisure,I sat down
with him and spoke."Why are you sitting like this, Ischomachos,you
who are so unaccustomedto leisure? For I mostly see you either
doing somethingor at leasthardly at leisurein the marketplace."
"Nor would you see me now, Socrates,"said Ischomachos,"if I
hadn'tmadean appointmentto meetsomeforeignershere."
"When you aren't doing this sort of thing," I said, "by the gods,
how do you spendyour time and what do you do?" ...
"As to what you askedme, Socrates,"he said, "I neverspendtime
indoors. Indeed," he said, "my wife is quite able by herselfto man-
agethe things within the house."
"It would pleaseme very much, Ischomachos,"I said, "if I might
also inquire about this-whetheryou yourselfeducatedyour wife to
 84 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

the way she ought to be, or whether, when you took her from her
mother and father, she already knew how to managethe things that
are appropriateto her."
"How, Socrates,"he said, "could shehaveknown anything when I
took her, since shecameto me when shewas not yet fifteen, and had
lived previously under diligent supervisionin order that she might
see and hear as little as possible and ask the fewest possibleques-
tions? Doesn'tit seemto you that one should be contentif she came
knowing only how to take the wool and make clothes,and had seen
how the spinning work is distributed among the female attendants?
For as to mattersof the stomach,Socrates,"he said, "she cameto me
very finely educated;and to me, at any rate, that seemsto be an
educationof the greatestimportanceboth for a man and a woman."
"And in other respects,Ischomachos,"I said, "did you yourself
educateyour wife to be capableof concerningherself with what's
appropriateto her?" ...
And Ischomachosreplied: "Well, Socrates,"he said, "when she
had got accustomedto me and had been domesticatedto the extent
that we could have discussions,I questionedher somewhatas fol-
lows, 'Tell me, woman, have you thought yet why it was that I took
you and our parentsgave you to me? That it was not for want of
someoneelseto spendthe night with-this is obvious,I know, to you
too. Rather,when I consideredfor myself, and your parentsfor you,
whom we might take as the best partnerfor the householdand chil-
dren, I choseyou, and your parents,as it appears,from among the
possibilitieschoseme. Should a god grant us children, we will then
consider,with respectto them, how we may best educatethem; for
this too is a good common to us-to obtain the best allies and the
best supportersin old age; but for the presentthis householdis what
is commonto us. As to myself, everythingof mine I declareto be in
common,and as for you, everythingyou've broughtyou havedepos-
ited in common. It's not necessaryto calculate which of us has
contributedthe greaternumberof things, but it is necessaryto know
this well, that whicheverof us is the betterpartnerwill be the one to
contribute the things of greaterworth.' To this, Socrates,my wife
replied: 'What can I do to help you?' shesaid. 'What is my capacity?
But everything dependson you: my work, my mother told me, is to
be moderate.''By Zeus,woman,' I said, 'my father told me the same
 PATRIARCHY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS 85

thing. But it's for moderatepeople-forman and woman alike-not

only to keep their substancein the best condition but also to add as
much as possibleto it by fine and just means.' 'Then what do you
see,' said my wife, 'that I might do to help in increasingthe house-
hold?' 'By Zeus,' I said, 'just try to do in the best mannerpossible
what the gods have brought you forth to be capableof and what the
law praises.'...
"'Since, then, work and diligence are neededboth for the indoor
and for the outdoor things, it seemsto me ... that the god directly
preparedthe woman'snaturefor indoor works and indoor concerns.
For he equippedthe man, in body and in soul, with a greatercapacity
to endurecold and heat,journeysand expeditions,and so has ordered
him to the outdoor works; but in bringing forth, for the woman, a
body that is less capablein theserespects,the god has, it seemsto
me, orderedher to the indoor works. But knowing that he had im-
planted in the woman, and orderedher to, the nourishmentof new-
born children, he also gave her a greateraffection for the newborn
infants than he gave to the man. Since he had also ordered the
woman to the guardingof the things broughtin, the god, understand-
ing that a fearful soul is not worse at guarding,also gave the woman
a greatershareof fear than the man. And knowing too that the one
who had the outdoor works would need to defend himself should
someoneact unjustly, to him he gavea greatershareof boldness.But
becauseit's necessaryfor both to give and to take, he endowedboth
with memory and diligence in like degree,so that you can't distin-
guish whether the male or the female kind has the greatershareof
thesethings. As for self-control in the necessarythings, he endowed
both with this too in like degree;and the god allowed the one who
proved the better, whether the man or the woman, to derive more
from this good. Since, then, the natureof eachhas not beenbrought
forth to be naturally apt for all of the samethings, eachhas needof
the other, and their pairing is more beneficial to each,for where one
falls short the otheris capable.'...
"'It will be necessary,'[Ischomachos]said, 'for you [his wife] to
remain indoors and to sendout those of the servantswhose work is
outside;as for thosewhosework is to be done inside, theseare to be
in your charge; you must receive what is brought in and distribute
what needsto be expended,and as for what needsto be set aside,you
 86 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

must use forethoughtand guard againstexpendingin a month what

was intendedto last a year. When wool is broughtto you, it must be
your concernthat clothes be made for whoever needsthem. And it
must be your concernthat the dry grain be fine and fit for eating.
Thereis one thing, however,'I said, 'amongthe concernsappropriate
to you, that will perhapsseemless agreeable:wheneverany of the
servantsbecomeill, it must be your concernthat all be attended.''By
Zeus,' said my wife, 'that will be most agreeable,at least if those
who have been well tendedare going to be grateful and feel more
good will than before.' I admiredher reply," said1schomachos, "and
spoke: ... 'Other private concerns will prove pleasantfor you,
woman,' I said, 'as when you take someonewho knows nothing of
spinning and make her knowledgeable,so that she is worth twice as
much to you; or when you take someonewho knows nothing of
housekeepingor waiting and make her a knowledgeable,trusted,and
skilled waiting maid, worth any sum; or when you're allowed to treat
well thosewho are both moderateand beneficial to your household,
and to punish anyonewho looks to be wicked. But the most pleasant
thing of all: if you look to be betterthan I and makeme your servant,
you will have no need to fear that with advancingage you will be
honored any less in the household,and you may trust that as you
grow older, the better a partneryou prove to be for me, and for the
children the bettera guardianof the houseQold,by so much more will
you be honoredin the household.'...
"And yet once, Socrates,"he said, "I saw she had applied a good
deal of white lead to her face, that she might seemto be fairer than
she was, and some dye, so that she would look more flushed than
was the truth, and she also wore high shoes,that she might seem
taller than she naturally was. 'Tell me, woman,' I said, 'would you
judge me more worthy to be loved as a partnerin wealth if I showed
you our substanceitself, didn't boastof having more substancethan
is really mine, and didn't hide any part of our substance,or if instead
I tried to deceiveyou by saying I have more substancethan is really
mine and by displaying to you counterfeit money, necklacesof gilt
wood, and purple robesthat lose their colour, and assertingthey are
genuine?' She broke in straightway. 'Hush,' she said; 'don't you
becomelike that; if you did, I could never love you from my soul.'
'Haven'twe also come together,woman,' I said, 'as partnersin one
 PATRIARCHY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS 87

another'sbodies?' 'Human beingssay so, at least,' she said. 'Would

I then seem more worthy to be loved,' I said, 'as a partner in the
body, if I tried to offer you my body after concerningmyself that it
be healthy and strong, so that I would really be well complexioned,
or if insteadI smearedmyself with vermilion, applied flesh colour
beneaththe eyes, and then displayed myself to you and embraced
you, all the while deceiving you and offering you vermilion to see
and touch insteadof my own skin?' 'I wouldn't touch vermilion with
as much pleasureas I would you,' she said, 'or seeflesh colour with
as much pleasureas your own, or see painted eyes with as much
pleasureas your healthy ones.' 'You must believe, woman, that I too
am not more pleasedby the colour of white lead or dye than by your
colour, but just as the godshavemadehorsesmost pleasantto horses,
oxen to oxen, and sheepto sheep,so humanbeingssupposethe pure
body of a human being is most pleasant.Such deceitsmay in some
way deceive outsiders and go undetected,but when those who are
always togethertry to deceiveone anotherthey are necessarilyfound
out. For either they are found out when they rise from their bedsand
before they have preparedthemselves,or they are detectedby their
sweator exposedby tears,or they genuinelyare revealedin bathing.'"
"By the gods," I said, "what did shereply to this?"
"What else," he said, "was her reply, if not that she never did
anythingof the sort againand tried always to display herselfsuitably
and in a pure state. At the same time she asked me if I could not
adviseher how shemight really cometo sight as fine and not merely
seemto be. I advisedher, Socrates,"he said, "not always to sit about
like a slavebut to try, with the gods' help, to standat the loom like a
mistress,to teachotherswhat she knew betterthan they, and to learn
what she did not know as well; and also to examinethe breadmaker,
to watch over the housekeeper in her distribution of things and to go
about and investigatewhether each kind of thing is in the place it
should be. In this way, it seemedto me, she could both attendto her
concernsand havethe opportunityto walk about. And I said it would
be good exerciseto moisten and knead the bread and to shake out
and fold the clothesand bedcovers.I said that if sheexercisedin this
way, she would take more pleasurein eating, would becomehealth-
ier, and so would cometo sight as bettercomplexionedin truth. And
a wife's looks, when in contrastto a waiting maid she is purer and
 88 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

more suitably dressed,becomeattractive,especiallywhen she grati-

fies her husbandwillingly insteadof serving him undercompulsion.
On the other hand, women who always sit about in pretentiousso-
lemnity lend themselvesto comparisonwith those who use adorn-
mentsand deceit. And now, Socrates,"he said, "know well, my wife
still arrangesher life as I taughther then and as I tell you now."
From Leo Strauss: Xenophon'sSocratic Discourse: An Interpretation of the
Oeconomicus,29-46. Translationof the Oeconomicusby CarnesLord. © 1970 by
Cornell University. Usedby permissionof the publisher,Cornell University Press.

5.3 Athenian Slavery

In Athens a large numberof women were slaves.The possibility

of enslavementwas always in every woman'smind, since all the
women and children in a defeatedGreek city-statemight be sold
into slavery by the victors. That is what the Atheniansdid with
the inhabitantsof the island of Melos during the Peloponnesian
War. However, as Eva Keuls explains, most slaves were not
Greeks.

One of the most revealingaspectsof Athenian society was the simi-

1arity of the positionsof womenand slaves:a considerablenumberof
referencesand symbols connectthe two categories.The legal term
for wife was damar, a word derivedfrom a root meaning"to subdue"
or "to tame." When the bride arrived at the groom'shouse,a basket
of nuts was poured over her head for good luck, a treatmentalso
extendedto newly purchasedslaves. This was called the kata-
chysmataor "downpourings."Like a slave,a womanhad virtually no
protectionunder the law exceptinsofar as she was the property of a
man. She was, in fact, not a personunderthe law. The dominanceof
male over female was as completeduring the period in questionas
that of masterover slave. As a result, the lives of Athenian women
havebeennearly excludedfrom the record.The womenof the ageof
eloquencewere silenced,and deprived of the form of immortality
that Greek men prized above all others: that of leaving a record of
their achievements ....
But men sat uneasilyon the victor's throne. For there was a vital
differencebetweenwomen and slavesin the minds of the men who
 PATRIARCHY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS 89

owned them. Slavesand their agoniescould be excludedfrom one's

consciousness, like the sufferings of animals, but women are men's
mothers, wives,sisters,and daughters,and the battle of the sexeshad
to be fought over againin the mind of every male Athenian....
Judgedby the idealsof modernWesternsociety,life in the ancient
world in general was brutal. Slavery brought the gruesomeim-
plications of man's victories over his fellow men into every home.
Even so, householdand other urban slaves were a privileged elite.
What went on in the mines, quarries,and treadmills (with which the
mastersof [Greek] comedy constantly threaten their slaves) must
largely be filled in from imagination....
SomeClassicistsarguethat the ancientAthenianswere mild mas-
ters to their slaves,thus echoingAristotle, who wrote of the "custom-
ary gentlenessof the Athenian people." Such evidenceas we have,
however,suggeststhat slavery was more unmitigatedin Athens than
in many other ancientsocieties.A telling detail of their customswas
the use of an object called a "gulp preventer"(pausikape),a wooden
collar closing the jaws, which was placed on slaves who handled
food to keep them from eating it. The tortures of Tantalus were
mirrored in everydaylife.
A practiceexclusiveto AthensamongGreekcities (with the possi-
ble exceptionof the Asian city of Miletus) was the routine torture of
slavesin legal proceedings.A slave'stestimony was admissiblein
court only if he gave it under torture, a provision that shows con-
tempt for his characterand disregardfor his well-being. An owner
could refuseto surrenderhis slavesto the oppositionfor questioning,
but this would obviously casta suspicionof guilt on him. If the slave
was permanentlyinjured during torture, the owner was entitled to
damages.The state maintained a public torture chamberfor legal
purposes(basanisterion). The interrogationsthere were a form of
popular entertainment:"Whenever someoneturns over a slave for
torture, a crowd of peoplegathersto hearwhat is said," Demosthenes
reports.The Athenianswere, in fact, inordinatelyproud of their prac-
tice of examinationby torture, consideringit, as one orator put it,
"the justestand mostdemocraticway" (Lycurg. 29).
Sexually, as in all other ways, slaves were at the mercy of their
owners.Slaves,whetherowned by public and private brothelsor by
individuals, provided men's habitual sex outlets, a circumstance
 90 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

which in itself must have generatedan equationof sex with domina-

tion. Thoseslaveswho were also women carried a double burdenof
oppressionand were the mostdefenselessmembersof society....
Whether or not a mastercould legally kill a slave at will is de-
bated, but an owner could certainly inflict everything short of out-
right death on his property. The mere suspicion of a crime was
sufficient causefor executionof a slave, as is revealedin Antiphon's
speechAgainst the Stepmother:a slave prostitute,who had been an
unwitting accessoryto alleged murder,is routinely tortured and exe-
cuted,apparentlywithout any legal process.
Eva C. Keuls, The Reign of the Phallus: SexualPolitics in AncientAthens,2d ed.
(Berkeley: University of California Press,1993),6-9.

5.4 Neaera,a Courtesan

Many slaves were prostitutes, and almost all prostitutes were
slaves. They suffered triple degradationas females, slaves, and
prostitutes.Athens and its port Piraeuswere known for the qual-
ity and quantity of their prostitutes.Only Corinth had more. Most
of the women were employed in brothels, but some were street-
walkers who congregatedat the city gates and in the market-
place. The businesswas quite open. After the reforms of Solon,
the city controlled prices in both city-owned and privately
owned brothels. There were also male homosexualprostitutes,
but that is anotherstory.
In Athens and many other ancient civilizations, a small num-
ber of prostituteswere courtesans,women who had beentrained
in singing and dancing,and were hired at higher rates. In Greek,
courtesanswere called hetaera.They most frequently worked at
private parties,which were called symposiums.
Symposiumswere held in the male section of private homes,
with the host'swife providing the food. The guestswere all men,
invited by the host. Wives neverattendedin person,since proper
Athenian women did not eat and drink in public. Femaleslaves
did the serving. Eva Keuls describedthe symposiumas a "unique
gathering, dedicated to a varying blend of eating, drinking,
gamesof all sorts, philosophiealdiscourse,and public sex with
prostitutes,concubines,and other men, but never with wives"
(160). Fortunatelywe know the life story of an Athenian hetaera,
 PATRIARCHY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS 91

Neaera,written in the latter part of the fourth century B.C.E. Very

few accountsexist of the lives of women like Neaera,who lived
on the margin of society.
The story is recordedin the court record of the trial of Neaera,
who was accusedby Apollodorus and his son of concealingher
past as a slave, a prostitute, and a hetaera. They make it clear
that they are really attackingStephanus,who had passedhimself
off as Neaera'shusband.The trial was also an effort to weaken
the group of Athenians, which included Stephanus,who were
supportersof Philip of Macedonia.It was written for a male jury.

She was one of seven little girls bought when small children by
Nicarete,a freedwomanwho had beenthe slave of Charisiusof Elis,
and the wife of Charisius'cook Hippias. Nicaretewas a cleverjudge
of beauty in little girls, and moreovershe understoodthe art of rear-
ing and training them skillfully, having made this her profession
from which she drew her livelihood. She used to addressthem as
daughters,so that she might exact the largest fee from those who
wished to have dealings with them, on the ground that they were
freeborn girls; but after she had reapedher profit from the youth of
each of them, one by one, she then sold the whole lot of them to-
gether, seven in all: Anteia, Stratola, Aristoc1eia, Metaneira, Phila,
Isthmias,and the defendantNeaera.
Now who were their respectivepurchasers,and how they were set
free by those who bought them from Nicarete, I will explain in the
courseof my speech,if you wish to hear, and if I have enoughtime.
But the fact that the defendantNeaeradid belong to Nicarete and
worked as a prostituteopento all comers-thisis the point to which I
wish to return.
Lysias the professorof rhetoric was the lover of Metaneira. He
decidedthat in addition to the otherexpenseshe had incurredfor her,
he would like to get her initiated. He thought that the rest of his
expenditurewent to her owner, but whateverhe spenton her over the
festival and initiation ceremonywould be a presentfor the girl her-
self. He thereforeaskedNicareteto come to the Mysteriesand bring
Metaneiraso that she could be initiated and he promisedto instruct
herhimselfin the Mysteries.
When they arrived, Lysias did not admit them to his house,out of
respectfor his own wife, who was the daughterof Brachyllusand his
 92 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

own niece,and for his mother,who was somewhatadvancedin years

and lived in the same house. Instead, he lodged them-that is,
Metaneiraand Nicarete-withPhilostratusof Celonus,who was still
a bachelorand also a friend of his. The women were accompaniedby
the defendantNeaera, who was already working as a prostitute,
thoughshewas not yet of the properage....
On a later occasion, gentlemen, Simos the Thessalianbrought
Neaerahere to the Great PanathenaicFestival. Nicarete also accom-
panied them, and they put up at the house of Ctesippus son of
Glauconidas.The defendantNeaeradrank and dined with them in the
presenceof a large company,as a courtesanwould do....
After that, she worked openly at Corinth as a prostitute, and be-
came famous. Among her lovers were Xenoc1ides the poet and
Hipparchusthe actor, who had her on hire....
After that, she acquiredtwo lovers, Timanoridasof Corinth and Eu-
cratesof Leucas.Thesemen found Nicarete'schargesexcessive,as she
expectedthem to pay all the daily expensesof her household;so they
paid down to Nicarete 30 minas as the purchase-priceof Neaera,and
boughther outright from her mistress,accordingto the law of that city,
to be their slave.They kept her and madeuseof her for as long as they
wished. Then, being about to get married, they informed her that they
did not wish to seethe woman who had beentheir own mistressplying
her trade in Corinth nor kept in a brothel: they would be glad to receive
less moneyfor her than they had paid, and to seeher also reapingsome
benefit. They thereforeoffered to allow her, towards the price of her
freedom, 1,000drachmas,that is, 500 each;as for the 20 minasremain-
ing, they told her to fmd this sumherselfandrepayit to them.
Neaera,on hearing thesepropositionsfrom Timanoridasand Eu-
crates,sentmessagesto a numberof her former lovers, asking them
to come to Corinth. Among these was Phrynion, an Athenian from
Paeania,the son of Demon, and the brother of Demochares,a man
who was living a dissoluteand extravagantlife, as the older of you
remember.When Phrynion arrived, she told him of the proposition
made to her by Eucrates and Timanoridas, and handed him the
money which she had collectedfrom her other lovers as a contribu-
tion towards the purchaseof her freedom, together with her own
savings,asking him to make up the amountto the 20 minas, and pay
it to Eucratesand Timanoridas,so that sheshouldbe free.
 PATRIARCHY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS 93

Phrynion was delighted to hear this proposition of hers. He took

the money which had beencontributedby her other lovers, madeup
the deficit himself, and paid the 20 minas to Eucrates and
Timanoridasas the price of her freedom and on condition that she
would not practiceher professionin Corinth....
When they arrived here at Athens, he kept her and lived with her
in a most dissoluteand recklessway. He took her out to dinner with
him whereverhe went, where there was drinking; and wheneverhe
made an after-dinnerexcursion,she always went too. He made love
to her openly, anywhere and everywherehe chose, to excite the
jealousyof the onlookersat his privilege. Among the many housesto
which he took her on an after-dinnercall was that of Chabriasof the
suburbAlexone when the latter had won the victory at Delphi with a
four-horsechariot team which he had boughtfrom the sonsof Mitys
the Argive, and on his return from Delphi was celebratingvictory
down at Colias. On that occasion,many men made love to Neaera
when she was drunk and Phrynion was asleep,including even some
of Chabrias'servants....
However, finding herselftreatedwith the most outrageousbrutal-
ity by Phrynion, insteadof being loved as she had expected,or hav-
ing attention paid to her wishes, she packed up the goods in his
house,including all the clothesandjewellery which he had provided
for her personaladornment,and taking with her two servants,Thratta
and Coccalina, ran away to Megara.
This happenedwhen Asteius was Chief Magistrateat Athens, ...
during your secondwar against Sparta. Neaeraspent two years in
Megara; but her professiondid not producesufficient income to run
her house,as she was extravagant,and the Megariansare mean and
stingy, and there was no great foreign colony there becauseit was
war-time, and the Megariansfavored the Spartanside, but you were
in commandof the seas.She could not go back to Corinth because
the terms of her releaseby Eucratesand Timanoridaswere that she
shouldnot practiceher professionthere.
However, peace came.... It was then that our opponent
Stephanusvisited Megara.He put up at her house,as that of a prosti-
tute, and becameher lover. She told him her whole life-story and of
her ill-treatment at the hands of Phrynion. She longed to live in
Athens, but was afraid of Phrynion,becauseshehad donehim wrong
 94 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

and he was furious with her. Sheknew the violence and arroganceof
his character.She thereforemade the defendantStephanusher pro-
tector, and while they were still in Megara, he talked encouragingly
and filled her with hope, sayingthat Phrynion would be sorry for it if
he laid handson her, as he himself would take her as his wife, and
would introduce the sons she already had to his clansmenas being
his own, and would make citizens of them. No one on earth,he said,
shoulddo her any harm.
And so he arrived here at Athens from Megara with her and her
three children, Proxenus,Ariston, and a daughter,who now bearsthe
nameof Phano.He took her and the children to the little housewhich
he owned,aiongsidethe WhisperingHermes....
He had two reasonsfor bringing her here: first, that he would have
a handsomemistress without expense;second,that her profession
would provide him with the necessariesof life and keep the house-
hold, for he had no othersourceof income,exceptwhat he picked up
by occasionalblackmail.
When Phrynion heardthat she was in Athens and living with the
defendant, he took some young men with him and went to
Stephanus'shouse to get her. Stephanusassertedher freedom, ac-
cording to law, and Phrynion thereuponsummonedher before the
Polemarch,undersurety....
When she had thus been bailed out by Stephanusand was living
with him, shecarriedon the sameprofessionno less than before,but
she exacteda larger fee from thosewho wished to consortwith her,
as having now a certain position to keep up and as being a married
woman. Stephanushelped her by blackmail; if he caught any rich
unknown strangermaking love to her, he usedto lock him up in the
houseas an adulterercaughtwith his wife, and extracta large sum of
money from him-naturally, becauseneither Stephanusnor Neaera
had anything, not evenenoughto meettheir daily expenses,but their
establishmentwas large. There were himself and herselfto keep,and
threesmall children-theonesshebroughtwith her to him-andtwo
maidsand a man-servant;and aboveall, shehad acquiredthe habit of
good living, as formerly it had been others who had provided her
with all necessaries....
To continue: Phrynion began his law-suit against Stephanus,on
the groundsthat Stephanushad robbedhim of the defendantNeaera
 PATRIARCHY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS 95

and madea free woman of her, and that Stephanushad receivedthe

goodsof which Neaerahad robbedhim when sheleft. However,their
friends brought them together and persuadedthem to submit the
dispute to arbitration. The arbitrator who sat on Phrynion's behalf
was Satyrus of Alopece, the brother of Lacedaemonius,and on
Stephanus'behalf, Saurias of Lampra; they chose as umpire
Diogeiton of Acharnae. These three met in the temple, and after
hearing the facts from both the litigants and also from the woman
herself, they gave their judgment, which was acceptedby the liti-
gants: namely that the woman should be free and her own mistress,
but that the goods which Neaerahad taken from Phrynion when she
left shouldall be returnedto Phrynion,exceptthe clothesandjewell-
ery and maid-servantswhich had been bought for Neaeraherself;
further, that she should spendthe samenumberof days with eachof
them; but that if they agreedto any other arrangement,this same
arrangementshould hold good; that the woman'supkeepshould be
provided by the personwith whom she was living at the time; and
that for the future the litigants should be friends and should bear no
malice....
When the businesswas over, the friends of eachparty, thosewho
had assistedthem at the arbitration and the rest, did as I believe is
usual in such cases,especially when a mistressis in dispute: they
went to dine with eachof them at the times when he had Neaerawith
him, and shedined and drank with them as mistressesdo....
I have now outlined the facts about Neaera,and have supported
my statements withevidence: that she was originally a slave, was
twice sold, and practisedthe professionof a prostitute; that she ran
away from Phrynion to Megara, and on her return to Athens was
summonedbeforethe Polemarchundersurety....
Each one of you must believe, therefore,that he is giving his vote
in defenceof his wife, or his daughter,or his mother, or on behalfof
the State,the laws, and religion-to preventrespectablewomenfrom
acquiring the same standing as the prostitute, and to protect those
who have been rearedby their families in every propriety and with
every care, and given in marriageaccordingto law, from having no
better position than this woman, who with every sort of licentious
behaviorsurrenderedherselfdozensof times a day to dozensof men,
wheneveranyoneaskedher. You must not think of me, the speaker,
 96 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

merely as Apollodorus, nor of thosewho will speakon the side of the

defenceas merely your fellow-citizens: you must regard this lawsuit
as being fought by Neaeraagainstthe laws, over the actions done by
her. So that while you are consideringthe casefor the prosecution,
you must listen to the laws themselves,by which this City-State is
governedand in accordancewith which you have sworn to give your
verdict: you must ask what the laws ordain, and how my opponents
havetransgressed them....
Kathleen Freeman,The Murder of Herodes and Other Trials from the Athenian
Law Courts (London: Macdonald,1946), 197-219.

We do not know if Neaeraand Stephanuswere found guilty of

the charges.If convicted, Neaeraand her children would have
been sold into slavery, even though she was almost sixty years
old. Stephanuswould have lost his entire estate and his civic
rights.

SuggestedFurther Readings

Mary R. Lefkowitz and Maureen B. Fant, Women'sLife in Greece

and Rome(Baltimore: JohnsHopkins University Press,1982), is a
collection of useful primary sources.It includes documentsfrom
several Greek city-states.Sarah B. Pomeroy, Goddesses,Whores,
Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity (New York:
SchockenBooks, 1975), is the best introduction to both Greece
and Rome. Pandora'sDaughters(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity Press,1987 [1981 j), by Eva Cantarella,translatedby Mau-
reen B. Fant, is a feminist history of Greece and Rome by a
historian of Roman Law at the University of Parma. She surveys
Greek laws, myths, ritual, and literature for evidence of men's
attitudes toward women and tries to describe the reality of
women'slives. A good bibliography can be found in Womenin
the AncientWorld (New York: Oxford University Press,1989) by
Gillian Clark. It was published for the Classical Association of
England. Mary R. Lefkowitz, Women in Greek Myth (Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982), is a series of separate
essays. Economic Rights of Women in Ancient Greece (Edin-
burgh: Edinburgh University Press,1979), by David M. Schaps,is
very thorough.
 -6-
CHINA
Imperial Women
of the Han Dynasty
(202 B.C.L-220 C.L)

The marriageof the Han dynasty Chinese

poetTsai Yen to her Tatarcaptor,
an episodefrom her poem"EighteenVersesSungto a Tatar ReedMuseum
Museum~
Whistle.
Detail from a later Chinesesilk handscrol!palming. (The Metropolitan Museum
of Art, Gift of the Dillon Fund, 1973.)
 98 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

The man who called himself Shi Huangdi (First Emperor) really
was the first to rule a Chinese empire of diverse peoples. Be-
tween 221 B.C.E., when he named himself Shi Huangdi and
founded the Qin dynasty (221-206 B.U.), and his death eleven
years later, his government established the political institutions
that subsequent Chinese administrations have followed. The
older system of hereditary rulers of provincial units was abol-
ished. Provincial boundaries were redrawn and governors were
appointed by the central government, which could dismiss them
for failure to carry out their duties properly. Shi Huangdi's gov-
ernment built roads and parts of the Great Wall, standardized
weights and measures, and required official documents to be
written in the newly regularized Chinese script. Little is known
about the impact of this strong central government on women,
except that its policies caused popular suffering.
After a short interlude of civil wars, a group of provinces led
by Liu Bang (256-195 B.C.E.) triumphed. Liu Bang proclaimed a
new dynasty, the Han, in 202 B.C.E. Liu Bang is usually known by
his posthumous title of "Gaodi."
China had been undergoing fundamental changes since 221
B.C.E. It was not clear how much of the old, pre-Qin traditions
would be reestablished. When Gaodi died, Empress Lu ruled the
empire. She was able to do this in part because of the uncertainty of
the times, in part because she was very competent, and in part
because of the traditional power of women in the imperial fami Iy.
6.1 The Regency of Empress Lu

In China, men usually controlled property and political offices.

However, women had much power and influence in the family.
If the family was as politically powerful as that of the Han em-
peror, his female relatives could have a greater influence on
events than all but a few powerful male officials.
Imperial women had various traditional functions, and a strong
woman could sway important decisions. The emperor's grand-
mother was given the most respect. One of her traditional responsi-
bilities was to choose the spouses of her grandchildren, including
the potential heirs to the throne. Often she chose brides for the heirs
from her own family. Because a bride who was a potential empress
could extend her family's influence into unborn generations, her
male relatives were often awarded key offices in the government.
Close female relatives of the emperor, such as aunts, sisters,
 IMPERIAL WOMEN IN HAN CHINA 99

and daughters (even concubine's daughters), were very desirable

brides for men of other families. Such a female relative might be
married to a foreign ruler as a public declaration of the friendly
relations between the two countries. If relations threatened to
turn hostile, she became, in effect, a hostage. In addition these
wives maintained contact with the emperor's family. They were
ideally placed to advise and interpret political events both to the
Chinese government and to their husbands.
Traditionally, potential male heirs were sent to live in remote
provinces. Their sisters remained in the palace, and many of
them married husbands of influential Chinese families. Married
female relatives of the emperor continued to have access to the
palace, government officials, and the women's quarters. Using
their influence with friends and allies, they could advance the
fortunes of their husbands' families.
If a new emperor was a child, a regent temporarily ran the
government with the powers of an emperor. Traditionally, Chi-
nese regents were female, often the grandmother of the emperor.
In Europe the regent might be the child's mother. Most female
regents were efficient and so successful that they are omitted in
surveys of the country's history. The regents who are mentioned
are usually criticized.
Any female regent who took over the government in her own
name or tried to replace the ruling family with another family is
usually painted in dark tones. Empress Lu was cruel, and she
tried to replace her husband's family with her natal family. She
was the empress to the first emperor of the Han dynasty, Gaodi
(202-195 B.C.E.)
Gaodi began his career as a village official. As the Qin dynasty
was collapsing, central government faded and China was caught
up in wars between local rulers. Banditry was widespread. Gaodi
struggled to survive from 210 to 202 B.C.E. as a bandit and war-
lord. Eventually he either conquered all other significant leaders
or made them his allies. He declared himself emperor and Lady
Lu his empress in 202 B.C.E. and continued to place men he could
trust in positions of power until his death in 195 B.C.E.
The new emperor, Hsiao-hsu, was a teenager, so his mother,
Empress Dowager Lu, was made regent. She ruled until her death
in 181 B.C.E. The historian Homer H. Dubs summarized her ca-
reer as regent. (In this reading, the older spellings "Liu Pang" [for
"Liu Bang"J and "Kao- tsu" [for "Gaodi"J are used.)
 100 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

This period of fifteen years [195-181 B.C.E.] constituteda period of

rest and recuperationafter the fighting and destructionprecedingthe
reign of Kao-tsu [Gaodi] and the civil war during it. The only serious
conflict was an internal one, which did not come to a headuntil the
very end of the period. Kao-tsu had eliminated all his important
feudal kings except those of his own family, so that during this
period there were no revolts, such as had plaguedhim. Peacewas
made with the only important externalenemy, the Huns, and it was
cementedby sendinga girl of the imperial family to be a bride of the
Hun emperor,the Shan-yu.There was only one war-with the state
of Nan-yueh,locatedat the presentCanton;but the mountainsproved
such a barrier that the war was confined to border forays, and the
Chinesegeneralsdid not even try to cross the mountains.Thus the
peoplesecureda rest, the populationcould increase,and the country
becameprosperous.
The Chancellorof State, Hsiao Ho, who had administeredKao-
tsu's empire, died in the secondyear of this period. He [had] nomi-
nated Kao-tsu'sgreatestfighter, Ts'ao Ts'an, as his successor,thus
emphasizingthe tradition that since the empire had been conquered
by Kao-tsu's personalfollowers, it should be ruled by them. This
tradition was followed as long as any capablefollowers of Kao-tsu
remainedalive and was the factor that preventedthe overturn of the
state.
Liu Ying, known as EmperorHsiao-hui,proveda kindly but weak
young man. He was only in his sixteenthyear when he came to the
throne, and the real power went to his mother, then entitled the
EmpressDowagernee Lu. She had taken an active part in the con-
quest of the empire, had suffered severelyin that contest, and had
gatheredaround her a faction, chiefly composedof membersof the
Lu family (including two of her older brotherswho had beengener-
als of Kao-tsu and had beenennobledby him as marquises)and of
her relativesby marriage,especiallythe valiant Fan K'uai, who had
married her younger sister, the able and determinedLu Hsu. This
faction enabledthe EmpressDowagerto enthroneher son, although
he was not the oldest nor the favorite son of Kao-tsu. The oldest son
was Liu Fei, who had been made King of Ch'i, the most important
part of the empire next to Kuanchung.But Liu Fei was not the son of
Kao-tsu'swife, and so could be passedover.
 IMPERIAL WOMEN IN HAN CHINA 101

Since the EmpressDowagerhad only barely succeededin enthron-

ing her son, she felt driven to cultivate the interestsof the people in
order to bolster up her power. Hence,althoughshe committedgrave
crimes,sheproveda good ruler. Shecould not afford the unpopularity
of misrule and was too intelligent to indulge in it. She lightenedthe
taxes and removed some of the severepunishmentsthat had been
inherited from the Ch'in [Qin] dynasty, repealing,for example, the
Ch'in law againstthe possessionof proscribedbooks. Sheallowed the
commutationof punishments,even of capital punishment,for money
payment,which, in thosedaysof severeand harshpunishments,was a
lightening of penalties rather than an invitation to the wealthy to
commit crime. The mostseriouscrimeswere not commuted.
But she came into conflict with her son the Emperor when she at-
temptedto take vengeanceupon herrival. Sheimprisonedcloselyin the
Palacethe favorites of her husband,especiallythe Lady neeCh'i, who
had almostsucceededin displacingher as Empress.The EmpressDow-
agerwanteda keenerrevenge,but dareddo nothing more as long as the
Lady's son was alive. This ten-year-oldboy, Liu Ju-yi, Kao-tsu'sfavor-
ite child, had beenmadeKing of Chaowith a capableand braveChan-
cellor to guardhim. When this Chancellorwould not sendthe boy to the
capital, the EmpressDowagerremovedthe Chancellorand had the boy
brought. But he was a favorite of the Emperortoo, so the sixteenyear
old Emperormet his half-brotherat a village ten miles from the capital
and carefully conductedhim to his own apartments,where he guarded
him by always keeping him by his side. After several months, one
morning early the Emperor went out hunting, leaving Ju-yi sleeping.
The EmpressDowager immediately had her step-sonpoisoned.The
Emperorcould do nothingto his own mother,not evenfor murder.
Then the EmpressDowagerhad the deadboy's mother, the Lady
nee Ch'i, terribly mutilated and thrown out into the gully through
which ran the sewer,naming her "the Human Swine." She took her
son to see her mutilated rival; he did not recognizethe poor lady;
when an attendantinformed him of her identity, the Emperor wept
himself into a nervousbreakdown.For a year he could not leave his
bed. When he recovered,he sent this messageto his mother: "Your
deed was utterly inhuman. I am your son, so I cannotagain govern
the country." Then he gave himself over to drinking, to women, and
to pleasure.
 102 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

The next year Liu Fei came to court. At a family dinner the Em-
peror seatedFei above himself, as befitted the oldest brother. The
EmpressDowagerbecameangry and orderedtwo gobletsof poisoned
wine for Fei. Then she commandedhim to drink a toast. But the
Emperortook one of the gobletsto drink; without a descendanton the
throne the EmpressDowager would have been helpless;she hastily
arose and upset her son's goblet. Then Fei took alarm and left. He
feared for his life, but found that the EmpressDowager had merely
actedin a fit of anger;so he madehis peacewith her by presentingher
daughter, Kao-tsu's oldest child, the PrincessYuan of Lu, with a
commanderyand appointingthis step-sisteras his QueenDowager.
Emperor Hui died in the seventhyear of his rule. The Empress
Dowagerhad married him to the daughterof PrincessYuan. Such a
union was quite proper, since the girl had a surnamedifferent from
that of her husband.But she had no child. The Emperorhad however
had a son by a lady of his harem; the EmpressDowagernamedthis
babe the son of the Empressand killed his mother. The babe was
madeHeir-apparentand was enthronedas Emperor.Sincehe was her
grandson, and the Empress was her granddaughter,the Empress
Dowagerherselfboldly took the Emperor'splacein court and issued
imperial decreesandedictsin her own name.
Then shestrengthenedher position by appointingfour of her neph-
ews from the Lu family as kings, and, to forestall trouble over the
succession,if anything shouldhappento the babe,shetook six babes
of the Lu family and namedthem marquises,assertingthat they were
children of EmperorHui.
This action brought her into conflict with one of the established
practicesof the dynasty,which was after her deathto prove stronger
than she. Kao-tsu had gatheredhis immediate followers and made
them sweara solemnoath in a ceremonyin which a white horsehad
been killed and the lips of each had been smearedwith the blood.
This oath was to the effect that no one exceptmembersof the imper-
ial Liu family should be made king and no one should be made
marquisexceptfor deedsof valor. Kao-tsu had taken this step when
he was plaguedby the rebellions of thosevassalkings not members
of the imperial clan; but he had himself violated this oath in the
appointmentof his boyhood and close friend, Lu Wan, as King of
Yen. The EmpressDowager'simportant officials had all been fol-
 IMPERIAL WOMEN IN HAN CHINA 103

lowers of Kao-tsu and had taken this oath; yet they respectedher
ability and recognizedthat shehad materially assistedin winning the
empire, so that she also was one of the followers of Kao-tsu; these
facts and the power of the Lu faction kept the officials from making
any overt move againsther. The Senior Lieutenant Chancellor,Wang
Ling, protestedin private, but he was promotedto an advisory post
which left him powerless.The EmpressDowagerthus succeededin
establishingherself firmly in control. She had a committee of the
high officials and noblesarrangethe precedenceof the noblesin the
court, thus increasingthe prestigeof her faction.
In 184 B.C.E. the child emperorlearnedof his real mother.Boy-like
he boasted,"The Empresscould have killed my motherand pass[ed]
me as her son. I am not yet grown up, but when I am grown up, I will
changethings." Sucha threatto the EmpressDowager'spowercould
not be tolerated; the child was pronouncedinsane, imprisoned to
deathin the palaceprison, and the ministerswere orderedto suggest
his successor.
They knew that he was the only natural son of Emperor Hui; in
seemingdeferenceto the EmpressDowagerbut in real unwillingness
to be a party to her action they replied merely that they acceptedher
orders. She then selectedone of the six babes she had previously
named as marquisesand sons of Emperor Hui and appointedhim
Emperor.The ministers said nothing; this appointmentwas not their
work; they consequentlyfelt free to overturnit later.
In order to consolidateher power, the EmpressDowagerhad mar-
ried some of Kao-tsu's sons to girls of her family, the Lu. One of
them, Yu, did not love his wife and favored a concubine;he was
slanderedto the EmpressDowageras having said that after her death
he would attackthe Lu family. She summonedhim to the capital and
starved him to death in his lodgings. Another son, K'uei, was so
oppressedby his wife, a Lu girl, who poisonedhis beloved concu-
bine, that he committed suicide. A third, Chien, died; the Empress
Dowager sent to have his son killed and end his kingdom. There
were left now only two out of the eight sonsof Kao-tsu,only threeof
whom had died a naturaldeath.
The EmpressDowager knew she could not live much longer; to
perpetuateher clan's power she appointed her two nephews,Lu
Ch'an and Lu Lu, the first as Chancellorof State, in chargeof the
 104 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

civil government,and the secondas First Ranking General,in charge

of the military. To placatethe Liu faction, sheappointedits head,Liu
Tse, a venerablecousin of Kao-tsu, as King of Lang-ya, and gave
royal posthumoustitles to Kao-tsu'smother,older brother,and older
sister.Thus shepreparedfor the inevitable.
Pan Ku, The History of the Former Han Dynasty, vol. 2, trans. Homer H. Dubs
(Baltimore: Waverly Press,1938), 167-71.

Chinese rulers had many problems besides trying to prevent

another family from taking over the government. The threat of
military raids or invasions by the steppe horsemen of the north
was often a serious concern. One frequent solution was to give
expensive presents and a royal princess as a bride to the most
powerful nomadic ruler. The Chinese bride gave the northern
rulers an advantage in having access to someone who under-
stood the Chinese imperial government. Gaodi (Kao-tsu) began
the practice. Evidently the northerners valued the Chinese wives,
as Empress Lu discovered when she received the following message
from Mao-tun, the powerful leader of the Hsing-nu in 192 B.C.E.:

I am a lonely widowedruler, born amidstthe marshesand broughtup

on the wild steppesin the land of cattleand horses.I haveoften come
to the border of China wishing to travel in China. Your majesty is
also a widowed ruler living in a life of solitude. Both of us are
without pleasuresandlack any way to amuseourselves.It is my hope
that we can exchangethat which we have for that which we are
lacking.
Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe, The CambridgeHistory of China, vol. 1, The
Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C.-A.D. 220 (New York: Cambridge University
Press,1986),387.

Empress Lu was furious. However, her advisors so impressed her

with the danger of an invasion that her meek reply was a plea to
spare her empire. .

My age is advancedand my vitality is weakening.Both my hair and

teeth are falling out, and I cannot even walk steadily. The shan-yu
musthaveheardexaggeratedreports.I am not worthy of his lowering
 IMPERIAL WOMEN IN HAN CHINA 105

himself. But my country has done nothing wrong, and I hope he will
spareit.

Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe, The CambridgeHistory of China, vol. 1, The
Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C.-A.D. 220 (New York: Cambridge University
Press,1986),387.

The Empress Dowager Lu died in 181 B.C.E. from a dog bite. Im-
mediately, civil war broke out between Gaodi's Liu family and the
Lu family. The whole Lu clan was massacred within six weeks.

6.2 Chinese Women as Pawns

The attractions of Chinese elite women were famous among

China's northern foes. Their leaders kidnapped such women to
be their concubines or wives. After the first great female Chinese
poet, Tsai Yen, was kidnapped, she wrote a poem, "Eighteen
Verses Sung to a Tatar Reed Whistle," that can still move us,
even in translation.

I was born in a time of peace,

But later the mandateof Heaven
Was withdrawn from the Han Dynasty.

Heavenwaspitiless.
It sentdown confusionand separation.
Earth waspitiless.
It broughtme to birth in sucha time.
War was everywhere.Every road was dangerous.
Soldiersandcivilians everywhere
Fleeingdeathand suffering.
Smokeand dustcloudsobscuredthe land
Overrunby the ruthlessTatarbands.
Our peoplelost their will powerandintegrity.
I can neverlearn the ways of the barbarians.
I arn daily subjectto violenceandinsult.
I sing one stanzato my lute and a Tatarhorn.
But no one knows my agonyandgrief.
 106 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

II

A Tatar chief forced me to becomehis wife,

And took me far away to Heaven'sedge.
Ten thousandcloudsand mountains
Bar my road home,
And whirlwinds of dust and sand
Blow for a thousandmiles.
Men hereare as savageas giant vipers,
And strut aboutin armor, snappingtheir bows.
As I sing the secondstanzaI almostbreakthe lutestrings.
Will broken,heartbroken,I sing to myself.

VII

The sun sets.The wind moans.

The noiseof the Tatarcamprises all aroundme.
The sorrow of my heartis beyondexpression,
But who could I tell it to anyway?
Far acrossthe desertplains,
The beaconfires of the Tatargarrisons
Gleamfor ten thousandmiles.
It is the customhereto kill the old and weak
And adorethe young and vigorous.
They wanderseekingnew pasture,
And campfor a while behindearthwalls.
Cattle and sheepcover the prairie,
Swarminglike beesor ants.
When the grassand waterare usedup,
They mount their horsesand drive on their cattle.
The seventhstanzasingsof my wandering.
How I hateto live this way!

XI

I have no desireto live, but I am afraid of death.

I cannotkill my body, for my heartstill hashope
 IMPERIAL WOMEN IN HAN CHINA 107

That I can live long enough

To obtain one and only desire-
That somedayI can seeagain
The mulberry and catalpatreesof home.
If I had consentedto death,
My boneswould havebeenburied long ago.
Days and monthspile up in the Tatarcamp.
My Tatarhusbandloved me. I bore him two sons.
I rearedand nurturedthem unashamed,
Sorry only that they grew up in a desertoutpost.
The eleventhstanza-sorrowfor my sons
At the first notespiercesmy heart'score.
XIII
I neverbelievedthat in my brokenlife
The day would comewhen
SuddenlyI could return home.
I embraceand caressmy Tatar sons.
Tearswet our clothes.
An envoy from the Han Court
Has cometo bring me back,
With four stallionsthat can run without stopping.
Who can measurethe grief of my sons?
They thoughtI would live and die with them.
Now it is I who must depart.
Sorrow for my boys dims the sun for me.
If we had wings we could flyaway together.
I cannotmove my feet,
For eachstepis a stepaway from them.
My soul is overwhelmed.
As their figures vanishin the distance
Only my love remains.
The thirteenthstanza-
I pick the stringsrapidly
But the melody is sad.
No one can know
The sorrow which tearsmy bowels.
 108 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

XVII

The seventeenthstanza.My heartaches,my tearsfall.

Mountain passesrise beforeus, the way is hard.
Before I missedmy homeland
So muchmy heartwas disordered.
Now I think againand again,over and over,
Of the sonsI havelost.
The yellow sagebrushofthe border,
The barebranchesand dry leaves,
Desertbattlefields,white bones
Scarredwith swordsand arrows,
Wind, frost, piercingcold,
Cold springsand summers
Men and horseshungry and exhausted,worn out-
I will neverknow them again
OnceI haveenteredChangAn.
I try to stranglemy sobs
But my tearsstreamdown my face.

KennethRexrothand Ling Chung,trans., The Orchid Boat, WomenPoetsa/China,

4-7. © 1972 by Kenneth Rexroth and Ling Chung. Reprinted by permissionof
New DirectionsPublishingCorp. World rights.

6.3 Princessesas Power Brokers

The marriage of a royal princess could be ordered for reasons of

foreign policy, but it could also be arranged to advance the
domestic policies of the government. Marriage to a royal princess
provided many benefits to powerful nondynastic families, espe-
cially if she had influence within the palace. A powerful emperor
could use a series of princess marriages to make alliances with
influential Chinese families, just as he might use princesses to
gain foreign allies.
Jennifer Holmgren describes some of the implications of these
domestic marriages, in which the princesses acted as power bro-
kers between the government and their husbands' families. She
explains that under the Chinese system princesses could receive
 IMPERIAL WOMEN IN HAN CHINA 109

ranks and titles in their own right, rather than only through their
male relatives.

Ranks and titles conferred on a woman without referenceto her

husbandor son were to be treatedas if grantedto a man. In the case
of the princess,this condition was achievedby dispensingwith the
generallaw that mademarried women liable for punishmentsmeted
out to membersof the husband'slineage.The princess'sexemption
from this law meantthat her statusin no way dependedon the posi-
tion of her husbandand his family. Rather,sheretainedher member-
ship of the ruling line and was subjectonly to the throne.Becauseher
statuswas conferredwithout referenceto her husband,it could pass
to her children. Thus, so long as they did not becomewittingly in-
volved in plots againstthe emperor,sororal cousins,nephews,and
nieceswere, like their mothers,exemptfrom severepunishment.
The material wealth a princessbrought into marriagesymbolized
her condition. The lavish wedding gifts provided by the throne indi-
catedthe social and political superiorityof her natal lineageover the
husbandand his family; the fief and its accompanyingstipendsym-
bolized that marriage had not altered her status. If the marriage
lasted,most of the property eventuallypassedto the husband'sfam-
ily and out into the wider societythrough the woman'soffspring, the
fief title going to her eldestson in accordancewith the generallaw.
As befitting their elevatedstatusas honorarymembersof the imper-
ial line, the woman's sons receivedimperial patronagein selection
for high office. In this way, the sororalbond was transformedinto an
arm of the ruling line, reachingout into the wider community and
establishingpockets of loyalty within other, potentially dangerous,
lineageswithout the threatof dominationor usurpation.
Although the recipient lineage derived some comfort from the
knowledgethat at leastone of its brancheswas insulatedfrom politi-
cal disaster,the thronebenefitedmore from the arrangementbecause
the princesscould be countedon to put the imperial interestabove
that of her husband'sfamily. For the woman'spart, her exemption
from severepunishmentgave her a personalfreedomdeniedto other
membersof the society,including her brothers.Unlike male agnates,
who were perceivedas a threat to the throne, the princess could
remainin the capital at the centerof power. Moreover,being female,
 110 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

she was not barredfrom the inner recessesof the palaceas were the
male officials of the outer court. Nor was she confined to the palace
like an imperial mother or wife. In every respect, then, she was
ideally placed to act as a power broker between the throne and
families of the wider elite.
As a permanentmemberof the ruling line, the social statusof the
princesswas higher than that of the imperial mother or wife. Indeed,
her social position closely approximatedthat of the emperorhimself.
During the SouthernDynasties(A.D. 317-589), one woman usedher
exalted position to argue that, like her brother, the emperor,she too
should have a harem. She was given thirty male "concubines."In
short, although the princessnever reachedthe political heights of an
imperial motheror wife who actedas regentand de facto ruler of the
state, and although her influence had no strong legal basis, her free-
dom of movementwas considerableand her position solid. Because
her statuswas not conditionedby ties beyondthe throne,her influence
dependedon the accessionof a strong ruler able to control his mater-
nal relatives and to override any objections from the bureaucracy
abouther behavior.The tensionbetweensistersand wives (princesses
and empresses)at the imperial level was thus acute. Moreover, be-
cause all attention was directed toward a single male, competition
among the princessesthemselveswas also intense-bothamong sis-
ters and amongdifferent generationsof female offspring....
The political importanceof the sororalbond for the thronemeantthat
unmarried aunts, sisters, and daughterswere always in short supply.
Thus, those who were widowed (with or without children) usually re-
married. If a recipientfamily fell from grace,the womanmight well be
summarilydivorced and given to anotherlineage,young sonsfollowing
her into the new alliance. Becausea favorite sisterwas also well placed
to obtain a divorce on groundsof incompatibility and becausemarital
discord might itself bring political catastropheto the lineage,it was not
unusual for an imperial princess to becomethe de facto head of the
husband'sfamily, controlling its finances,organizingits marriages,and
determiningits political strategy.For this reason,somefamilies tried to
avoid a sororal relationshipwith the throne. The problem was not con-
fined, however,to imperial relationships:any family interestedin fur-
thering its economic,political, or social condition through the upward
marriageof a son chancedsubordinationto the wife and her kin.
 IMPERIAL WOMEN IN HAN CHINA 111

JenniferHolmgren, "Imperial Marriage in the Native Chineseand Non-Han State,

Han to Ming," in Rubie S. Watsonand PatriciaBuckley Ebrey, eds.,Marriage and
Inequality in Chinese Society (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991),
66-9. © 1991 the Regentsofthe University of California.

Suggested Further Readings

An excellent collection of traditional stories that was frequently

reprinted for the enlightenment of women is The Position of
Women in Early China, According to the Lieh Nu Chuan: liThe
Biographies of Eminent Chinese Women," translated by Albert
Richard O'Hara (Washington: Catholic University of America
Press, 1945). Different editors added comments that were appro-
priate for their readers, but this version is one of the earliest. A
complement to the material in the last reading is Jennifer
Holmgren, "The Harem in Northern Wei Politics-398-498 A.D.:
A Study of T'o-pa Attitudes Towards the Institution of Empress,
Empress-Dowager, and Regency Government in the Chinese Dy-
nastic System During Early Northern Wei," Journal of the Eco-
nomic and Social History of The Orient 26 (February 1983):
71-96. The following are also useful: Richard W. Guisso, "Thun-
der over the Lake: The Five Classics and the Perception of
Women in Early China," Historical Reflections/Reflexions
Historiques 8 (Fall 1981): 47-62; Donald Harper, "The Sexual
Arts of Ancient China as Described in a Manuscript of the Sec-
ond Century B.C.," Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 47, no. 2
(1987): 539-94.
This page intentionally left blank:
 -7-
WOMEN IN THE LATE
ROMAN REPUBLIC
Independence, Divorce, and
Serial Marriages

A woman playing a cithara in a Roman wall painting from the first

century B.C.E. (The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Rogers Fund, 190).)
 114 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

As a republic, the city-state of Rome conquered adjacent territo-

ries on the Italian peninsula and then mastered its rival Carthage
to gain control of the Mediterranean in 146 B.C.E. For the next
600 years Rome was the dominant power in the region, drawing
wealth from all the Mediterranean borderlands into its treasury.
The empire affected gender: as Roman soldiers fought in distant
lands and generals conspired to control the state, their wives and
daughters gained rights to control their own lives.
Politically the late republic period, 133-43 B.U., was focused
on the transition of the Roman government from a republic to a
monarchy. By this time, Rome's conquests had made its upper
classes very wealthy, including wives and children. Marriage
practices still remained more appropriate to the early period of
the republic when every citizen farmed his own land. Then the
women were completely dependent on the men, and a father
could kill his children without fear of legal action. Roman
women were almost as subordinate and dependent as those in
classical Athens. They did not speak in public meetings. They
could not buy and sell property without their male relatives'
approval. Legally treated as minors, they were first the responsi-
bility of their fathers, then of their husbands, and finally of ap-
pointed guardians.
But as the Romans became wealthy, their women were given
property. Slowly customary practices changed, although the laws
were little modified. Women in the late republic seemed to avoid
the legal restraints that so confined their distant ancestors. Of
course, marriages were not made for companionship but for per-
sonal advantage. Cicero's marriage (77-43 B.C.E.) to Terentia
clearly was such a union. But as the advantageous marriages of
his contemporary Pompey illustrate, divorce had become very
easy. In Rome it was a time of shifting political alliances, with the
losers often losing their wealth and lives. Cicero's career and its
impact on his family is a tragic example.

7.1 Letters from Cicero to His Wife, Terentia

Illustrating Roman women's lives is difficult, because almost

nothing written by a woman has survived, even though many
were literate. Two well-known women were Cicero's wife, Ter-
entia, and their daughter, Tullia. Terentia probably married Cic-
ero in 77 B.C.E., and their daughter was born the next year.
 WOMEN IN THE LATE ROMAN REPUBLIC 115

Although not from the aristocracy,Terentia'sfamily was wealthy,

and her dowry was large enough to qualify her husband as a
knight, the secondrank of the aristocracy.
Initially Cicero won unusual political successas a consul and
an acknowledgedleaderof the Senate,but in his lifetime Roman
politics frequently degeneratedinto violent factional struggles.
An enemy, Clodius, was electedas one of the tribunes,or magis-
trates, and used his position to attack Cicero by introducing bills
to make him an outlaw, confiscatehis property, and destroy his
houses.Cicero fled Italy, leaving his family behind in Rome. The
first letter from Cicero is dated April 29, 58 B.U. None of
Terentia'sletters have survived.

I set out from Brundisium on April 29th. I am making for Cyzicus

throughMacedonia.Ruined,alas,and prostrateas I am, why shouldI
now ask you to come here, you, an invalid lady, exhaustedin body
and mind? ShouldI not ask you? Am I then to be without you? This,
I think, is what I shall plead-if there is any hope of my return,
encourageit and assistthe matter; but if, as I fear, it is over and done
with, make every effort to come here in any way you can. This one
thing I would have you know-if I have you, I shall not think I am
absolutelylost. But what will becomeof my dearestTullia? It is now
for you to seeto that; I haveno suggestionsto make.But in any case,
however matters tum out, we must do all we can for that poor
damsel'smatrimonialsettlementandreputation.Again, what will my
boy Cicero do? He I hope may always be in my bosomand between
my arms. I cannot now write more; grief stays my pen. How you
havefared I know not-whetheryou retain anythingor havebeen,as
I fear, utterly despoiled.
Piso [Tullia's husband] will, as you write, always, I hope, be
our friend. As to the liberation of the slaves, there is nothing to
upset you. In the first place yours have been promised that you
will act as each of them severally deserves.Orpheus so far is
doing his duty, nobody else in any marked degree.As regardsthe
other slavesthe arrangementis this: that if my estatepassedout of
my handsthey were to be my freedmen,providedthey could make
good this claim; but if the estatestill remains in my hands, that
they should continue to be my slaves with the exception of an
extremelysmall number.
 116 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Reprinted by permissionof the publishers and the Loeb Classical Library from
Cicero: Cicero: The Letters to His Friends, trans. W. Glynn Williams, Cambridge,
MA: HarvardUniversity Press,1960, 197-9.

When Cicero wrote the above letter, he did not know what had
happenedto his family, but true to his characterhe feared the
worst-poverty.Wallowing in self-pity, he neverthelesswas able
to order Terentia to gather political support for his return. Even
though he feared the confiscationof his slavesand real property,
he urged Terentia to try to pay Tullia's husbandwhat was owed
on her dowry. Finally, he authorized Terentia to manumit, if it
becamenecessary,thoseof the family slaveswho might be con-
fiscated with his estate and sold. It is worth noting that at this
time Roman women legally were not supposedto be able to
conduct businesswithout the approval of a male: father, hus-
band, or a guardian.
Five months later, Cicero wrote the secondsurviving letter in
this correspondence.He had learnedthat Clodius had been able
to pass only an act for exile. His fashionableRoman house and
two villas had been looted and torn down. Terentia took refuge
with her half-sister, who was a vestal virgin, a state priestess.His
October5th letter includesthe following:

I gatherthat you havehopesof the new tribunesof the plebs. On that

we may rely, if we can rely on Pompey'sfriendliness;and yet I have
my fears of Crassus.As for yourself, I see that you are acting in
every respectmost courageouslyand lovingly, nor does it surprise
me; but what saddensme is the nature of a calamity in which my
own miseriescan only be alleviated at the cost of such miseriesfor
you. For that most obliging of men, P. Valerius, had describedin a
letter to me (and I wept bitterly as I readit) how you were haledfrom
the temple of Vestato the Valerian Office. Alas, light of my life, for
whom I yearn, to whom all usedto look for help, to think that now,
Terentia mine, you are thus harassed,thus laid low in tears and
unseemlyhumiliation! And to think it is all my fault, who havesaved
othersto perishmyself!
As to what you write about our house,or rather its site, I assure
you that I shall never feel myself fully restoreduntil that has been
restoredto me. These things however are not in our hands. What
 WOMEN IN THE LATE ROMAN REPUBLIC 117

distressesme is, that whateverexpenditurehasto be incurred,you, in

your unhappyand impoverishedcircumstances,should be let in for
part of it. Of course, if the businessof my restoration is carried
through, we shall get all we want; but if we are to be doggedby the
sameill-fortune as heretofore,will you, my poor wife, throwaway
the little that is left to you? I implore you, my darling, as far as
expenseis concerned,let others,who can if they only will, bear the
burden, and do not, as you love me, tax that indifferent health of
yours. Day and night you are ever before my eyes.I seeyou taking
upon yourselfall our troubles,and I fear it is too much for you. But I
also see that everything dependsupon you: and for that reason,in
order that we may succeedin what you are hoping and striving for,
obey the dictatesof health.
Reprinted by permissionof the publishersand the Loeb Classical Library from
Cicero: Cicero: The Letters to His Friends, trans.W. Glynn Williams, Cambridge,
MA: HarvardUniversity Press,1960, 187-90.

The new tribunes were willing to recall Cicero, but Clodius's

gangs were beating those who tried to help Cicero. Finally rival
gangs were organized to control Clodius's thugs, and Cicero re-
turned in August 57 S.CE. Terentia had sold some of her own
houses to raise money, without telling Cicero what she was going
to do.
Cicero and Terentia then prospered for nine years before his
good fortune again began to wane. In 49 S.CE., when Caesar and
Pompey began a civil war to control the empire, Caesar's armies
threatened Rome. Cicero, an ally of Pompey, was concerned for
Terentia's safety in a letter written to her on June 11th:

As for yourself, I would have you, first of all, take care of your
health; in the next place, if it so pleaseyou, you will make use of
thosevillas which arefarthestawayfrom men-in-arms.
Reprinted by permissionof the publishers and the Loeb Classical Library from
Cicero: Cicero: The Lettersto His Friends, trans. W. Glynn Williams, Cambridge,
MA: HarvardUniversity Press,1960,205.

In 46 S.CE. Cicero divorced Terentia, accusing her of dishonesty

among other charges, all of which she denied. One year later his
 11 B WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

beloved daughterTullia died in childbirth. His political downfall

was imminent. The triumvirate formed after the assassinationof
Caesar was composedof Octavian; Lepidus; and Cicero's arch
enemy, Antony, who was married to C1odius's widow Fulvia. In
their proscriptionof 43 B.C.E., Cicero was declaredan outlaw, killed,
and his head given to Antony. Fulvia mutilated it, cutting the
tongue,beforeAntony displayedthe mutilated headto the Senate.

7.2 The Proscriptionof 43 B.C.E.

The proscriptionof 43 B.C.E. that led to Cicero'sdeath listed many

of Rome'saristocraticand wealthy families. Appian, in The Civil
Wars, describesthe awful events:

As soon as the triumvirs were by themselvesthey joined in making a

list of those who were to be put to death.They put on the list those
whom they suspectedbecauseof their power, and also their personal
enemies.... For they made additions to the cataloguefrom time to
time, in somecaseson the ground of enmity, in othersfor a grudge
merely, or becausethe victims were friendsof their enemiesor ene-
mies of their friends, or on accountof their wealth, for the triumvirs
neededa great deal of money to carry on the war.... The triumvirs
were short of money becauseEurope, and especiallyItaly, was ex-
haustedby wars and exactions.... By now, too, some were pro-
scribed becausethey had handsomevillas or city residences.The
numberof senatorswho were sentencedto deathand confiscatedwas
about300, and of the knights about2000.
It was orderedthat the headsof all the victims shouldbe brought
to the triumvirs at a fixed reward,which to a free personwas payable
in moneyand to a slavein both moneyand freedom.

Reprinted by permission of the publisher and the Loeb Classical Library from
Appian: Appian'sRomanHistory, trans. HoraceWhite, Cambridge,MA: Harvard
University Press,1961, 147-9, 151-3.

Some of the proscribed were betrayed by their wives, sons,

daughters, brothers, slaves, or others. Some of the proscribed
were protected by their relatives, slaves, or friends. Appian in-
cludesmore storiesof faithful wives than of unfaithful ones:
 WOMEN IN THE LATE ROMAN REPUBLIC 119

Acilius fled from the city secretly.His hiding-placewas disclosedby

a slave to the soldiers,but he prevailedupon them, by the hope of a
largerreward,to sendsomeof their numberto his wife with a private
token that he gave them. When they cameshe gave them all of her
jewelery, saying that she gave it in return for what they had prom-
ised, althoughshedid not know whetherthey would keeptheir agree-
ment. But her fidelity to her husbandwas not disappointed,for the
soldiershired a ship for Acilius and saw him off to Sicily ....
The wife of Apuleius threatenedthat if he shouldfly without her,
she would give information againsthim. So he took her with him
unwillingly, and he succeededin avoiding suspicionin his flight by
travelling with his wife and his male and female slavesin a public
manner.... The wife of Rheginusconcealedhim by night in a sewer,
into which the soldiers were not willing to enter in the daytime, on
accountof the foul odour. The next night she disguisedhim as a
charcoaldealer, and furnished him an ass to drive, carrying coals.
She led the way at a short distance,borne in a litter. One of the
soldiers at the city gates suspectedthe litter and searchedit.
Rheginuswas alarmedand hastenedhis steps,and as if he were a
passer-byadmonishedthe soldier not to give trouble to women. The
latter, who took him for a charcoaldealer,answered himangrily, but
suddenlyrecognizinghim (for he had servedunder him in Syria),
said, "Go on your way rejoicing, generalfor suchI ought still to call
you."
... Other women betrayedtheir husbandsinfamously. Among
thesewas the wife of Septimiuswho had an amour with a certain
friend of Antony. Being impatient to exchangethis illicit connec-
tion for matrimony, she besoughtAntony throughher paramourto
rid her of her husband.Septimiuswas at once put on the list of the
proscribed.When he learned this, in ignorance of this domestic
treacheryhe fled to his wife's house. She, as though with loving
anxiety, closedthe doors, and kept him until the murdererscame.
The sameday that her husbandwas killed she celebratedher new
nuptials.
Reprinted by permissionof the publisher and the Loeb Classical Library from
Appian: Appian'sRomanHistory, trans. HoraceWhite, Cambridge,MA: Harvard
University Press,1961,205-9,179.
 120 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

7.3 Hortensia's Speech

After they sold the property and goods of the proscribed, the
triumvirs were still short of the cash they needed for their armies.
So they proposed an extraordinary tax on wealthy women. The
women's response was a famous speech by Hortensia in which
she describes women's wealth and indirect political power. Note
for later reference the types of property that women owned. Con-
tinuing Appian's narrative:

The triumvirs addressedthe peopleon this subjectand publishedan

edict requiring 1,400 of the richest women to make a valuation of
their property, and to furnish for the serviceof the war such portion
as the triumvirs shouldrequireof each.It was providedfurther that if
any should conceal their property or make a false valuation they
should be fined, and that rewards should be given to informers,
whetherfree personsor slaves.The women resolvedto beseechthe
womenfolk of the triumvirs. With the sister of Octavian and the
mother of Antony they did not fail, but they were repulsedfrom the
doors of Fulvia, the wife of Antony, whose rudenessthey could
scarce endure. They then forced their way to the tribunal of the
triumvirs in the forum, the peopleand the guardsdividing to let them
pass.There,throughthe mouth of Hortensia,whom they had selected
to speak,they spokeas follows:
"As befitted women of our rank addressinga petition to you, we
had recourse to the ladies of your households;but having been
treated as did not befit us, at the hands of Fulvia, we have been
driven by her to the forum. You have already deprived us of our
fathers,our sons,our husbands,and our brothers,whom you accused
of having wronged you; if you take away our property also, you
reduceus to a condition unbecomingour birth, our manners,our sex.
If we havedone you wrong, as you say our husbandshave, proscribe
us as you do them. But if we women have not voted any of you
public enemies,have not torn down your houses,destroyedyour
army, or led anotherone againstyou; if we have not hinderedyou in
obtaining offices and honours,-whydo we sharethe penalty when
we did not sharethe guilt?
"Why should we pay taxes when we have no part in the honours,
 WOMEN IN THE LATE ROMAN REPUBLIC 121

the commands,the state-craft,for which you contend against each

other with such harmful results? 'Becausethis is a time of war,' do
you say? When have there not been wars, and when havetaxes ever
beenimposedon women, who are exemptedby their sex among all
mankind? Our mothersdid once rise superiorto their sex and made
contributions when you were in dangerof losing the whole empire
and the city itself through the conflict with the Carthaginians.But
then they contributedvoluntarily, not from their landedproperty,their
fields, their dowries,or their houses,without which life is not possible
to free women, but only from their own jewelery, and even then not
accordingto fixed valuation, not underfear of informers or accusers,
not by force and violence, but what they themselveswere willing to
give. What alarm is there now for the empire or the country?Let war
with the Gauls or the Parthianscome, and we shall not be inferior to
our mothersin zeal for the commonsafety; but for civil wars may we
never contribute, nor ever assistyou againsteachother! We did not
contributeto Caesaror to Pompey.Neither Marius nor Cinnaimposed
taxesupon us. Nor did Sulla, who held despoticpower in the state,do
so, whereasyou say that you arere-establishingthe commonwealth."
While Hortensiathus spoke the triumvirs were angry that women
should dare to hold a public meeting when the men were silent; that
they should demandfrom magistratesthe reasonsfor their acts, and
themselvesnot so much as furnish money while the men were serving
in the army. They ordered the lictors to drive them away from the
tribunal, which they proceededto do until cries were raised by the
multitude outside,when the lictors desistedand thetriumvirs said they
would postponetill the next day the considerationof the matter. On
the following day they reducedthe number of women who were to
presenta valuation of the their property from 1,400 to 400, and de-
creedthat all men who possessedmore than 100,000drachmas,both
citizens and strangers,freedmenand priests,and men of all nationali-
ties without a single exception,should (underthe samedreadof pen-
alty and also of informers) lend them at interesta fiftieth part of their
propertyand contributeone year'sincometo the war expenses.
Reprinted by permission of the publisher and the Loeb Classical Library from
Appian: Appian'sRomanHistory, trans. HoraceWhite, Cambridge,MA: Harvard
University Press,1961, 195-9.
 122 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Hortensia'sspeechis a valuable statement,in which she argues

that women did not publicly participate in politics and hence
were personally immune to political attacks. That helps explain
why Terentia did not accompanyCicero on his first exile. She
may have been in poor health as he suggests,but she was not in
physical dangerand her property was safe, accordingto Horten-
sia. Since she was immune from political attack, she could lead
the political campaign to restore Cicero's property and reputa-
tion. However, the most important reasonfor her leadershipwas
that she had the political knowledge, ability, and contacts to
carry the campaign to its successfulend. Nevertheless,Cicero
could abandonher when it was convenient.

7.4 The Roman Family

Hortensia listed considerableproperty owned by the proscribed

women. It included farms, houses, slaves, cash, and jewelry.
Legally Roman women could not buy and sell, and yet Terentia
sold someof her houseswithout Cicero'sapprovalor knowledge.
Recentresearchindicatesthat patriarchalcontrol was not as uni-
versal as once thought and that, by Cicero's lifetime, adult
Roman women were often independentof male control. The
argumentdependson the demographicfact of the short life-spans
of men and women in the ancient world. Susan Treggiari ex-
plains how married women were affected:

Originally it seemsto have beenthe norm for a bride to enterinto

the control of her husband.This control, manus, was theoretically
separatefrom marriage,but normally synchronouswith it. It must be
viewed togetherwith the father'spower, patria potestas,which later
jurists saw as characteristicof Romans.Paternalpower was held by
the oldest male ascendentin a family, the paterfamilias. It gave him
power of life and deathover his legitimate children, his filiifamilias,
and full rights over property, including anything they might acquire.
Daughterswere removedfrom the father'spower when he gavethem
in marriageinto the control of a husband.If sons in power [of the
paterfamilias] married and had children, these grandchildrenwere
also in the grandfather'spower. So were the son'swives if they came
in manum. ... When the paterfamiliasdied, both sonsand daughters
in power becameindependent.Each son becamea paterfamilias,
 WOMEN IN THE LATE ROMAN REPUBLIC 123

whateverhis age, with power over his own children if he had any.
Daughterswere not controlled by their brothersor mothers.[Surviv-
ing] women throughouttheir lives and children below pubertyhad to
havea guardian[for certainlegal actions] if they were independent.
During a transitionalperiod of Roman law which is hardly docu-
mentedin our sources,there was a trend away from the customthat
the bride enteredmanuson marriage to the norm that she did not.
This left married women usually in the power of their fathersas long
as the latter lived. But, given ancientexpectationof life, it is proba-
ble that many women were fatherlessfor a relatively long period of
their married lives. The pattern ... for the middle ranks of Roman
society is that girls married in their late teensand men in their mid-
to late twenties. If expectationof life at birth is put betweentwenty
and thirty, then 46 per cent of fifteen-year-oldshad no father left
alive. The percentagegrows to 59 per cent of twenty-year-oldsand
70 per cent of twenty-five-year-olds.So there is about a 50-per-cent
chancethat a woman was already fatherlessat the time of her first
marriage.

SusanTreggiari, "Divorce RomanStyle: How Easy and How FrequentWas It?"

© The Australian National University 1991. Reprinted from Marriage, Divorce,
and Children in AncientRome, 31-2, edited by Beryl Rawson (1991), by permis-
sion of Oxford University Press.

Marriage and divorce were free, that is, they depended mainly on
the voluntary choice of husband and wife. As Susan Treggiari
continues:

The essentialcharacteristicof Roman marriage was the consentof

eachpartner.there
(If there was a paterfamilias, his consentat the initia-
tion of the marriage was also required: for a daughterhis consent
might be assumedunlesshe evidently dissented.)Consentwas signi-
fied at the beginningof a marriage.There was no prescribedform of
words or action or written contractwhich had to be usedat all wed-
dings. Nor did any priest or public official act as presidentor witness
of a ceremony.... Various ritual phrasesmay have been used and
therewas often a celebrationand written documentswhich accompa-
nied the dowry and which provided circumstantialevidencethat a
 124 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

marriage was intended. But the point is that all dependedon the
couple(and any paterfamilias,but in the classicalperiod he could not
act alone). The continuanceof the marriage, once they had entered
upon it, dependedupon their continuedwill to be married....
If the initiation and continuanceof a marriage dependedon the
consent,explicit or implied, of both spouses(and of any extantpater-
familias of either of them), then it follows logically that divorce may
be producedby the withdrawal of that consentby one of the parties,
or perhapswe should say, more positively, by the decision of one
party not to retain the relation.

SusanTreggiari, "Divorce RomanStyle: How Easy and How FrequentWas It?"

© The Australian National University 1991. Reprinted from Marriage, Divorce,
and Children in AncientRome, 32-4, edited by Beryl Rawson(1991), by permis-
sion of Oxford University Press.

Normally a husbandor wife would use a verbal formula such as

"take your things for yourself" to end the marriage.In one casea
divorce was declaredby the court when a man married a second
wife without notifying the first. The court argued he had with-
drawn his consent when he married the second woman. Of
coursea woman could also withdraw her consent,although men
divorced women much more frequently than women divorced
men.
When a coupledivorced, the husbandhad to return the wife's
dowry, which in the caseof Terentiawas large and which Cicero
had usedfor thirty years. If the wife was divorced for adulteryor
other serious misbehavior, she might forfeit one-sixth of her
dowry. If the wife had not become pregnant in a reasonable
time, she could be divorced by her husband.If a husbandwas
divorced for "matrimonial offenses," he had to repay the dowry
at once or within six months. However, he was almost always
awardedcustodyof the children.
As they consideredpossible marriage partners,most Romans
did not expectto be in love at the time of their marriage.Though
some married couples fell in love after the ceremony,still, ro-
mantic love was not expectedin a marriagepartner.
Since marriage was not a romantic commitment but had a
familial, business,or political aspect,ambitious Romans,such as
Cicero's ally Pompey,could marry and divorce severaltimes as
 WOMEN IN THE LATE ROMAN REPUBLIC 125

their careers progressed. Cicero's daughter was very eligible for

marriage with ambitious men, since her father was politically
influential, and she was married three times. Among Romans
who had serial marriages, families became complex, especially
from the wife's perspective. The children of a divorced woman
lived with their father; furthermore, if she married again, her new
husband might bring stepchildren into the marriage. K.R. Bradley
described relationships resulting from Pompey's marriages.

Pompey'sfirst wife, Antistia, was the daughterof the Antistius who

presidedin 86 [S.C.E.] at Pompey'strial for perculatus(embezzle-
ment). During the trial Antistius is said to havebeenso impressedby
the defendantthat he offered Pompey his daughterin marriage. A
betrothalwas arranged,and a few days after Pompey'sacquittal the
marriagewas celebrated.Antistia, it can be supposed,was several
years younger than her husband,who was just about nineteenand
marrying for the first time. But as far as is known there was no issue
from the marriage,which after only four yearscameto an end. The
reasonwas that in 82 Sulla, in a deliberateact of political calculation,
pressuredPompey into an alliance with him by encouragingthe
young man to divorce Antistia and to marry instead Sulla's step-
daughter,Aemilia. Pompeyobliged. But the situation was hampered
by the fact that Aemilia alreadyhad a husband,M'. Acilius Glabrio,
consul in 67, and indeed was in the late stagesof a pregnancy.Yet
her divorce too was quickly arranged,the marriageto Pompeyef-
fected, and Aemilia's presencein a new householdestablished.It
happenedthat the new marriage was very brief, for Aemilia died
giving birth to her child (M'. Acilius Glabrio) so again Pompeywas
still without a child of his own. Technically,however,he did become
a stepfatherin 82, though contact betweenPompey and the infant
Glabrio was probably negligible: although born in Pompey'shouse
the child was presumablytransferredto his father's house to be
reared.
From c. 80 until the end of 62 Pompeywas marriedto Mucia, the
daughterof a Metella and the half-sisterof the Metelli [brothers]who
were consulsin 69 and 68. There is no explicit testimony to prove
that the match was politically contrived, but in view of Mucia's
Metellan connectionsit can hardly have been otherwise. The mar-
 126 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

riage produced three children, Cn. Pompeius, Pompeia and Sex.

Pompeius, all of whom were probably born in the early years of the
union. In 77 Pompeywas away on campaignand wintered with his
army in Cisalpinabefore moving in 76 to Spain, where he remained
occupiedwith the war againstQ. Sertoriusuntil 71. The amount of
time he spent with his young children cannot therefore have been
great. Whether the children had any association with their step-
brother Glabrio is unknown, but the point of the indirect familial
relationshipis to be noted.
Returning to Rome in 62 from his great eastern expeditions,
Pompeypromptly divorced Mucia, allegedly for her infidelities dur-
ing his absence.The marriagelastedfor eighteenyears or so and in
Roman terms had been successful:children had beenproduced.But
for most of the time the principals had been separatedby the de-
mandsof Pompey'scareer.In due courseMucia becamethe wife of
M. Aemilius Scarus(oncebriefly Pompey'sbrother-in-law)and bore
him a son. Pompey thus acquired a secondstepson,his children a
half-brother considerablyyounger than themselvesand one who be-
longed,thoughrelatedto them, to a different household.
In yet anotherpolitically motivatedmove, Pompeyin 59 next mar-
ried Julia, Caesar'sdaughter,the marriageat once requiring cancella-
tion of Julia's impending union with Q. Seruilius Caepioand making
her stepmotherof Pompey'schildren. Yet it happenedthat she was of
their generation,being practically coeval with Sex. Pompeiusand so
about sixteen when she married a husbandthirty years her senior.
Despite the difference in age, the marriageis said to have been pas-
sionate on both sides, and in the five years it lasted Julia became
pregnanttwice. The first pregnancyterminatedin a miscarriagedue to
Julia'sbelief that Pompeyhad beenkilled in a bout of urban violence;
and the secondconcludedwith Julia dying in childbirth, her daughter
surviving only a few days. Had she lived the child would have been
much of an age with Pompey'sgrandchildren....
Like Julia, Pompey'slast wife, Cornelia, daughterof Pompey's
colleaguein the consulshipof 52, was much younger than her hus-
band and the criticism was made when they married, in 52, that she
would have beena more suitablebride for one of Pompey'ssons.As
it was she becamea secondcoeval stepmotherto Pompey'schildren.
The marriagelasteduntil 48 when Corneliabecamea widow for the
 WOMEN IN THE LATE ROMAN REPUBLIC 127

second time ... but as far as is known it did not produce any new
children for Pompey,who at the time of his deathwas almostfifty-nine.

K.R. Bradley, "Remarriageand the Structureof the Upper-ClassRoman Family."

© The Australian National University 1991. Reprinted from Marriage, Divorce,
and Children in AncientRome,91-3, editedby Beryl Rawson(1991) by permission
of Oxford University Press.

Why did Roman women agree to these often hasty marriages

planned by their fathers or brothers?Though men made the ar-
rangements,brides agreed to cooperate.Many Roman women
accepteda daughter'sobligation to promoteher family's political
fortunes. Others were personally ambitious and, without pros-
pects of their own careers,sought prominence in marrying fa-
mous men.

Suggested Further Readings

The original documentsin Mary R. Lefkowitz and Maureen B.

Fant, Women'sLife in Greeceand Rome(Baltimore: Johns Hop-
kins University Press, 1982) illustrate most of the important
points of the known history of women in Rome. The basic book
for an introduction to the topic is Sarah B. Pomeroy, Goddesses,
Whores, Wives, and Slaves:Womenin ClassicalAntiquity (New
York: Schocken Books, 1975). Pomeroy'sbook was the first to
introduce Roman women to the modern reader. Another excel-
lent source is Pandora's Daughters (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press,1987) by Eva Cantarella.Womenin RomanLaw
& Society(Bloomington: Indiana University Press,1986), by Jane
F. Gardner,thoroughly discussesthe evolution of the application
of the laws affecting women. Beryl Rawson has edited two com-
prehensivecollections of essayson various topics: The Family in
Ancient Rome(Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1986) and
Marriage, Divorce and Children in Ancient Rome (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1991). Under the Republic only land-
owners could be soldiers, and, since the wars were long and
frequent, the impact on women and children was great. John K.
Evans, in War, Women and Children in Ancient Rome (New
York: Routledge, 1991), examinesthis interesting topic. Fathers
and Daughters in Roman Society, Women and the Elite Family
 128 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984), byJudith P. Hallett,

examines paternalism's impact on women's lives. For those inter-
ested in Byzantine elite society, Kenneth G. Holum's Theodosian
Empresses:Women and Imperial Dominion in Late Antiquity
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982) explores the polit-
ical role played by Christian empresses in the eastern part of the
Roman empire.
 -8-
WESTERN EUROPE
Christian Women on Manors,
in Convents, and in Towns

The writer Christinede Pisan(ca. 1365-1430). Widowed when young, she

decidedto support herselfby writing. (The BettmannArchive.)
 130 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

As Rome's imperial center moved eastward to Constantinople in

the fourth century C.E. and the Roman grasp on western Europe
weakened, then collapsed in the wake of Germanic invasions of
the fifth century, a new civilization gradually arose.
Western European cultural unity developed from diverse
sources, often forcibly blended by conquest: the legacy of the
Mediterranean, the new Germanic peoples invading from the
East, older indigenous peoples such as the Celts and Vikings, and
the developing Christian religion. Each of these traditions had a
distinctive view of women. Tracing the impact of cultural trans-
formation on free and bonded women that took place between
400 and 1500 C.E., a period of over 1,000 years, has generated a
voluminous literature. The women of this chapter are representa-
tive of their times within the long medieval era.

8.1 Christianity's Dual Vision of Women

Christianity was a dominant force in the lives of most of these

women. Jesus was surrounded by women as well as male disci-
ples when he taught in the Roman province of Palestine, and it
was to his female followers that the angel announced, "He has
risen!" As the early Christian religion spread along the shores of
the Mediterranean, women became teachers, prophetesses, mis-
sionaries, and martyrs. A rare fragment dictated from prison in
North Africa by Vibia Perpetua imparts the emotional power of
being a Christian under Roman persecution. The twenty-two-
year-old recent mother refused her father's urging to renounce
her faith and save her life. Perpetua describes the horror of the
crowded Carthage dungeon, her fears for the health and future of
her nursing baby, and finally her visions of her struggle toward
redemption. In her last vision, she became a gladiator fighting in
the arena of a vast amphitheater:

I was undressedand ... my supportersbeganrubbing me with oil. ...

I saw the Egyptianrolling in the sandin front of me....
The adversariesapproachedone anotherand began to exchange
blows. The Egyptian tried to grab my feet. I kicked at his face with
my heels.All at onceI was lifted up into the air, and I could land my
blows without touching the ground. Finally, to hasten the end, I
knitted together the fingers of both hands, grabbedthe Egyptian's
 CHRISTIAN WOMEN IN WESTERN EUROPE 131

head, fell upon his face, and with a kick of the heel smashedhis
head. The crowd cheered.... I approachedthe mastergladiator and
acceptedthe branch[of victory]. He kissedme and said, "My daugh-
ter, peacebe with you." Triumphant, I headedfor the Gate of the
Living.

Pauline Schmitt Pantel,ed., A History of Womenin the West, vol. 1, From Ancient
Goddesses to Christian Saints(Cambridge:HarvardUniversity Press,1992),476-7.

In reality, Perpetua did not survive the arena; she, a slave

woman named Felicity, and a number of male Christians were
executed in 203 C.E. As a martyr, Saint Perpetua was honored by
the church. For women, scores of female saints and the Virgin
Mary offered a feminine vision of Christianity in religious institu-
tions dominated by the church fathers.
When persecution of Christians ended in the Roman empire in
312 CE., Christianity's institutional hierarchy was firmly in the
hands of men, who were pope and patriarchs, bishops and
priests. Yet, like Buddhism, Christianity promised spiritual equal-
ity to women and men. In the letters of Paul, amplifying the
teachings of the Gospels for early Christians, this is stated:

For in Christ Jesusyou are all sons of God, through faith.... There
is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is
neithermale nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians3:26-8, Holy Bible, RevisedStandardVersion.

As Paul corresponded with scattered congregations, answering

their queries about how Christians should live, his statements of
spiritual equality appear less frequently than those about submis-
sion to the social order of the world. Verses in several New
Testament epistles rephrase the same prescription:

Wives, be subject to your husbands,as is fitting in the Lord. Hus-

bands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. Children,
obey your parentsin everything,for this pleasesthe Lord. Fathers,do
not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.Slaves,
 132 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

obey in everything those who are your earthly masters,not with

eyeservice,as men-pleasers,but in singlenessof heart, fearing the
Lord.

Colossians3:18-22, Holy Bible, Revised StandardVersion. Also see Ephesians

5:21-31 or Titus 2:2-7.

Despite his naming outstandingChristian women-Phoebe,Pris-

cilla, Apphia, Lydia, Damaris, Persis-whowere his "helpers,"
Paul deniedthem a public role in worship.

As in all the churchesof the saints,the womenshouldkeepsilencein

the churches.For they are not permitted to speak, but should be
subordinate,as even the law says.If there is anything they desireto
know, let them ask their husbandsat home. For it is shamefulfor a
womanto speakin church.

1 Corinthians4:33-5, Holy Bible, RevisedStandardVersion.

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy
hands without anger or quarreling; also that women should adorn
themselvesmodestlyand sensiblyin seemlyapparel,not with braided
hair or gold or pearls or costly attire but by good deeds, as befits
women who professreligion. Let a woman learn in silence with all
submissiveness. I permit no womanto teachor to haveauthority over
men; she is to keep silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and
Adam was not deceived,but the woman was deceivedand becamea
transgressor.Yet woman will be saved through bearingchildren, if
shecontinuesin faith and love and holiness,with modesty.

1 Timothy 2:8-15, Holy Bible, RevisedStandardVersion.

The issuesraised by women within the first-generationChristian

communitieswould recur in medieval Europe, as they do still in
the twentieth century.
 CHRISTIAN WOMEN IN WESTERN EUROPE 133

8.2 Conversion of the Franks

Clovis, king of the Franks, was converted to Christianity in 496

C.E., in part through the influence of his Christian wife, Clotild.
At that time all the Franks were baptized, but the church had
few priests or local churches within the nation. Ever since the
Emperor Constantine in the fourth century C.E. had legitimized
Christianity in the Roman Empire, missionaries had sought to
establish the church in pagan territories by decree of the con-
verted ruler, rather than by the tedious process of convincing
the mass of subject peoples. And just as Helena, Constantine's
mother, had introduced Christianity to the Roman Court, aris-
tocratic women were often the first Frankish Christians. Clotild
and her noblewomen were relied on for more than their influ-
ence on their families. Their patronage was essential to ex-
tending the church and to actually sprea'ding Christian
doctrines among the people.
The appeal of Christianity to women caught in the warfare
endemic to Germanic expansion in northern Europe is evident in
the story of Radegund, born in the second generation of Frankish
Christians. It was a violent period, in which life-spans were short-
ened by disease, war, assassination, and poisoning. The impact
of violence on women is illustrated by the experiences of
Radegund (ca. 525-587 C.E.) and Clothar, a son of Clovis and
Clotild. Radegund was a Thuringian princess, whose father was
murdered by her uncle. When Radegund's uncle viciously mur-
dered a number of Frankish women and children, war broke out.
The Thuringians were almost destroyed by the Franks. The child
princess was a prize the Frankish victors gambled for, and
Clothar won her. The Franks often married captured aristocratic
women, probably in the hope of gaining the loyalty of their
defeated foes.
Clothar had Radegund educated at his court. After about ten
years, when he was king of the Franks, he married her. Then
he was in his forties, a polygamous man with at least five
wives. Radegund bore no children, an ancient reason for di-
vorce. When she was in her late twenties, Radegund left her
husband to live on her own property. She took religious vows
when she learned that her husband had executed her brother
in 550 C.E. Nevertheless, Clothar's wealth enabled her to found
a convent at Poitiers that became one of the largest in the
 134 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Frankish kingdom. After her death she became a saint. At Poitiers

she wrote a poem about the brutal events of her childhood.

Oh, sadstateof war, malevolentdestiny

That fells proud kingdomsin a suddenslide!
The roovesthat stoodso long in happinessare broken
To lie fallen beneaththe vast charredruin.
The palacecourts,whereart onceflourished
Are vaultednow with sad,glowing ashes.
Towersartfully gilded, then shonegolden-red,
Now drifting ashesblur the glitter to pallor.
The captivemaid given to a hostile lord, her powerfell
From the heightsof glory to the lowest depths.
The entourageof servants,standingresplendent,her
youthful peers
Were deadin a day, besmirchedwith funeral ashes.
The bright attendanthalo of powerful ministers
Now lie still without tomb or funeral service.
The conqueringflame belching,reddensthe goldenhair of
her beloved
While the milk-white womanlies on the ground.
Alas the corpseslie shamefullyunburiedon the field,
An entire people,strewnin a commongrave.
Not Troy alonemust mourn her ruins:
The Thuringianland sufferedequalslaughter.
The matronwas rapt away, with streaminghair, boundfast
Without evena sadfarewell to the householdgods.
Nor could the captivepressa kiss on the threshold
Nor castone backwardglancetoward what was lost.
A wife's nakedfeet trod in her husband'sblood
And the tendersistersteppedover the fallen brother.
The boy tom from his mother'sembrace,his funeral plaint
Hung on her lips, with all her tearsunshed.
So to lose the life of a child is not the heaviestlot,
Gasping,the motherlost evenher pious tears.
I, the barbarianwoman,seeknot to count thesetears,
Nor to keepafloat in the melancholylake of all thosedrops.
Eachone had her own tears;I alonehave them all,
 CHRISTIAN WOMEN IN WESTERN EUROPE 135

Anguish is private and public both to me.

Fatewas kind to thosewhom the enemystruckdown.
I, the sole survivor, mustweepfor them all.

Jo Ann McNamara,JohnE. Halborg, and E. GordonWhatley, eds.,SaintedWomen

of the Dark Ages(Durham,NC: Duke University Press,1992),65-6.

Noble women like Radegund gave their own land to the church,
sometimes for local benefit and occasionally for a nunnery. Nor-
mally such gifts included farms, whose rents went to the convent
or parish church. Often the woman making the donation for a
nunnery joined the community as a nun and became the abbess.
Widows joined for the companionship of women their own age
or to avoid a marriage urged by their families. Younger women
also joined the community to avoid arranged marriages, although
abduction by their families remained a hazard. Escaping worldly
woes undoubtedly motivated some wealthy women who entered
convents, but a spiritual vocation for a life of contemplation and
prayer was common to many who remained in the convents.
Convents offered religious havens only to wealthy women. They
did not accept as sisters the serf and slave women who worked
on the land.
A convent normally functioned as a local church, with the
nuns assisting the priests in the service. Abbesses heard confes-
sions from the monks and nuns attached to the communities.
These nunneries were important to the development of the
Roman Catholic church in the Merovingian dynasty; they pro-
vided shelter for missionaries, their support was often given to
nearby church organizations, and they conducted schools for
boys and girls. Some schools became so famous that they at-
tracted students from as far away as England. Male students be-
came clerks and priests, while females married or entered
convents.
By the time Charlemagne was declared emperor in 800 C.E. a
reform movement in the Catholic church had reduced the inde-
pendence of religious women and cloistered (secluded) the nuns.
The emperor took away farm lands and other income properties
from many of the nunneries, and their autonomy was rescinded
and replaced with control by their bishops. No longer could
nuns assist in the mass; they were restricted to lighting candles
 136 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

and ringing bells because bishops thought the sacraments were

polluted by their touch. Nuns could not leave on a journey
without their bishops' approval, although monks only needed
their superior's permission. Only girls were now allowed to at-
tend convent schools.
Married women did gain from the reform movement's demand
for strict monogamy. No doubt a desire for the improvement of
wives' treatment in marriage was one of the reasons for aristo-
cratic women's support of Christian missionaries earlier in the
fourth and fifth centuries. At that time the church's teachings
were in conflict with Germanic polygamous marriages, frequent
divorces, and adultery. The church sought to impose its doc-
trines, but its leaders proceeded slowly and carefully.
Monogamy without the possibility of divorce as the sole form
of legitimate marriage was a principle that differentiated Chris-
tians from most other peoples of the ancient and medieval
worlds. Christianity promised a wife more security from rivals,
enhanced social status, and gave a superior chance for her chil-
dren to inherit their father's wealth. Even as Catholics gained
European adherents, the church was unable to impress its beliefs
on the male Frankish aristocracy for some three centuries. The
Franks were not only polygamous, the men also had concubines.
Among the aristocracy marriages were easi Iy broken by either
party-mostly by the men.
During Charlemagne's reign a serious effort was begun to
make marriage indissoluble. Charlemagne prohibited the remar-
riage of a divorced man or woman as long as either partner was
still living. Although he had five wives, he followed his own
prohibition after it was made and did not remarry until each of
his wives died, though even in his old age he had children by
four concubines.
It was his son Louis, appropriately called the Pious, who at-
tacked concubinage and tightened the laws on divorce. To re-
duce concubinage, he excluded children born outside of
marriage from inheriting from their fathers. Louis condemned
anyone who repudiated a divorced living mate for any reason
and urged reconciliation even in cases of adultery. He forced
public penance by men who killed or repudiated their wives.
The change in social attitudes can be illustrated by the experi-
ences of Louis and his second wife, Judith of Bavaria.
Louis was forty years old when his first wife, Ermengfard, died.
 CHRISTIAN WOMEN IN WESTERN EUROPE 137

His counselors feared he would become a monk and urged him

to remarry. They were probably surprised with his choice of
Judith, a young woman, reportedly beautiful, cultivated, and mu-
sically gifted.
When their son Charles was born, Judith began trying to ob-
tain an inheritance of a kingdom for him. Louis had already
divided the empire among Ermengfard's sons, so Charles's por-
tion would reduce their shares. Ermengfard's sons organized a
publicity campaign accusing Judith of debauchery, witchcraft,
and adultery with Count Bernard, the court chamberlain. The
proclamation on the reconciliation of divorced couples had just
been published, and they realized that having Judith condemned
for adultery might not alienate her from Louis; they had to physi-
cally separate the couple.
The older sons organized a revolt in 830 C.E. At first successful,
they were able to persuade Louis to convict Judith of adultery
and have her imprisoned in Saint Radegund's nunnery at Poitiers.
But soon Louis allowed Judith to purge herself with an oath, as
Frankish tradition allowed, and reclaimed her as empress. The
sons of Ermengfard tried again, with a second revolt. This time
they sent Judith to Italy and forced Louis to become a monk. All
to no avail. Louis's troops won; he left the monastery and
brought Judith back as empress. Judith's victory on behalf of her
son became evident twenty-five years after the death of Louis,
when Charles the Bald gained the throne of the western portion
of the empire, which encompassed much of modern France.
Charlemagne and Louis lived in a period when education was
patronized by the court. Hence the initial attack on Judith was
made through written tracts; one was entitled Two Books in
Favor of the Sons and against Judith the Wife of Louis. Only after
the written attacks failed did the sons turn to the civil wars that
destroyed much of Carolingian learning.

8.3 Nuns as Popular Authors: Hildegard of Bingen

Medieval western Europe has the distinction of retaining litera-

ture that was written by women. Although women in the ancient
world may have written much, very little that has survived can be
identified with a female author. Most medieval female literature
is on religious subjects-doctrinal debates, prayers, or hymns-
but often in forms difficult for the modern reader to comprehend.
 138 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

In the early medieval years, when feudal manorsdominatedthe

European landscape,all formal education for women and men
was religious. In this era, sainthoodremaineda route to fame for
women. This was the path of St. Clothild, St. Radegund,and St.
Hildegard.
Hildegard of Bingen is an author whose fame has been recov-
ered by feminist scholars.She was a mystic who wrote on scien-
tific subjects.She was also one of the international celebritiesof
her day. She correspondedwith people in all walks of life, in-
cluding popes, emperors, kings, and other nobility, as well as
monks and nuns.
She was born in 1098 C.E. to a noble family. Becauseshe was
the tenth child, her parentsdedicatedher to the church as a tithe.
When she was eight yearsold, she went to live with the highborn
female hermit Jutta of Sponheim,who began educatingher. The
hermit's fame attractedothers who began living at the hermitage.
It becamea monasterywith Jutta as abbess.When Jutta died in
1136, Hildegard was named as her successor.Patricia Labalme
picks up her life's history at that point:

In 1147 she founded a new convent at Rupertsbergnear Bingen,

where she remaineduntil her deathin 1179. Sheknew Latin, Scrip-
ture, the liturgy, some biblical exegesis,music-anumberof songs
are attributedto her-andsomethingof natural scienceand themore
philosophic study of the cosmos.Her visions were read and praised
by popes; a papal commissionto investigateher miracles and vi-
sions gave them a favorable report in 1147.... Her sciencewas
respectedenough to be studied by Paracelsus'teacherin the six-
teenth century; and a twentieth-centuryhistorian of sciencetreats
her as one of the more original medical writers of the Latin West in
the twelfth century.
In her works, Hildegard discussesthe spheresof the heavensin
terms of the elements,the universeas a seriesof concentricspheres;
the zonesof the atmosphere;the seasonsas causedby the winds; the
movementof heavenly bodies; the structure and inner workings of
the humanbody; the nature of metals, stones,plants, trees, and ani-
mals. As a mystic, sheclaimedthat shehad no humansourcesfor her
material, that a voice from heaventold her to speakand write what
she had seen,but there are suggestionsin her works of the influence
 CHRISTIAN WOMEN IN WESTERN EUROPE 139

of current Neoplatonicthought, particularly of the Chartrians.... In

two of her three major visions, Scivias, begunin 1141, and the Liber
divinorum operum simplicis hominis, begun in 1163, Hildegard de-
scribesher visions pictorially and then interpretsthem. The visions
are either symbolic-mountainswith windows in them, winged fig-
ures of great light, the firmament as a huge egg-ornarrative-the
rebellion of the angels and the fall of man. The interpretationsare
eitherreligious-themountainrepresentsthe strengthand stability of
the kingdom of God; the universedeclaresthe omnipotentGod, in-
comprehensiblein his majesty,inestimablein his mysteries-orsci-
entific-telling how the body is formed in the uterus,how the rings
of the firmament are shaped-orphilosophical,the causeof man's
actions.In the Scivias, Hildegardpresentsthe universewith the earth
as a sphereat the centerof concentriczoneswhoseoutermostzones
are spherical,ultimately egg shaped;in the Liber she shifts to the
more conventionalview of concentric spheres .... The Liber also
contains a long section on the creation, using the Genesistext but
interpretingit to include currentscientific views of the cosmos....
Hildegard's visions were somethingof a "best seller"; everyone
who was anyonewanteda copy, and peopletalked aboutthem with-
out havingreadthem. Her propheticgifts were admiredby popesand
emperors.... When PopeAnastasiuswrites to her saying how much
he has heard about her, how highly his predecessorthought of her,
and asking her to sendhim her writings, she answerswith a stirring
attack and exhortationthat must have surprisedhim: "0 man, who
has wearied of restraining the magniloquenceof pride among the
men placedin your bosom.... Why do you not recall thosewho are
shipwrecked,who cannotrise from their troubleswithout help?Why
do you not cut the root of evil which suffocatesthe good and useful
plants? You neglect Justice, the daughterof the king ... who was
committedto your care. You permit her to lie prostrateon the earth,
her diadem smashed,her tunic tom." Hildegard's treatmentof the
emperorFredericBarbarossais similar....
The bulk of the correspondenceis with less important figures,
though the list includes archbishopsand abbots, many of whom
addressHildegard as magistra. Apparentlyher visions and prophe-
cies gave her a reputation for extraordinarywisdom; she was the
"Dear Abby" of the twelfth century, to whom everyonecame or
 140 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

wrote for advice or comfort. . . . An abbesswrites that she wants to

renounceher position and wall herself up in the solitude of a cell.
Hildegard tells her that her mind is cloudedby the evil around her,
that the peaceand rest she seeksis not what God intended,that she
must continue to use the light she has been given to lead others to
pasture.
Elizabeth of Schonau,a visionary herself who later becamea
saint, writes with a distressingproblem: rumors are circulating about
her, and propheticwritings are appearingunderher namewhich she
claims to have nothing to do with. She has beenhaving visions, but
she has kept them hidden becauseshe did not want to appeararro-
gant or as the authorof novelties... until the angel who brings them
angrily accusedher of hiding the gold, God's word, which she was
given to pass on to others; then the angel angrily beat her with a
whip. That convinced her to reveal them to her abbot, who made
them public, but when the predictions did not come true, she was
ridiculed. The next time shesaw the angel,she askedfor an explana-
tion, andhe told her that her propheciesof disasterhad movedpeople
to amendtheir ways, so that God had sparedthem. Unfortunately,
peoplecontinuedto make fun of her so she turned to Hildegard for
consolation.Hildegard told her that man is a small, earthenvessel,
made by God to do his work; all creaturesbut man follow God's
commands.Those who sing God's mysteries are like a trumpet,
which can give forth a sound only if someoneblows into it. She
endedwith a confessionand a prayer: "I too lie in the cowardiceof
fear, sometimesmaking a small soundon the trumpet by meansof
the living light; whence God help me, that 1 may remain in his
service."...
Hildegardhad problemsof her own in her administration,someof
which are describedin the letters.Towardthe endof her life, a young
man who had been excommunicatedwas buried in the cemetery
adjoining her convent,and the ecclesiasticalauthoritiesof the region
demandedthat the body be removed.She refusedto comply on the
ground that he had received the last rites. Even when her convent
was placed under interdict [excommunicated],she held firm, and
after considerablecorrespondenceand negotiation, the ban was
lifted. Shewas, in other words, capableof practicalaction, as well as
of theoreticadvice.
 CHRISTIAN WOMEN IN WESTERN EUROPE 141

PatriciaH. Labalme.ed., BeyondTheir Sex: LearnedWomenof the EuropeanPast

(New York: New York University Press,1980),22-7.

8.4 A Nun's Poetry

Christians, accepting the Jewish account in Genesis of Eve's role

in tempting Adam, agreed that women's redemption depended
on their assuming the burden of motherhood. Religious women
like Hildegard, married as virgins in celibacy to Christ, never
became mothers and, along with many of their male contempo-
raries, elevated the miraculous virginity of Mary, whose son's
birth did not impair her chastity, to a central place in worship.
Hildegard wrote many lyric verses contrasting Eve's fall with
Mary's redemption.

Eve
Piercedby the light of God,
o shining maid Mary,
flooded with the Word of God,
your body blossomed
from the enteringSpirit of God,
who breathedon you and purgedyou
of the poison that Eve took
in the breachof purity-
when shecaughtthe infection
from the devil's suggestion.

The Virgin Mary

Becausea womanbuilt the houseof death
a shining maid tore it down:
so the sublimestblessing
comesin the form of a woman
surpassingall creation,
for God becamea man in a maid
mosttenderandblessed.

Barbara Newman, Sister of Wisdom: St. Hildegard's Theology of the Feminine

(Berkeley: University of Califomi a Press,1987), 174, 185.
 142 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

8.5 Christine de Pisan, Professional Writer

Hildegard was a mystic and an abbess.Another woman writer,
Christine de Pisan (ca. 1365-1430),was unique-aprofessional
who managedto support her family largely through the sale of
her writings. Patricia Labalmeinterpretsher life:
She was brought from Bologna to the French court by her father,
who was physician, astrologer,and important councillor to Charles
v. Though hermother thought girls should spin, her father thought
them none the worse for letters and gave her a good vernacular
educationin Italian and Frenchand the rudimentsof Latin learning.
Widowed young from her marriage to a royal secretary,Christine
decidednot to remarry, as most women would have done in her day,
but insteadto find a way to support her children and her widowed
motherby herself. To consoleherselffrom the lawsuits that assailed
her inheritanceshe beganto study [history] .... She went on to read
philosophyand poetry, and finally to write herself.
The corpus she producedwas astonishingin size and range: lyric
poetry,courtly romance,moral tales,literary criticism, instructionfor
knights, instruction for women, and then a set of tracts on important
public matters-pleasfor the end of schismin the church,and for the
end of immorality at the court, and especiallyfor peaceamong the
warring factions in France.And shewas listenedto. Her manuscripts,
dedicatedto important personages,male and female, brought fat
pursesin return, and they were quickly copied for aristocraticlibrar-
ies in France, Burgundy, and Italy. This was partly becauseof the
importanceher late father had once held at court and partly because
she wrote with imaginationand intelligence.But she also was intro-
ducing successfullyinto Francecertainof the literary roles developed
by her Italian countrymen, Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, and
adaptingthem to the style of her sex.... If shesometimesreferredto
herself as "a woman in the shadow of ignorance,"she hastenedto
add, "but endowed by God's gift and nature's ... in the love of
study." If she sometimesreferred to herself as "a poor creature,a
little ignorantwoman," shealso announced,"now, I am truly a man."

PatriciaH. Labalme,ed., BeyondTheir Sex: LearnedWomenafthe EuropeanPast

(New York: New York University Press,1980), 157-8.
 CHRISTIAN WOMEN IN WESTERN EUROPE 143

When de Pisan identified herself as a man, she meant that in

dealing with the lawsuits over her inheritanceand developing
a writing career, she was aggressiveand independent.She did
not hesitate to attack misogyny. In this document de Pisan
criticizes the mockery of women in Jean de Meung's popular
Romande la Rose:

How can it be good and useful that he [de Meung] accusesso

excessively,impetuously,and falsely, blamesand defameswomen
for several serious vices, claiming that their morals are full of
perversity,and throughoutso many rejoindersand by meansof all
of his charactershe cannot seem to repeat his accusationsoften
enough?...
He is so insistentabout not telling a secretto a woman, who is so
bereft of discretion, as he recalls, and I can't imagine where in the
devil he found so much nonsenseand so many futile words as are
hurled at them throughout that long trial, but I beg all those who
considerthis quite authentic and put so much faith in it to tell me
how many men they have known to be accused,killed, hanged,or
even reproachedin the street becauseof the denunciationof their
wives; I think they will find them very thinly scattered.Although it
would certainly make good sense,and also be praiseworthy,for ev-
eryone to keep a secretto himself for greatersecurity, as there are
alwaysa certainnumberof evil people,andrecently,as I haveheard,
someonewas accusedand even hanged for having confided in a
companionhe trusted....
Moreover, the poet speaksso unnecessarilyand in such an ugly
way of married women who deceive their husbands,a matter of
which he can scarcelyknow from experienceand of which he speaks
very categorically.... Heavens,what an exhortation, and to what
good purpose?Indeed, as he blameswomen in general,I am led to
believe it is becausehe has never known or frequentedany virtuous
women,but throughknowing a few who are dissoluteand evil, as the
lecherousare in the habit of doing, he believedor pretendedto know
what all are like, just becausehe neverhad any experienceof others.
If only he had blamedthe dishonestonesand suggestedthat this sort
should be shunnedit would have beengood and just advice. But no!
insteadhe accusedall womenwithout exception.
 144 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Charity Cannon Willard, "The Franco-Italian ProfessionalWriter: Christine de

Pizan," in KatharinaM. Wilson, ed., Medieval WomenWriters (Athens: University
of GeorgiaPress,1984), 342-3. © 1984by the University of GeorgiaPress.

Christine de Pisan wrote a series of popular self-help books. Her

advice to the wife of a knight on how to manage the estate while
her husband was at war is interesting for two reasons. It shows
what varied information the wife needed and how much research
de Pisan had to do to write it. Remember that local knights had a
yearly obligation to fight for their lords, which few were able to
avoid when France was fighting England during the Hundred
Years' War.

A style of life somewhatdifferent from that of baronesses is suitable

for the simple ladies who live in fortified placesor on their estates
outsideof town, but as most often knights, squires,and othergentle-
men must travel to follow the wars, it befits their wives to be wise
and able to managetheir affairs capably, becausethey must spend
much of their lives in their householdswithout their husbands,who
are often at court or even in distant countries.Thus it turns out that
they may have the responsibilityof managingtheir property and be
placedin chargeof their revenueand their lands, so it is important
for any woman in such a situation, if she wants to act with good
judgment,to know the yearly incomeof her estate.Sheshouldman-
age to the best of her abilities, by gentle word and good counsel
addressedto her husband,to seeto it that they confer togetherand
agreeto follow the courseof action best suited to their revenues,so
that at the year's end they do not find themselvesin debt to their
retainersor other creditors,for certainly there is no disgracein lead-
ing one's life accordingto one's income, howeversmall it may be,
but it is rathershamefulto live so extravagantlythat every day credi-
tors cometo shoutand to bellow at the door, sometimesevenraising
a club in menace,or that it becomesnecessaryto offend one'smen
or tenants to the point where some sort of extortion results. It is
important for such a lady to be informed about the rights of domain
or fiefs, of secondaryfiefs, contributions,the lord's right of harvest,
sharedcrops,and all suchthings as constitutethe rights of possession
accordingto the customsof various countries,so that she won't be
 CHRISTIAN WOMEN IN WESTERN EUROPE 145

misled. Becausethe world is full of governors of lands and of

lord's jurisdictions, who are intentionally dishonest,she must also
be aware of all this and be able to protect herself so that it won't
tum to her disadvantage.If she is knowledgeablein accountsand
often gives attention to them, she will also inform herself as to
how her agentsdeal with her tenantsor men, so that thesewill not
be deceivedor annoyedbeyondreasonablebounds,for this would
be against both her and her husband.In the matter of penalties
againstpoor folk, she should be, for the love of God, more com-
passionatethan rigorous.
With all thesethings, she should be a good manager,knowledge-
able aboutfarming, knowing in what weatherand in what seasonthe
fields should be worked, the best way to have the furrows run ac-
cording to the lay of the land, and whetherit is dry or moist land, the
depth of the furrows, and that they shouldbe straightand evenly laid
out and properly sown with seedsuitablefor the land. Likewise, she
should know about the work in the vineyards,if the land should lie
in a country where there are grapes,and she should seeto it that she
has good workers and supervisorsin all such undertakings,and not
hire peoplewho changemastersfrom seasonto season,for that is a
bad sign, or workers who are too old, for they will be lazy and
feeble, or too young, for they will be frivolous. She should also
insist that they get up early, and if she is a good managershe will
not dependon anyoneelse to see to this, but will herself arise, put
on a cloak, go the window, and watch to seethem go out, for they
are usually inclined to be lazy in this matter. She should often take
her recreationin the fields in order to seehow the work is progress-
ing, for there are many who would willingly stop raking the ground
beyond the surfaceif they thought nobody would notice, and there
are those who are capableof sleepingin the shadeof a willow tree
in the field, leaving the workhorseor oxen to grazemeanwhilein a
field, caring only to be able to say in the eveningthat they have put
in their day. The good managerwill keep her eye on all this. Fur-
thermore,when the grain is ripening, even as early as the month of
May, she will not wait for the seasonwhen labor is in short supply,
but will engageher workers for August, taking good, strong and
diligent fellows, and shewill arrangeto pay them either with money
or in grain.
 146 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Charity Cannon Willard, "The Franco-Italian ProfessionalWriter: Christine de

Pizan," in KatharinaM. Wilson, ed., Medieval WomenWriters (Athens: University
of GeorgiaPress,1984), 343-4. © 1984 by the University of GeorgiaPress.

This was only the first half of her instructions. The remainder
dealt with the care of animals (sheep, cattle, oxen, and horses);
winter work (cutting walnut posts for grapevines); work for her
maids (milking, weeding, hunting for herbs); and the preparation
of cloth, both woolen and linen.
8.6 ParisianWomen'sOccupationsin 1292 and 1313 C.E.
Elite women have dominated this chapter as their class domi-
nated medieval European literate culture. By the late medieval
years, more women lived in the growing towns. Some were liter-
ate, but few of their own writings are preserved. Many towns-
women were workers. Scholars trace their occupations, incomes,
and the conditions of their labor through tax lists and inventories
of estates. The following reading is David Herlihy's summary of
two tax lists for Paris. Notice the variety of occupations in which
women are employed.

In the large survey of 1292, nearly 48 percentof the male headsof

householdsshow an occupation,as do more than 39 percentof the
femaleheads.In the smallersurveyof 1313, the percentagesshow an
occupationincreaseto 74 [percent] for the men and 47 [percent] for
the women. The reasonfor the increasedpercentagesseemsagain to
be the omission of many poor personsand presumablythe unem-
ployedin the later survey....
What was the contribution of women in the large and complex
economyof Paris?...
In 1292, women appearin 172 occupations;in 1313, they are seen
in 130 occupations.(The comparablefigures for men are 325 occu-
pations in the earlier year and 276 in the later.) Women are thus
representedin a large numberof tradesand in all the principal eco-
nomic sectors.As drapers,money changers,jewelers,and mercers,
they appearamong the richest professions.There are even women
moneyers,or mint workers. They are copyist and artist. There are
women tavern keepers,firewood dealers, and even masons,shoe-
makers,girdle makers,millers, smiths,shield makersand archers....
A lady juggler and dancer are present among the taxpayers of
 CHRISTIAN WOMEN IN WESTERN EUROPE 147

1292. Very few occupationsseem to have been composedexclu-

sively of males.Thosewhich involved either distant travel or heavy
hauling-suchas the occupationsof sailors and porters-appear
without women. Women were also excluded from some licensed
professionssuch as thoseof notary and lawyer.... Although women
show a wide distribution acrossthe occupations,they also show a
markedtendencyto specializein particulartrades....
Not surprisingly, the vast majority of householdservants[197]
were female.... Most householdservantswere probablyyoung girls
newly immigratedfrom the countryside.
Women were importantin the preparationand saleof food. There
are five women "friers," five millers, five sellersof milk, four soup
makers,four sellersof oil, threebrewers,three sellersof cheese,two
wine dealers,and several types of bakers ... in the taille [list] of
1292. Somewhat surprisingly, professionalcooks were usually
men-II out of 12 in 1313.
Women were prominent as regratieres, peddlerswho sold food-
stuffs and salt. They were also numerousamongthe peddlersof rags
and old clothes. Women washed the clothes, although eight male
lavandiersalso appearin the taille of 1292.
Women were also very prominentin the care of the sick and the
prescription of medicine. There are eight lady doctors and two
ventrieres,or midwives, at Paris in 1292. Three other women with
the title of mestresse(mistress)may have beendoctors.... Barbers
too performedmedical services,such as bloodletting or the setting
of bones; thirteen were women in both 1292 and 1313. The many
nurses(twelve nourrices in 1292) in the tax lists were all female.
Spice dealerswere also pharmacists;two were women in 1292 and
two again in 1313. Finally, women administeredthe women'sbath-
housesat Paris (therewere three estuveresses [keepersof hot baths]
in 1313),which adult maleswere not supposedto enter.
Notableamongthe industriesthat employedwomen in significant
numberswere the saleof wax andcandlemaking ....
An industry that women dominatedwas the making of silk cloth.
The raw silk had to be imported, chiefly by Lombard and Jewish
merchants,from southern Europe, but women almost excusively
were engagedin producingthe silk fabric....
As the chief spinnersand weaversof silk, women were very visi-
 148 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

ble in the making of luxury fabrics and clothes. They embroidered

cloths . . . and made lace . . . , purses . . . , pillow casesand altar
cloths ... , andribbons,coifs, and hats....
Gold threadwas often used in embroidery,and this probably ex-
plains the appearance of womengoldsmiths....
Womenwere visible too in the productionof anotherfabric: linen.
. . . There were eight female linieres registeredat Paris in 1292 (as
comparedwith elevenmales)and four linen weavers....
Patternsof employmentare different in regardto woolens,by far
the largest of the fabric industries. There were seventy-threemale
weaversat Paris in 1292 but only nine female, and theselatter may
have beenworking in silk or linen.... Women doubtlessspun wool
into yam, but there are only six spinnersidentified at Paris in 1292,
and we cannotbe certain that they were spinning wool rather than
flax or silk. It almost appearsas if the spinning of wool, though
widely done by Parisianwomen, was not considereda primary pro-
fessionworth namingin the surveys.

David Herlihy, Opera Muliebria: Womenand Work in MedievalEurope(Philadel-

phia: Temple University Press,1990), 142-8. © 1990 by McGraw-Hill, Inc. Re-
producedby permissionof McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Suggested Further Readings

Books on medieval European women are plentiful. What follows

are suggestions to illustrate the depth of what might be found in
the average college library. For those interested in France, Su-
zanne Fonay Wemple, Women in Frankish Society: Marriage and
the Cloister, 500 to 900 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 1981) is a good introduction. The latest study of Hildegard
of Bingen is Barbara Newman, Sister of Wisdom: St. Hildegard's
Theology of the Feminine (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1987). Newman concentrates on textual analysis, but she
includes biographical details. Judith C. Brown, Immodest Acts:
The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy (New York: Ox-
ford University Press, 1986) is about a seventeenth-century reli-
gious woman whose story is told mostly from the Catholic
church's investigation of her life. Several published studies focus
on women's work. An excellent introduction is a collection of
 CHRISTIAN WOMEN IN WESTERN EUROPE 149

articles edited by Barbara A. Hanawalt, Women and Work in

Preindustrial Europe (Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
1986), in which peasants,slaves, wet nurses, midwives, and
urban women are discussed.Two volumes of A History of
Women in the West, George Duby and Michelle Perrot, eds.
(Cambridge,MA: Harvard University Press,1992) include articles
on topics discussedin this chapter. Volume 1, From Ancient
Goddessesto Christian Saints, considersearly Christian women.
Volume 2, Silencesof the Middle Ages, is entirely on women in
medieval Europe. Articles written by different authors are
grouped into themes: norms of control, family and social strate-
gies, vestiges and images of women, and women's words. An
excellent sampleof documentscan be found in Julia O'Faolain
and Lauro Martines, eds., Not in God's Image: Womenin History
from the Greeksto the Victorians (New York: Harper and Row,
1973).
This page intentionally left blank:
 -9-
THE MIDDLE EAST
Islam, the Family, and the
Seclusion of Women

A gardensceneIrom early fifteenth-centuryIran. (The Metropolitan Museum of

An, the Cora Timken BurnettCollection of PersianMiniaturesand Other PersianArt Objects,
bequestof Cora Timken Burnell, 1957.)
 152 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

The customary date for the beginning of the civilization and

religion of Islam is 622 c.E. In that year Muhammad left Mecca
and becamethe governor of Medina, anothertown on the west
side of the Arabian peninsula. The new religion exploded out
from Medina-in 40 years Muslims, convertsto Islam, had con-
quered an area that included the rest of the Arabian peninsula
and modern Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Muhammadand those
converted to Islam during his lifetime shared the values of the
Bedouins, nomadic herders of camels and goats. Muhammad
received revelations from Allah, or God, that were appropriate
for his pastoral followers. These revelationshave been collected
and published under the title of the Quran. As Muslims con-
quered large commercial urban cities, they faced different cul-
tures and social problems. Over the centuries Muslim scholars
interpretedthe revelationsfound in the Quran.
The last reading in this chapterdiscussessomeof the conflicts
pertaining to women that arose in the Islamic cultures. It de-
scribes Muslim women in Cairo, Egypt, in the middle of the
fourteenthcentury. By then Egypt had been ruled by Muslims for
seven centuries.Historians have often portrayedMuslim women
as oppressedby unusuallysevereforms of patriarchy. In describ-
ing tenth-centuryBaghdadthe statementis unquestionablyaccu-
rate. Overall, however, it is inaccurate, becauseMuslim
women's rights have varied significantly with time, by region,
and by class. There is far too much diversity to be adequately
described in a few pages, but a few instancescan suggestthe
complexity of the topic.

9.1 The Quran

Verses in the Quran are seldom quoted by authors writing for a

generalaudiencebecausethe exact meaningsof words employed
in the translationsmay not be clear on a first reading. As a result,
explanatorynotes on a critical verse may be longer than the origi-
nal quotation. The following verse is relatively understandable
and is specifically mentionedin the subsequentreading.
And say to the believing women
That they shouldlower
Their gazeand guard
Their modesty:that they
 WOMEN IN ISLAM 153

Shouldnot display their

Beautyand ornamentsexcept
What [must ordinarily] appear
Thereof: that they should
Draw their veils over
Their bosomsandnot display
Their beauty except
To their husbands,their fathers,
Their husband'sfathers,their sons,
Their husbands'sons,
Their brothersor their brothers'sons,
Or their sisters'sons,
Or their women,or the slaves
Whom their right hands
Possess,or male servants
Freeof physicalneeds,
Or small childrenwho
Have no senseof the shame
Of sex; and that they
Shouldnot strike their feet
In order to draw attention
To their hiddenornaments....

The Holy Quran,24:32.

The Quran was written in an Arab society that had numerous

practices of sexual inequality. Most Muslims believe that the
Arabs were ignorant barbarians before the divinely revealed
Quran inspired reforms, including reforms regarding women.
This belief has been challengedby some Western scholarsand
somefeminist writers, who disputethe amountof reform accom-
plished by the Quran. Nikki Keddie writes:

What appearsto be true is that the Quran prescribed some im-

provementsfor women(but on balancenot for thosefrom matrilineal
tribes) and some limitations. Improvementswere not revolutionary,
nor do we know enoughaboutpracticesof all tribes to evaluatethem
precisely.A clear Quranic reform was the outlawing of femaleinfan-
 154 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

ticide, and anotherwas paymentof the male dower to the bride, not
to her guardian. Possibleimprovementsfor some were regulations
aboutfemale inheritance-halfthat of a male heir-andof women's
control over their property; thesehad beenknown, however,among
pre-Islamic Arabs, as evidencedby Muhammad'sfirst wife, the
wealthy widowed merchantKhadija. Much less favorable Quranic
prescriptionswere free divorce for men, while for women divorce
becamevery difficult, and polygamyfor men. Predominantly,pre-Is-
lamic Arab women had equality in divorce. Polygamy is presented
by the Quran as helping the condition of unprotectedwidows and
orphans,who were numerousin those warlike times. Men are first
admonishednot to take additional wives unlessthey can treat them
all equally, and they are then told that no matterhow hard they try,
they will not be able to treat all equally. This contradictionis taken
by modernistMuslims to show that the Quran meantto discourageor
forbid polygamy, but this is unlikely, as polygamy is encouragedin
specific circumstances.Veiling and seclusionare not enjoinedin the
Quran, although later Muslim interpretationsays that they are. One
verse of the Quran tells women to veil their bosomsand hide their
ornaments,and the term "ornaments"was later taken to meanevery-
thing excepthands,feet, and perhapsthe face, thoughthis interpreta-
tion makes no logical or linguistic sense.If everything was to be
veiled, therewould be no point in orderingbosomsveiled separately.
Another versetells women to draw their cloaks tightly aroundthem
so that they may be recognizedand not annoyed.Theseare the only
words takento refer to veiling.
Other verses,however, indicate that after Muhammadhad taken
several wives and had some problems with men talking to these
wives, there was a revelation saying that men should talk to the
Prophet'swives only from behinda curtain and that his wives should
be limited in other ways as well. The Prophet'swives apparently
cameto be subjectto types of veiling and seclusionthat resembled
thoselater followed by the urban upperand middle classes.It would
be simplistic to say, however,that later veiling was simply an emula-
tion of the practices of the Prophet's wives. In her book on
Muhammad'sfavorite wife, Aisha, Nabia Abbott notesthat this turn
toward veiling the wives was itself a reflection of greaterprosperity
among the Muslim ruling group, which enabledthem to hire ser-
 WOMEN IN ISLAM 155

vants, and to keep women from duties outsidethe home, and also of
the Muslims' greater contact with surrounding societies where
women were veiled.* Hence as the society of the Muslims came
increasinglyto resemblethat of surroundingand conqueredpeoples,
it is not surprisingthat many of thosepeoples'customsand practices
regarding women, which were found appropriateto their stratified
social structuresand their reliance on family regulation to maintain
generalsocial control, were also found appropriateby the Muslims
and were adoptedor adaptedby them.
In addition to the Quranic points on female behavioralreadymen-
tioned, men are given control of their wives, extendingin somecases
to beating, and adulterersof both sexesare punished,when there is
confessionor four eyewitnessesto the act, by lashing.
It is often said that Islamic practices regarding women are so
resistant to change becausethey have the sanction of the Quran,
which believing Muslims take to be the literal word of God. Al-
though this has sometruth, we should be awareof how much break-
i ng and bending of Quaranic admonitions there have been
throughoutMuslim history.... Adultery or fornication have rarely
been punishedin accordancewith the Quran's teachings:the Qura-
nic four eyewitnessesare rarely demandedand very often the girl or
woman is killed by a member of her own family-frequently her
brother. Stoning to death, a custom practiced by Jews and some
Christians,was sometimesadoptedand is often consideredIslamic,
even thoughthe Quran saysotherwise.
In general,the Quran was followed on sexual and other matters
when it was not too inconvenientor repugnantto men or the patriar-
chal family to do so, and not followed when it was. The divergences
went mostly in the direction of reviving and reinforcing patriarchal
tribal customsas in rules of inheritance,or else in adoptingcustoms
from the Byzantinesand Persians,such as veiling and seclusion,and
readingthosecustomsback into the Quran. In somecases,however,
practice might be less male-dominatedthan a mere reading of the
Quran might suggest,notably with regard to divorce. Since mar-
riages werecarefully arrangedand the groom'sparentspaid a signifi-

*Nabia Abbott, Aishah the Beloved of Mohammed(Chicago: The University of

ChicagoPress,1942).
 156 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

cant bride-price,the groom could be in trouble with his family if he

divorced quickly or lightly. Polygamy was often favored over di-
vorce.

Nikki R. Keddie, "The Pastand Presentof Women in the Muslim World," Journal
o/World History 1 (1990): 77-108.

9.2 Aisha, Muhammad's Beloved Wife

As Keddie mentioned,Muhammad'sexperienceswith his wives

are still cited as sanctions for Muslim family practices. Since
Aisha was his favorite, following the deathof Khadija, she was an
actor or observerin many significant events in the Prophet'slife.
She was also the youngestof the wives and lived more than four
decadesbeyond his death.Thus she is one of the most important
of the traditionalists, thosewho heardand transmittedeventsand
words from the Prophet'slife. She is credited with 2,210 tradi-
tions in the hadith. Few women have been as notable in the
history of a major world religion. Aisha's father, Abu Bakr, was
Muhammad'sfirst convert outside his family and was the second
most influential friend (after Khadija) in his career. Aisha was
born about614 C.E. Nabia Abbott wrote her biography:

Sheherselfcould not rememberthe time when both her parentswere

not Muslims and when Muhammad himself did not visit at her
father'shousemorning and evening.DoubtlessMuhammadhadtaken
somenotice of this lively girl-child of his "brother" in the faith....
Thoughthe advantagesof a marriagebetweenMuhammadand the
family of Abu Bakr may have beenearly and readily evidentto both
parties,yet it seemsthat neitherof them was the first to conceivethe
idea of a marriage.... Tradition generallycredits a maternalaunt of
Muhammad, Khawlah bint Hakim, with putting the idea into
Muhammad'shead.... Tradition reports that Khawlah served the
prophet,which may meanthat she sometimestook careof his simple
householdafter Khadija'sdeath.Shewas closeenoughto him to feel
free to suggestthat he marry again.
"Whom shall I marry, 0 Khawlah?You women are best knowing
in thesematters,"answeredMuhammad.
"If you wish a virgin, there is the daughterof him who you love
 WOMEN IN ISLAM 157

best, Aisha bint Abu Bakr; but if you wish a nonvirgin, there is the
widow Sawdahbint Zamahwho believedin you and followed you."
"Go," saidMuhammad,"bespeakthem both for me."
... Muhammad,within a few months of Khadija's death in A.D.
619, married in quick successionthe widow Sawdahand the six-
year-oldAisha. The marriageof the latter, however,was not consum-
mateduntil threeyearslater in Medina.

Nabia Abbott, Aishah the Belovedof Mohammed(Chicago: University of Chi-

cago Press, 1942), 1-4. © 1942 by the University of Chicago. In this and in
subsequentextractsfrom this book, the spellingsof Aisha and Muhammadhave
beenmodernized.

Muhammad'sconsummationof his marriageto Aisha when she

was nine yearsold is the basisof the belief of orthodox Muslims
that marriage to a woman as young as nine is permitted. His
polygamous marriagesand acquisition of a concubine are the
basisfor later Muslim family law.
Muhammadbuilt a mosque,and for membersof his family a
numberof small private apartmentswere built in the court of the
mosque.Aisha lived in one.

But, wife or no wife, she was at heart still a child, not yet ready to
put away childish things. The elderly Muhammadunderstoodand let
nature take its course. Coming home, he would see his child-wife
busy with her toys.
"What are these,0 Aisha?" he would ask.
"Solomon'shorses,"or "My girl-dolls," would come her uncon-
cerned answer. Muhammadsmiling watched her at play. On other
occasionshe would find her surroundedby her playmates,who see-
ing him approachwould disperseor go into hiding, thus spoiling the
play businessof the day. But Muhammad,so Aisha herselftells us,
would call these children together again and himself join in their
games.

Nabia Abbott, Aishah the Belovedof Mohammed(Chicago: University of Chicago

Press,1942),7-8. © 1942 by the University of Chicago.
 158 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Muhammad continued to marry women, usually widows. The

next wife was Hafsah, the daughterof Umar ibn al-Khattab, an-
other supporterand an ally of Abu Bakr. Wives in a harem are
traditionally jealous of each other. However, Aisha and Hafsah
were friends. As the numberof wives increasedit was natural for
them to divide into factions. The factions within the harem were
allied with factions outsidethe harem. As Nabia Abbott explains,
with Muhammad'smarriage in 626 C.E. to Umm Salamahof the
Makhzumite clan, a family rift occurred that reflected outside
rivalries:
Aisha and Hafsah,acting as one in the interestof their fathers,repre-
sentedthe party in power. Vmm Salamahleanedtoward Fatima and
Ali [Muhammad'sdaughterand her husband]and, as Muhammad's
harem increased,drew into her circle Ramlah bint Abi Sufyan, ...
and Maimunah bint al-Harith, both of whom Muhammadmarried,
primarily for political reasons .... Here, then, were reflectedthe ear-
liest political partiesin Islam. Aisha and Hafsahrepresentedthe ple-
beianbut powerful Abu Bakr and Vmar, who, having wholeheartedly
launchedand startedMuhammadon a successfulprophetic career,
were ambitiousto reaptheir rewardsas heirs to his power. There was
the aristocracy of Mecca representedby the Makhzumite Vmm
Salamahand the VmayyadVmm Habibah.There was finally the ahl
aI-bait, or legitimist party, with the timid Fatimafor its main hope....
With Aisha's party in power the other two, eachopposedto or envi-
ous of it, found it convenientsometimesto unite their forces; though
at other times their own specific ambitionsandjealousiesled them to
go their separateway[s], as groupsand even as individuals. The rest
of Muhammad'swives, with no particularaxesof their own to grind,
allowed their emotionsor the demandsof the hour to sway them now
toward Aisha, now towardV mm Salamah.

Nabia Abbott, Aishah the Belovedof Mohammed(Chicago: University of Chicago

Press,1942), 15-16. © 1942 by the University of Chicago.

Not only were the followers of Muhammaddivided into factions,

but there were others in Medina, called "hypocrites," who did
not support him, and some of thesewere ready to spread unfa-
vorable gossip. Aisha, in the "affair of the slander," provided
 WOMEN IN ISLAM 159

them with a unusual opportunity to attack the prophet'sfamily.

The incident occurred on the return from a battle. In battle
women cared for the wounded, carried water, and exhortedthe
warriors to greater efforts. Muhammad'swives frequently went
into battles with him. Aisha had accompaniedMuhammad on
this expedition.

On the last day of the returnjourney orderswere given to breakcamp

in the dark and early hours of the morning. Aisha left the crowd and
walked out somedistanceto satisfy a natural need.On her return she
misseda necklaceof Yamaniteagatesthat shehad beenwearing.She
retracedher stepsin searchof it and eventuallyfound it. Returningto
the camp, she found the groundsdeserted.To her cry for help there
cameno answer.For the men, assumingAisha to be in her litter, had
placedit on her camel and led it away. They thought nothing of the
lightnessof the load, for Aisha was a light and slendergirl. There
was nothing for her now to do but sit and wait in the hopesthat her
absencewould be soon discoveredand a searchparty sent back for
her. Waiting therealonein the still hours of the morning shesoonfell
asleep.She awoke to find an embarrassedyoung man, Safwan ibn
al-Muattal, and his lone camel by her side. Gallantly the young man
helpedher to mount his camel and silently he led her on the way to
Medina. Her absencewas not discovereduntil Muhammadand his
party had reachedMedina late in the afternoon.But presentlySafwan
arrived leadinghis camelbearingthe missingAisha.
Muhammadseemsto have dismissedthe matter there, but not so
someof the "faithful" and certainly not the "hypocrites."...
As the days ran into weeksthe scandalassumedalarming propor-
tions, yet nonedaredmentionit to Aisha. She,however,had senseda
definite coolnesstoward her on the part of Muhammad.Something
like a month passedbefore one of the women told her of the scandal
that had becomethe talk of the town.

Nabia Abbott, Aishah the Belovedof Mohammed(Chicago: University of Chicago

Press,1942), 30-2. © 1942 by the University of Chicago.

Aisha soughther parents'advice, but they could think of nothing.

"By this time Muhammad himself was no doubt thoroughly
 160 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

alarmedat the magnitudeof the scandaland the political signifi-

cance it could assume"(Abbott, 33). He was probably torn be-
tween his love for Aisha and doubts of her virtue. He talked to
Ali, his son-in-law, who was critical of Aisha; Ali said, "0 Mes-
sengerof Allah, Allah has placed no narrow limits on you. Many
are the women like her. Examine her maid for the truth of the
matter" (Abbott, 33). The maid supportedAisha, as did most of
the othersto whom Muhammadturned. Then he brought up the
matter from the pulpit of the mosque, causing accusationsand
counteraccusations to fly, until he quieted the crowd. The next
morning Aisha's parents were with her when Muhammad en-
tered her housefor the first time in about a month. He pleaded,
"0 Aisha if you are innocent Allah will absolve you. But if you
are guilty, ask forgiveness of Allah and repent, for Allah pardons
thoseof his servants who confessand repent" (Abbott, 35).
She expectedher parentswould defend her. When they didn't,
she proclaimed her innocence,called on Allah's help, and re-
tired to her bed. Soon after Muhammad"began to show someof
the physical symptomsgenerally accompanyinghis revelations"
(Abbott, 35-6). The Prophetsaid,

"Good tidings, 0 Aisha," he called out to her. "Allah most high has
exoneratedyou."
"Rise and cometo Muhammad,"urgedher parents.
"I shall neithercome to him nor thank him. Nor will I thank both
of you who listenedto the slanderand did not deny it. I shall rise,"
sheconcluded,"to give thanksto Allah alone."
Muhammadwent out to the peopleand gave utteranceto his reve-
lations which are to be found in Surah 24 of the Quran and which
still form the Islamic law of adultery.
Nabia Abbott, Aishah the Belovedof Mohammed(Chicago: University of Chicago
Press,1942), 36-7. © 1942 by the University of Chicago.

This Surah requiresfour witnessesfor the conviction of adultery.

Muhammaddied in 632 C.E., when he was sixty-two and Aisha
was eighteen.She was too young to have had much influence on
Muhammad, although she remained his favorite until the last.
Aisha lived 46 yearsafter his death,and in her maturity she made
importantcontributionsto Islam.
 WOMEN IN ISLAM 161

Her father, Abu Bakr, was namedthe first caliph, and his ally
Umar was the second.Practically nothing is recordedof Aisha's
activities during these years, when her faction controlled Islam.
Muhammad'swives were called the Mothers of the Believers.
Peoplecame to Aisha and the others for guidancebasedon the
Prophet'spracticesand words.
With the assilssinationof Umar, the leadershipof Islam shifted
out of the control of Aisha's allies. She gradually becamemore
public in her opposition to the new caliph. Umar's successor
Uthman created opposition with his nepotism. Aisha made in-
flammatory speechesagainst him at the mosque in Medina. As
the opposition began to call for his blood, she backed off and
went on a pilgrimageto Mecca. When Uthman was assassinated
and her enemy Ali, Muhammad'sson-in-law, was made caliph,
she helped organizean opposition from Mecca. Eventually civil
war broke out, and Aisha played an active role in the first and
only battle, the Battle of the Camel.
Aisha's coleaders,Talhah and Zubair, had overthrown Ali's
governor in Basra. Ali led an army against them. They met in
battle December4, 656 C.E. Aisha rode in an armoredenclosure
(pavilion) on her well-known camel Askar.

Kab ibn Sur led Aisha to the sceneof the attack in the hope that her
presenceand influence might yet avert a major clash. Seatedin a
mail-coveredpavilion mountedon her own camel,Askar, Aisha went
into the midst of the fray. But it was of no use. The fight was on in
earnest,and the Basranswere getting so much the worst of it that
they beganto take flight. It was then that Aisha, herselfno coward,
rose to the emergencyof the situation. She orderedKab to leave her
and approachthe front ranks with cries for peaceand thejudgmentof
the Quran, giving him, accordingto someversions,her own copy of
the sacredtext to raise aloft and securethe attention and hoped-for
complianceof the fighters. But Kab was immediately shot down by
an arrow. Aisha herselfstrovevaliantly to halt the fight and rally her
forces with loud and repeatedcries of "0 my sons, endurance!Re-
memberAllah Most High and the Reckoning." When this failed to
stop the fight, she tried once again, this time with a curse on the
murderersof Uthman and their followers. The fighters picked up the
curse for a battle cry as it were and returned to the attack. Like a
 162 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

generalorderinghis forces, shesentword to her commandersto hold

fast their positions. Her party's forces were in desperateneed of an
able commander-in-general. ...
It is not surprising, then, that the severestfighting now centered
around Aisha and her camel. Fearlessherself, this Mother of the
Believersroundly denouncedstrife and cowardice,on the one hand,
while on the other, she continued to incite her warriors to heroic
action with battle cries and martial poetry much after the fashion of
the pagan "lady of victory" of pre-Islamic days, whose capture in
battle meantcertaindefeat.Thick and fast flew the arrowsaroundher
red pavilion. Several groups of her warriors outdid others in their
courageous defense of her.... Many were the sons [warriors] (sev-
enty is the usual numbergiven) who thus won a hero's deathat this
Battle of the Camel, as it cameto be called.... Ali, realizing the role
of Aisha on her camel, gave orders to hamstring the animal. The
disabledcreaturefell and with it fell all of Aisha's hopes.Her per-
sonal couragehad availed little. The battle was lost and with it was
lost also her cause.

Nabia Abbott, Aishah the Belovedof Mohammed(Chicago: University of Chicago

Press,1942), 158--{j 1. © 1942by the University of Chicago.

Aisha escaped capture. Eventually she made her peace with Ali
and never again took a public stand. Later, Ali was assassinated.
Shiite Muslims consider him the first imam, or holy leader.
In the centuries after Muhammad's death Islamic scholars
struggled to interpret Islamic law (shar'ia), including the proper
relations between men and women. Finally, in the tenth century,
a consensus was reached, and thereafter conformity was ex-
pected. The laws were considered to be infallible and divine.
Muslim law required women to remain in seclusion and to be
veiled in those exceptional circumstances when they must be
seen in public. In practice women found ways to gain consider-
able control over their lives in spite of these restrictions.

9.3 Muslim Women in Medieval Cairo

Rural women living in villages that were seldom entered by non-

relatives frequently moved openly outside their homes without
 WOMEN IN ISLAM 163

veils. Evidence of urban women's resistance to seclusion is re-

corded in the attacks by Islamic scholars on the errors of their
contemporaries. Huda Lutfi used this literature when she exam-
ined al-Madkhal, a four-volume religious analysis of the social
life of residents of the Egyptian cities of Cairo and Misr. Writing
in the mid-fourteenth century, the author Ibn ai-Hajj blamed
religious scholars (ulama) in Egypt for the improper religious
practices in the two cities. His approach was to identify and
describe a practice-for example, the clothes women wore-that
was improper under Islamic law. Then he prescribed the proper
corrective measures. Huda Lutfi was able to find many instances
where women disobeyed the shar'ia (legal rules).
Ibn ai-Hajj shared with many in the ancient world a concept
of separate spheres for men and women. Neither should invade
the space of the other. Men had the public domain and women
the private area of their homes. Ibn ai-Hajj was unusually strict-
ideally, a woman could exit her secluded area only three times
in her entire life: when she went to her husband's house after the
marriage, when her parents died, and when she died. When a
woman entered the world outside her home, he warned, the
mere presence of her female body endangered the order of the
male domain. Such acts threatened anarchy or chaos. Women,
to him, were causes of social anarchy because they were igno-
rant of religious knowledge, they followed "vile" folk traditions,
and they were inherently mentally and physically inferior to
men. Hence the frequent mingling of Egyptian men and women
on religious and social occasions was particularly horrifying to
Ibn ai-Hajj.

Our scholarrepeatedlyadmonishesthe Egyptian man, be it husband,

father, brother or religious scholar, to preventanarchicbehaviorby
womenon the street:he explainsto them the rules of going out (adab
al-khuruJ) accordingto the sunna.A woman shouldgo out only for a
necessity,and if she does, she should go in long and unattractive
garments.If women walk in the streets,they shouldwalk closeto the
walls of houses,in order to make way for men. In accordancewith
the Prophet'ssaying, Ibn aI-Hajj admonishesmen to make the road
difficult and narrow for women, and he exclaims: "Look how these
norms have been neglectedin our days. . .. She goes out in the
streetsas if she were a shining bride, walking in the middle of the
 164 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

road and jostling men. They have a mannerof walking that causes
the pious men to withdraw closerto the walls, in order to make way
for them. Other men, however,would jostle andhumorthem deliber-
ately." Heedlessof such warnings, women went to marketsto pur-
chasetheir needs,and they seemto have done that regularly on two
important market days: the suq (market) of Cairo on Mondays, and
the suq of Misr on Sundays.The favorite spots of women were the
jeweler'sshop,that of the cloth merchant,and that of the shoemaker.
According to Ibn al-Hajj's description,women would sit in the shops
for severalhours,conversingand humoringthe shopowners,hoping
for a goodbargain....
To securetheir householdneeds,womenof the city also dealtwith
male peddlerswho facilitated selling and buying transactionsin resi-
dential areasdistantfrom the market.Even thoughIbn al-Hajj praises
the peddlerfor transportingnecessitiesto the womenin their houses,
thus protectingthe harim (wives) of Muslims, he criticizes women's
casualbehaviorin dealing with thesepeddlers.The transportationof
such important items as water, milk, oil, flour, and flax entailed
regular visits to homes,which in tum must have led to the develop-
ment of somedegreeof familiarity betweenthe peddlerand his fe-
male client. Ibn al-Hajj insists that rules shouldbe followed: women
should not be alone with a peddler; should not come to the door
unveiled, as was their custom; and should not get involved in long
argumentsover selling and buying. "And it is a great wonder that
many of their men, who are supposedto be superior in mind and
piety, arrive to their housesto find the peddlerof flax, or whatever,
discussingwith their women mattersregardingbuying and selling.
And the men do not forbid what is going on ... and their answerto
this is to say: 'I do not accusemy wife of anything, becauseI trust
her and do not believe that infidelity crossesher mind.' " In defense
of their casualbehavior,middle- and upper-middle-class womenpro-
duceda typical class argument:to those women, such men were of
an inferior statusand thereforeineligible as sexualpartners.To this
argumentIbn aI-Hajj retorts: "They invent their own rules, arguing
that men such as the flax seller and the water-carrierare not men to
be ashamedof . . . they are not ashamedof slaves or commoners
either, becausethey view them as being too inferior in status.This
attitudehasbecomewidespreadamongmany womennowadays."...
 WOMEN IN ISLAM 165

Femalenudity in the public baths also upset Ibn aI-Hajj: "When

women performedtheir ablutions,Muslim, Jewish,Christianwomen
prancedabout the place naked, and women there are so bold as to
scold the more timid femaleswho wished to cover from the navel to
the knees."...
Muslim prescriptiveliterature viewed the female body primarily
as the repositoryof male sexualpleasure,and hencea sourceof fitna
(temptation) that should be concealed;Ibn al-Hajj's treatise is no
exception.Hence,female clotheswere seento servethe crucial func-
tion of concealment.Properlyconcealed,women might ceaseto be a
threat to the social order. Yet female clothes were also viewed as
serving the function of adornmentfor the husband'ssexualpleasure.
Thus, in contrastto men, women were legally permittedto use such
luxurious items of adornmentas gold, silver, and silk: "For it is as
the hadith stated,they are deficient in mind and religion, and there-
fore, they are permittedto use silk, gold, silver and other suchitems
becauseof their nuqsan[deficiency]. As for the man, he is the reposi-
tory of perfection,God has perfectedand adornedhim, so he is not
allowed to indulge in the adornmentpermitted to those who are
deficient."... Ibn al-Hajj's descriptionsof female modesof dressin
Cairo give us an insight into how women actually dressedthere, and
to what extentCairenewomen abidedby the Islamic rules of female
dress.The basic female dressin Cairo was the long and loose thaub
or qamis (chemise),under which the long and baggy sirwals (baggy
trousers)were worn; the head and neck were normally coveredby
long and ample headclothes.But Ibn aI-Hajj tells us that insteadof
the wide and ample clothes that were designedto concealthe con-
tours of the female body, Cairene women wore a tight and short
chemise,which defined the body and was contrary to the prescribed
shar'i dress. "Women wore the short and tight chemisewhich only
reachedthe knees;as for the trousers,worn underthe chemise,these
were worn far below the navel, exposingthat part to the eye, unless
the upper garment was made of thick and ample material." But it
seemsthat women wore their trousers only outside the house; at
home they wore just the chemise.Ibn aI-Hajj consideredthis to be
defying the shar'ia, which prohibits the woman from exposing the
forbiddenpartsof her body to anyonebut her husband.
. . . Ibn aI-Hajj criticized such practicesof female adornmentas
 166 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

painting the eyebrowsand tattooing the skin becausethey too inter-

fered with the proper performanceof rituals of ablution. As for the
removal of facial hair and splitting and filing teeth to render them
white, we are told that these should not be performed by a male
barber,as was normally done: "A strangeman shouldnot be permit-
ted to touch the lips and face of a woman becauseit leadsto corrupt-
ing behavior."Ibn aI-Hajj did not criticize suchpracticesbecausehe
opposedfemale adornment,for he stressedthe importance of the
wife's duty to adorn herselffor her husband.Alas, this was not the
caseamong most Cairenewomen: "At home she usually dressesin
her worst clothes,pays no attentionto her looks, and leavesher hair
uncombed.She allows herselfto be in such a stateof dirt and sweat
that her husbandshunsher. ... But when shegoesout shedressesin
her best clothes. Adorned and perfumed, she puts on her jewelry,
wearing her ankle-braceletover her sirwal." Competition in female
adornmentwas most intensewhen women went to the public bath.
There women would take their expensive clothes and jewelry to
show off after they were finished with their bath. Ibn aI-Hajj com-
plains bitterly becauseof the numerousproblems that ensuedbe-
tween husbandand wife-she demandingthat he should buy her
expensiveclothesto matchthoseof her female friends....
The common but significant event of childbirth was and still is a
causeof much celebrationamongEgyptian families and particularly
amongwomen. In medievalEgyptian society, where female fertility
was highly prized and child mortality was often acute, a successful
delivery was naturally celebratedwith the utmostjoy and publicity.
The event inspired a host of rituals, all aimed to bring good health
and fortune to the baby and the mother, as well as joy to the whole
family. Typically, Ibn aI-Hajj launchedsevereattacks on these fe-
male innovations, which he found to be meaningless,extravagant,
and without precedentin the Muslim sunna. He was, therefore,un-
happy to see men contributing to and participating in thesewicked
rituals: "And men do not scold them, on the contrary,they seemto be
pleasedwith all this, and encourageit. This is also true of the reli-
gious scholarsand mystics, they also celebratethis in their homes,
and invite peoplefor the celebrations."
During the processof delivery and the festivities consequenton
the birth of the child, the midwife played a leading role. Ibn aI-Hajj,
 WOMEN IN ISLAM 167

obsessedas he was with female impurities, warnedhusbandsof the

unshar'i practices of the midwife, who touches the baby and its
clotheswith handssoiled by the impure blood of delivery. "And they
do worse than this, they smearthe baby with the impure blood on
their fingers, explaining that it is good for this and that." If the
midwife was dealing with a difficult delivery, she would mix soft
bread with mouse stools and stuff it into the mouth of the mother,
claiming that this would help easethe pain.
When the baby was born, loud and long-drawn-outshrills were
heard everywherein the house, as a manifestationof female joy.
Music, dancing,and an atmosphereof gaiety followed, and a variety
of specialdisheswas servedto the family and neighborsof the com-
munity. This, Ibn aI-Hajj tells us, went on for sevendays; every time
a woman came to expressher congratulations,the song and dance
would start all over again. To publicize the happy event, trumpets
and pipes were blown in front of the housedoor, inviting neighbors
and friend to participate in the joyful atmosphere.Our scholar re-
marks that thesepracticeswere so ingrained in people'sdaily lives
that they consideredthem as importantas religious rituals....
When deathbefell a family member,the women of the household,
especiallythoseclosestto the deadperson,confrontedthe eventwith
rituals of rejection. Social and religious inhibitions were little re-
garded,and the women gave vent to their sorrow and pain in a most
vehementway: "Women exposetheir faces and spreadtheir hair,
they blackenboth face and body, and lamentand wail in loud shriek-
ing voices. They heapearth on their heads,and place chains around
their necks, and stain their housesin black." The most important
funerary ritual was the processof body purification. In the caseof
female corpses,this task was undertakenby a woman specialist(al-
ghasila). Ibn aI-Hajj describesthe dramatic scenariothat occurred
when the womenof the housesaw the ghasilaapproachingthe house:
"When the ghasilaentersthe house,the women give vent to a loud
scream(al-saiha al-uzma); they pour insults and beatingson her. The
ghasila, aware of this female tradition, is on her guard, and tries to
hide from them. They shoutat her, 'you are the face of calamity,' and
in response,shesays,'I haveseenthe calamity in your house.'Even-
tually, they allow her to perform the washingritual, and in tum, she
admonishesthem, and remindsthem that deathis God'swill." ...
 168 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

After the body was properly shrouded,it was moved from the
houseto the bier, and here anotherfarewell female shriek was heard
as membersof the family stoodby to seethe corpseleavethe house.
The imam (prayer leader) of the closestmosquethen usually led a
collective prayer, in which men and women prayedfor the comfort
and peaceof the dead soul. This was followed by a lengthy funeral
procession,in which religious and Quranic chanting was performed.
"Walking behind their men, women performedtheir usual ritual of
collective wailing and shrieking. They walk about oblivious of
properfemalemodesty,striking their facesin lamentation."
On the morning following the death,men and women of the fam-
ily usually went for lengthy visits to the tomb of their deadrelative,
using the house inside the graveyard for lodging. Food offerings
formed an importantpart of Egyptianfunerary rituals, and womenof
the family cookedfood for three consecutivenights after the death.
On the third evening special rituals of commemorationtook place
around the tomb. Baffled by these feastlike practices, Ibn aI-Hajj
remarksthat they seemedmore like weddingcelebrationsthan death
rituals. Male and female relativesand friends congregatedto feaston
a large variety of food and to listen to the Quranic reciters and
mystical chantings. In addition, male and female preacherswere
hired to relateadmonishingstoriesto their audience.
A periodof intensivemourningfollowed, and it was the womenof
the family who mourned most passionately.During the mourning
period immediately after the death,close female relatives of the de-
ceasedstayedhometo receivecondolencesfrom femalerelativesand
friends. A naiha (professionalwailer) was hired to intensify the at-
mosphereof mourning in the house: leading female relatives and
friends to the beatsof the tambourine,the wailer orchestrateda pow-
erful sceneof lamentation.Ibn aI-Hajj informs us that women in-
dulgedin thesescenes,in defianceof the shar'ia,for severaldays and
nights after the death. Mourning continued for at least one year,
during which the women of the family wore black, the color of
sorrow, and abstainedfrom all forms of adornment.After the year of
mourning was over, women preparedfor the period of dissolving
sorrow (fakk ai-hum). This meant that they could go to the public
baths,apply hennastain, and useotherfemaleembellishments.
This did not mean that women forgot their dead. In the hope of
 WOMEN IN ISLAM 169

finding comfort and relief from their daily problems,women spenta

greatdeal of time visiting the tombs of their deadrelativesand favor-
ite saints. Tomb visiting was also an important aspectof religious
festivities; on thoseoccasionsmen and womenspentall morning and
most of the afternoonin the companyof their deadrelativesor favor-
ite saints. Ibn aI-Hajj denouncedwomen's tomb visiting, and he
quotesa Prophetictradition supportinghis view: "God curseswomen
who visit tombs." Being opposedto women's crossing forbidden
boundariesoutside their homes,he viewed their frequent visiting of
tombs as a causeof greatevil andcorruption....
Ibn aI-Hajj remarksthat whereasthe feminine nature inclines to-
wardschaoticand corruptbehavior,men are expectedto take correc-
tive measuresto control the behavior of their women. But Cairene
men disappointedhim repeatedly:"The strangething is that the hus-
band and other men seeall this and know of it, but do little aboutit.
Even though this female behavior entails the forbidden, all those
people who watch are silent; they make no comments,and do not
even display any Islamic jealousy (ghaira islamiyya)." In spite of
threatsof a pious husband,however,the wife insistedon having her
own way. We are told that if the husbandtried to stop his wife from
visiting the tombs,shewould refuse,threateninghim with separation
or denial of sexual pleasures.The dispute could lead to enmity and
beatingand ultimately reachthe judge'scourt....
When it cameto sexualmatters,Ibn aI-Hajj placedthe onuson the
man, not the woman, for the female was viewed as a passivebody
that neededto be sexually satisfied by the man. Contrary to the
common habit of sleepingin ordinary clothes, headvisesboth man
and wife to sleep in the nude, as indicated in the sunna. This he
argues gives pleasureto the woman and allows for greater sexual
gratification. Ibn aI-Hajj criticizes the sexualattitudeof the Egyptian
man, who commonly approacheshis wife without warning and
achieveshis sexualsatisfactionwithout paying attentionto her sexual
desires.Sunni precedentrequires sensitivity in sexual mattersfrom
the husband. Ibn aI-Hajj states that although female sexuality is
strongerthan that of the male, it is difficult for the man to senseher
sexualdesiresbecauseof her haya (modesty).But the wife's desire,
he argues,can be sensedfrom her specialadornments:her makeup,
perfume and finery. Ibn al-Haji also severelycondemnedthe com-
 170 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

mon practice of anal sex. According to the sunna, this is almost

equivalentto the sin of homosexuality.Moreover, anal sex gives no
satisfactionto the wife, thus leaving her sexually ungratified, which
in turn makesher a potential sexual threat. The main concernof Ibn
aI-Hajj here was that female sexuality left unsatisfied within the
boundariesof marriagewould result in sexualchaosin Muslim soci-
ety; therefore, the women's sexual desiresmust be satisfied within
the marriage.
Both husbandsand wives apparentlypracticedthe habit of conjur-
ing the mental image of a belovedduring the sexualact and imagin-
ing the beloved,and not their spouse,to be their sexualpartner.Ibn
aI-Hajj believed this practice to be tantamountto adultery, which
would inevitably lead to much sexualchaos.... He describesanother
sexual behavior that seemsto have been commonly practiced by
someEgyptianwives: "This is an ugly and basehabit; when the wife
comesto bed, shetakes somethingfrom her husband,most probably
in addition to her nafaqa(legal allowance),which variesaccordingto
his financial situation,and is paid as a bed fee."...
Of divorce practicesprevalentin urban Egyptian society, Ibn al-
Hajj mentionsonly those that violate the shar'ia. He severelycriti-
cizes the widespreadpractice of repeateddivorces, exceedingthe
Islamic legal limit of three consecutivedivorces permitted to the
husband. He says that certain men performed the function of a
muhallil (husbandof convenience)for a fixed period and fee, after
which the wife could go back to her former but real husband.Ac-
cording to Ibn aI-Hajj, mother,daughter,and granddaughtersolicited
the servicesof the samemuhallil in order to go back to their respec-
tive husbands,who had divorced them three consecutivetimes.
"Here is yet anotherexampleof female chaotic behavior,which de-
fies all the rules of the shar'ia,for how can it be that mother, daugh-
ter, and granddaughterare permittedto marry the sameman." When
disputesbetweenhusbandand wife got too complicated,women re-
sortedto the help of the judge, who held his court in the precinctsof
the quarter'smosque.Prior to the court hearing, women waited in-
side the mosque,discussingtheir caseswith their agents and hus-
bands.Here again, Ibn aI-Hajj statesthat women oversteppedtheir
boundaries,"for the mosqueis surely not a place for marital squab-
bles." Divorced or widowed women were more vulnerable,because
 WOMEN IN ISLAM 171

of their repeatedexploitationby the male witnessestestifying to their

marriagecontracts.Ibn aI-Hajj tells us that a widow was often forced
to pay the witness any sum he demandedso that he might agreeto
testify as to the correctsumof her deferreddowry.

Huda Lutfi, "Manners and Customsof Fourteenth-CenturyCaireneWomen: Fe-

male Anarchy versus Male Shar'i Order in Muslim Prescriptive Treatises," in
Nikkie R. Keddie and Beth Baron,eds.,Womenin Middle EasternHistory: Shifting
Boundariesin Sexand Gender (New Haven: Yale University Press,1991), 103-
15. © 1991 by Yale University.

Suggested Further Readings

The best general survey of women and gender in Islam from

pre-Islamic societies to the present is found in Leila Ahmed,
Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern De-
bate (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992). Written by a
Muslim feminist, this book is required reading for anyone inter-
ested in the historical background of the topic. Nikki R. Keddie
and Beth Baron have collected useful articles on Women in Mid-
dle Eastern History: Shifting Boundaries in Sex and Gender (New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1991). These editors have chosen
material that illustrates the changes in gender boundaries, family
patterns, and women's attitudes in Middle Eastern history. Parts 1
and 2 are relevant to the period before 1500. For a comparison
of the past with the modern, see Fatima Mernissi, Beyond the
Veil: Male-Female Dynamics in Modern Muslim Society (Bloo-
mington: Indiana University Press, 1987). Part 1 is a description
of the traditional view of Muslim women's place in society. The
author uses the Moroccan situation in the mid-1970s as a com-
parative benchmark.
This page intentionally left blank:
 -10-
CHINA AND JAPAN
The Patriarchal Ideal

Murasaki Shikibu,Japanesenoblewomanand author of The Tale oj Genji.

This great work. wrillen in the early elevemhcentury, is the firslJapanese
noveL (The Beumann Archive.)
 174 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Traditional Chinese and Japanese societies have been seen as

thoroughly patriarchal and always patriarchal. Critics frequently
cite female seclusion, Confucian restraints, and footbinding as
evidence for their condemnations. These practices varied in in-
tensity in different periods and regions. Some, like footbinding,
actually began not in antiquity but comparatively late in re-
corded history. Furthermore, women found ways of resisting or
accommodating to patriarchy that allowed them to manipulate
constraints creatively. Japanese aristocratic women living in a
seclusion comparable to the most restrictive Middle Eastern
harem wrote some of the classics of their national literature.
Historians before the 1960s believed Chinese society was a
perfect example of unchanging patriarchy; since the 1960s re-
searchers have discovered variations in women's rights and free-
doms from dynasty to dynasty. For instance, the Tang dynasty
(618-907) was a time when life was better. Its successor, the
Song (960-1279), was not as good.
An empress again ruled China in the Tang era, and royal
women of three generations contested with the male bureau-
cracy to exercise power. Empress Wu governedfrom 684 to 705
C.E. with strong support from the Buddhists whose monasteries
she patronized. China's most famous woman ruler, Empress Wu,
like her predecessor Empress Lu, tried unsuccessfully to replace
her husband's dynasty with her own family. Her daughter-in-law,
Empress Wei, subsequently failed to seize power as regent for
her young son after poisoning her husband. Empress Wu's
daughter, the Princess T'ai-p'ing, and her granddaughter, the
Princess An-Io, who was the daughter of Empress Wei, led op-
posing factions in the imperial palace of Emperor Xuanzong dur-
ing a third generation of women's visible power at the Tang
court.
Although palace women's power was seldom exercised for the
benefit of all their gender, China's flourishing economy in the
Tang and early Song eras led to expansion of a wealthy urban
class, whose women gained the legal right to seek divorce and
the temporary lessening of their obligatory seclusion. For most
women, however, the governmentattack on Buddhism in the
late Tang dynasty under the growing influence of the male bu-
reaucracy heralded a renewal of ideals of female inferiority.
The ascendancy of Neo-Confucian philosophers in the Song
period reasserted ancient Chinese gender norms. The Neo-
 PATRIARCHY IN CHINA AND JAPAN 175

Confucians revered traditional Chinese authors of the Han dy-

nasty, who gained new popularity as printing spread. According
to these Confucians, society should be organized hierarchically,
based on age and gender and with women subordinate to men.
This subordination began prenatally, with ceremonies seeking
the birth of a boy instead of a girl. Family rituals throughout
infancy and childhood confirmed the importance of sons to
continuing patrilineal ancestry and the insignificance of daugh-
ters, whose names were not entered in familial temples. Pan
Chao, a woman scholar whose "The Seven Feminine Virtues"
was written in the first century C.E. for girls to copy so that they
might learn proper behavior, said, "In ancient times a female
infant, on the third day after her birth, was placed underneath
her parents' bed and given a spindle to play with. Meanwhile
her father would fast and do penance ... on the arrival of a
female child .... " Another version of this tale, which though
old never lost its popularity in China, told of the male baby's
being placed on top of the parents' bed with a piece of jade as
his toy. Pan Chao pointed out that the ceremony was to show a
baby girl "at the earliest possible moment" that her destiny was
an inferior one of "diligence and hard work," in which she
would be "the first to get up in the morning and the last to go to
bed in the evening and should work every minute in her waking
hours." Humility and meekness were the virtues enjoined upon
the woman, who should "keep herself constantly in the back-
ground," "never speak of her own goodness or flinch from the
performance of her assigned duties, however unpleasant," "en-
dure all the humiliations and insults, from wherever they come,"
and never allow herself to indulge in unbecoming laughter or to
speak more than necessary. *
In harsh circumstances such as famines, girls were starved to
death or sold into slavery, and even in good times they were told
that food was wasted in feeding them because they would even-
tually marry outside their ancestry and increase the size and
wealth of their husbands' families, not their own. Once married,
a woman entered her husband's family as an outsider also, who
would need to bear a son to gain acceptance. Because Chinese

*Pan Chao, "The Seven Feminine Virtues," in Dun J. Li, ed. and trans., The
Civilization of China: From the Formative Period to the Coming of the West (New
York: CharlesScribner'sSons,1975),95-96.
 176 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

inheritance was patrilineal within a male kin group, women were

effectively excluded from accumulating land or other valuable
property.
Some other Confucian objectives for the family can be sum-
marized: One, children must respect and obey parents and
grandparents. Two, the property of a kin group was held in com-
mon and ultimately controlled by the oldest male. Three, widows
should respect their dead husbands and not remarry. Four, a
woman's sexual purity must be protected at all costs, including
her obligation to self-mutilation or suicide to prevent her rape.
In attacking the way of Confucius, Chen Tu-hsiu in 1919 used
some of the most extreme quotations from the Chinese classics.
Concerning the rules to protect women's sexual purity, he found:
"Men and women do not sit on the same mat." "In giving or
receiving anything, a man or woman should not touch the
other's hand." "Brothers- and sisters-in-law do not exchange in-
quiries about each other." "Boys and girls seven years or older
do not sit or eat together." And referring to the process of arrang-
ing a marriage, he found, "Men and women do not know each
other's name except through a matchmaker and should have no
social relations or show affection until after marriage presents
have been exchanged."
On the proper role for a daughter or wife, Chen Tu-hsiu wrote:
"To be a women means to submit." "A married woman is to
obey" her husband. A woman "never should disobey or be lazy
carrying out the orders of parents and parents-in-law." "If a man
is very fond of his wife, but his parents do not like her, she
should be divorced." "Unless told to retire to her own apartment,
a woman does not do so, and if she has an errand to do, she
must get permission from her parents-in-law." "A man does not
talk about affairs inside [the household] and a woman does not
talk about affairs outside [the household]."*

10.1 ConfucianMothers

The Biographies of Eminent Chinese Women by Liu Hsiang,

who lived in the first century B.C.E., contains 125 biographies. It
was reprinted over the centuries with commentaries appropriate

*William TheodoreDe Bary, Wing-tsit Chan, and Burton Watson,eds.,Sources

of Chinese Tradition (New York: Columbia University Press,1960), 815-8.
 PATRIARCHY IN CHINA AND JAPAN 177

to each new generation.One of the best-knownstories portrays

the mother of Mencius (Meng K'o, or Meng-tzu), a philosopher
notable for interpreting the ideas of Confucius. It focuseson a
mother'sproperguidanceof her son'seducation.Careful reading
of the story, heretranslatedfrom a Song dynastyversion of 1214
C.E., reveals important aspectsof women's lives as well as the
Confucianideals.

She was the mother of Meng K' 0 of Tsou; her honorary title was
"Meng Mu." She was living near a graveyardwhen Meng-tzu was
small and he enjoyedgoing out to playasif he were working among
the graves. He enthusiasticallybuilt up the graves and performed
burials. His mother said, "This is not the place for me to keep my
son." Then she departedand dwelt besidea market place. Since he
enjoyed playing as if his businesswere that of the merchantand
bargainer,his motheragainsaid, "This is not the placefor me to live
with my son." She once more moved her abodeand dwelt besidea
schoolhouse.He [Meng-tzu] amusedhimselfby settingup the instru-
mentsof worship and by bowing politely to thosecoming and going.
Meng Mu said, "Truly my soncan dwell here."Thereafterthey dwelt
there and as Meng-tzu grew up he learnedthe six liberal arts. In the
endhe attainedfame as a greatscholar....
While Meng-tzu was young yet, he was studyingat school.When
he returnedhome, Meng Mu, who was weaving, askedhim, saying,
"How much have you learned?"Meng-tzu said, "About as usual."
Meng Mu took up a knife and cut the web of her loom. Meng-tzu
was frightened and askedthe reasonfor her doing that. Meng Mu
said, "Your being remissin your studiesis like my cutting the web of
my 100m. Now, the Superior Man learns that he may establisha
reputation; he investigatesthat he may broaden his knowledge.
Thereforeif you remaininactive, you will be peaceful;if you arouse
yourself,you will keepharm away.If you now abandonyour studies,
you will not avoid becoming a privy servantand will be without
meansof freeing yourself from your misfortune.What differenceis
there [in your studying] and my weaving?I spin threadthat we may
havefood. If the womanabandonsher weavingwhen sheis half way
through, how shall she clothe her husbandand how shall he grow
without grain to eat?Just as the woman who abandonswhat shehas
 178 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

[to do in order to supporther family will not be able] to eat, so the

man who fails in his cultivation of virtue, if he does not becomea
thief or robber, will becomea captive or slave." Meng-tzu, having
becomefrightened, studied diligently morning and evening without
respite.He servedhis teacher,Tzu-Ssu,and consequentlybecamethe
famousscholarof the whole nation....
After Meng-tzu had married, he was about to enter [his wife's]
private room and saw her disrobed within. As Meng-tzu was dis-
pleased,he immediately departedwithout entering. His wife apolo-
gized to Meng Mu and asked to depart. She said, "I have learned
about the stateof matrimony and it does not include [the sharingof]
one'sprivate room. Today when I secretlyyielded to lazinessin my
own room, my husbandsaw me. At once he becamedispleasedand
treated me as a guest concubine.The rules of conduct of the wife
demandthat she not stay over night as a guest. I ask to return to my
father and mother." For this reason,Meng Mu summonedher son
and said to him, "It is properetiquettethat when one is aboutto enter
a door to ask who is within and thus one attains to a properrespect.
When one is about to enter a hall, he should raise his voice so as to
warn those within. If one is about to enter the door of a room, the
glanceshould be cast down, lest one see another'sfault. Today you
did not observethe rules of etiquetteand yet you found fault with the
etiquetteof your wife. Are you not far from right conduct?"
Meng-tzuthankedher and retainedhis wife ....
While Meng-tzuwas living in Ch'i, he had an air of sadnessabout
him. Meng Mu noticed it and said, "Son, how is it that you have an
air of sadnessabout you?" Meng-tzu replied, "I have not." Another
day when at leisure at home, he was leaning against a pillar and
sighing. Meng Mu saw him and said, "The other day you seemedto
have a sadappearancebut you said you were not sad. Today you are
leaningagainsta pillar and sighing. Why are you doing that?" Meng-
tzu replied, "I, K' 0, havelearnedthat the SuperiorMan is first quali-
fied and then receiveshis position. He does not attempt to attain it
unfairly and then receive a reward nor does he covet honors and
emoluments.If the nobles do not listen, he does not force himself
upon his superiors;if they listen to his teachingsbut do not follow
him, then he does not set foot in their court. Today, the Tao is not
followed in the stateof Ch'i and I desireto departbut my mother is
 PATRIARCHY IN CHINA AND JAPAN 179

old. That is why I am sad."Meng Mu said, "Now the properconduct

of a woman is found in her skill in preparingthe five foods, ferment-
ing wine, caring for her husband'sparents,and making clothes and
that is all. A woman's duty is to care for the householdand she
shouldhave no desireto go abroad.The Book of Changessays, 'She
providessustenanceand avoids going out.' The Book of Songssays:
'For her no decorations,no emblems;her only care is the wine and
food.' This meansthat it doesnot belong to the woman to determine
anything herselfbut she has the three obediences.Therefore, when
young, she has to obey her parents;when married, she has to obey
her husband;when her husbandis dead, she obeys her son. This is
properetiquette.Now my son has reachedmaturity and I am old. Do
you act accordingto righteousnessand I shall act accordingto the
rules of propriety."

Albert R. O'Hara, The Position of Womenin Early China: According to the Lieh
Nu Chuan, "The Biographiesof EminentChineseWomen" (Washington:Catholic
University of AmericaPress,1945),39-42.

Meng Mu was a strong-willed mother who spoiled her son. Her

husbanddied when Meng K'o was young, and she raised him
alone. It was not unusual for a mother and son to have a close
relationship.Chinesemothers knew that when they reachedold
age their eldest son was expected to support them and their
husbands.
Women produced silk cloth, a very valuable product. Not
only did they clothe their families, but they, as Meng Mu did,
used it to obtain food. Before the Chinese used money, they
purchasedgoods with bolts of silk cloth and paid part of a
family's taxeswith silk. Somedistricts were so productivethat all
the taxes were collected in silk cloth. Consideringthe import-
ance of silk weaving, its not surprising that Meng K' 0 was
shockedwhen his mother ruined the silk on her loom. Chinese
women were expectedto feed and clothe both the men and the
women of their families, which was a substantialcontribution to
the householdeconomy,not to mention the family income from
their surplusweaving.
While Chinesewomen usually could not own land, they, like
Meng Mu, were in charge of the household budget, a wife's
 180 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

responsibility whether she had a husband or not. Scholars report

that Chinese women were rarely literate; however, Meng Mu was
familiar with the classics and could quote from them.
The point of the story is a mother's responsibility for teaching
morality to her children. The Neo-Confucian authors of the Song
dynasty (960-1279) gave lip service to women's contribution to
social morality but were more concerned with repressing their
sexuality. They harshly denied widows the chance for remarriage
and honored those women who died resisting rape.

10.2 Footbinding in China

In either the late Song or the early Ming dynasty the Chinese
began the now universally condemned practice of footbinding.
The origins of footbinding have received little attention from
scholars, yet the practice, which continued into the early twenti-
eth century, had a significant social and economic impact on
Chinese civilization. Sharon Sievers discusses footbinding in an
essay written to advise history teachers:

The process of footbinding is, however, one of the things about

women'slives routinely reportedin introductory history classes;oc-
casionally,studentsare presentedwith slides showing what happens
to the feet of a five- or six-year-oldgirl when they are bound ever
more tightly by her mother, until the soles and heels are in close
proximity. Sometimesstudentsare told that the practicebeganas an
erotic fetish; occasionallyit is reportedthat boundfeet were devised
to immobilize concubinesin the women'squarterswho might want
to escape.There is some truth in both stories,of course: tiny three-
inch "lotus petals"or "golden lilies" were prized by thosewho found
them erotically stimulating, and bound feet certainly limited mobil-
ity-particularly the mobility of womenin the cities whosefeet were
typically boundmore tightly than thoseof womenin the countryside.
The problem is that too often the story of footbinding is left here;
when it is, it is generally regardedas yet anotherexampleof exotic
Asian behavior, with little connectionto other historical develop-
ments,in Chinaor elsewhere.
But footbinding, becauseit filtered down to affect virtually every
social class, had enormoussignificance; the immobility of millions
 PATRIARCHY IN CHINA AND JAPAN 181

of women took them out of "outside" productionat the sametime it

reinforced the Confucian prescriptionthat they, as "inside" persons,
did no outsidework. In fact, Neo-Confucianismmadethis rule much
more stringent,limiting the mobility of women so that they were not
just "inside"; they were sequestered there.
It is significant that footbinding was not universally practicedin
China: hakka women did not bind their feet, nor did women of most
ethnic minorities, including Manchu women. Where rice culture
dominated,as in southernChina, the practiceof footbinding was not
always allowed to interfere with the productive lives of women. But
John Buck's research(1937), suggestingthat many peasantwomen
did not work in the fields becauseof their lack of mobility, or that
some women with bound feet worked, but often on their knees,has
still not beensuperseded,and we are left with the strong impression
that footbinding had a major economicimpact on China'srice-grow-
ing regions.
How was it possible for such a practice to be built into the life
cycle of most Chinesewomen, whatevertheir class-andwhatever
the impact on the economy?Perhapsthe only plausibleansweris that
mothersbound the feet of their daughtersbecausethey felt they had
little choice; over time, boundfeet becameas much a requirementas
the dowry for a daughter whose marriage out of the family was a
given. And, as wealth accumulatedin the hands of a few, peasant
families who found themselvesin difficult circumstancescould send
a daughter off to serve in the home of a wealthy member of the
gentry. In either case,boundfeet were a requirement.Certainly, since
"lotuses" were part of the gentry's aestheticperceptionof women, a
mother could never expect a daughterto marry up the social scale
without them.
Beyond the requirementsof the Chinesesystem, it is possible to
see that the custom of footbinding was not only painful, and poten-
tially dangerousto the health of children; it devaluedand trivialized
women to an extremenot often matchedin history, though there are
variationson this themein many cultures.Footbindingwas a practice
that underscoredthe notion of women, and especiallytheir sexuality,
as a commodity; at the sametime it seemedto suggestthat they had
little important productive work to perform. The devaluation of
women'swork is a universal issuein women'shistory, but there are
 182 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

few examplesthat demonstrateit as clearly as footbinding, largely

becauseit affectedwomenof virtually every class.
Finally there is the fact that becausefootbinding becamesuch a
pervasivepart of Chineselife before the twentieth century,it became
a rite of passagefor nearly all Chinesewomen. As we know from
twentieth-centuryinterviews with Chinesewomen who lived through
the experience,anyonewho teachesaboutfootbinding in China must
be sensitiveto the part it played in their lives. They did not always
seethemselvesvictimized by the practice; it was a part of becoming
a woman in China. And even though there is now generalagreement
that it was an exploitative practicethat causedenormoussuffering, it
is important to recognize the part it played in the daily lives of
Chinese women who endured it, often becausethey felt, as their
mothersdid, that it would add to their prospectsfor a betterlife.
SharonL. Sievers,"Women in China, Japan,and Korea," in Cheryl Johnson-Odim
and Margaret Strobel, eds., Restoring Women to History: Teaching Packetsfor
Integrating Women'sHistory into Courses on Africa, Asia, Latin America, the
Caribbean, and the Middle East (Bloomington, IN: Organizationof American His-
torians, 1988), 80-2.

10.3 Women in the Japanese Emperor's Court

Footbinding was a form of seclusion, but it did not necessarily

hide Chinese women from public gaze. Japanese aristocratic
women lived in almost complete isolation from men. Yet they
wrote novels and poetry that are among the classics of Japanese
and world literature. The best authors in this period (the ninth
through mid-thirteenth centuries) were women, who developed
vernacular Japanese while men still wrote in Chinese. A measure
of their accomplishments is the fact that one woman, Murasaki
Shikibu, wrote The Tale of Cenji, a novel ranked among the great
works of world fiction.
It is almost unbelievable that Japanese women did this under
the handicap of complete seclusion. The only adult male eyes
that could see them were those of their fathers, husbands, and
lovers. Sitting behind screens, curtains, blinds, or shutters was
the only proper way to talk to any other male. Even while travel-
ing on their infrequent excursions from their compounds, they
remained behind the curtains of the ox carts.
 PATRIARCHY IN CHINA AND JAPAN 183

Despite the restricted environment, some women were inde-

pendent and self-confident. They displayed these characteristics
in their writings and in their political activities. The authors were
members of the imperial court located in Heian Kyo, then the
capital; it is called Kyoto today. In the seventh century CE., about
half the emperors were female, and women frequently held bu-
reaucratic offices. By the tenth century, aristocratic men fi lied the
high government offices, which had become mostly powerless
ceremonial posts. Power was in the hands of the Fujiwara family,
who ruled in the name of the emperor. Wealthy members of the
court spent their time amusing themselves and engaging in com-
plex intrigues.
Girls who were expecting to become members of the court were
carefully educated. Calligraphy was very important for success, be-
cause some people judged character from a person's handwriting.
Music was another required subject, and mastery of an instrument,
such as the seven-stringed zither, was normal. Finally it was essen-
tial that women have a thorough knowledge of poetry.
Both women and men were expected to have memorized an
amazing number of poems, starting with the twenty books of
collected poems called Kokin Shu. Everyone wrote poems almost
on demand, with the thirty-one-syllable poem the most common.
There were poetry contests involving just friends and national
ones with thousands of entries. Lovers and friends exchanged
original poems almost spontaneously.
As a group, the nobility was sexually active. Men not only had
concubines but affairs with women of the court, occasionally
including married women. Initiating casual affairs was the pre-
rogative of the male; females only had the option of acceptance
or rejection. A man would be warned that his career would suffer
if he had only one wife. Unmarried women were rare among the
court ladies, perhaps because of a belief that someone who re-
mained a virgin was possessed by an evil spirit.
At the end of the tenth century, Sei Shonagon kept a journal
that has become famous as The Pillow Book. Her comments
suggest the spirit of these affairs. Normally a lover would spend
the night and leave at daybreak. Sei explains the advantages of
the different seasons of the year for lovers:

For secret meetings summer is best. It is true that the nights are
terribly short and it beginsto grow light beforeone has had a wink of
 184 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

sleep.But it is delightful to haveall the shuttersopen,so that the cool

air comesin and one can seeinto the garden.At last comesthe time
of parting, and just as lovers are trying to finish off all the small
things that remain to be said, they are suddenly startled by a loud
noisejust outsidethe window. For a momentthey makecertainthey
are betrayed;but it turns out only to be a crow that cried as it flew
past.
But it is pleasant,too, on very cold nights to lie with one'slover,
buried under a great pile of bed-clothing.Noises such as the tolling
of a bell soundso strange.It seemsas thoughthey cameup from the
bottom of a deeppit. Strange,too, is the first cry of the birds, sound-
ing so muffled and distant that one feels sure their beaks are still
tucked under their wings. Then each fresh note gets shriller and
nearer.

Sei Shonagon,The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon,trans. Arthur WaJey(New York:

HoughtonMifflin, 1929),92-3.

Keeping assignations secret within the imperial compound was

practically impossible because some walls were made of paper.
After describing how careful the ladies-in-waiting had to be in
the daytime to avoid having embarrassing conversations over-
heard, Sei remarks on the care that must be taken at night:

I like the feeling that one must always be on the alert. And if this is
true during the day, how much more so at night, when one must be
preparedfor somethingto happenat any moment.All night long one
hearsthe noise of footstepsin the corridor outside. Every now and
then the soundwill ceasein front of someparticulardoor, and there
will be a gentle tapping,just with one finger; but one knows that the
lady inside will haveinstantly recognizedthe knock. Sometimes,this
soft tapping lasts a long while; the lady is no doubt pretendingto be
asleep.But at last comesthe rustle of a dressor the soundof some-
one cautiously turning on her couch, and one knows that she has
takenpity on him.
In summer,she can hearevery movementof his fan, as he stands
chafing outside;while in winter, stealthily though it be done, he will
hear the sound of someonegently stirring the ashesin the brazier,
 PATRIARCHY IN CHINA AND JAPAN 185

and will at once begin knocking more resolutely,or even asking out
loud for admittance.And while he doesso, one can hearhim squeez-
ing up closerand closeragainstthe door.

Sei Shonagon,The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon,trans. Arthur WaJey (New York:
HoughtonMifflin, 1929), 126-7.

Convention required female passivity, so women could do little

to encourage a lover, and in their enforced isolation they spent
much of their time talking about the men. The disappointments
they faced are shown in a poem by famous Ono no Komachi,
who was active in the court in the middle of the ninth century:

Did he cometo me
BecauseI fell asleep
Longing for him?
If I hadknown it was a dream,
I would neverhaveawakened!

The Thirty-Six Immortal Women Poets, trans. Andrew 1. Pekarik (New York:
GeorgeBraziller, 1991), 181.

To survive, women wrote poetry about their feelings. Izumi

Shikibu (ca. 975-1027?) wrote of the pain she felt when she was
reminded of her dead daughter. The empress, as a sign of sympa-
thy, had continued to send robes in the name of the daughter as
she had done for years in the past. The sight of the daughter's
name on one such gift caused Izumi to write the following.

This nameof hers,

Not buriedtogetherwith her,
And not decaying
Underneaththe moss,oh,
Seeingit brings suchsorrow!

The Thirty-Six Immortal Women Poets, trans. Andrew 1. Pekarik (New York:
GeorgeBraziller, 1991), 117.
 186 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Daughters, not sons, were the children most desired by these

families. The importance of marriageable daughters is best under-
stood by description of the so-called marriage politics that al-
lowed the Fujiwara clan to maintain a dictatorship for two
centuries even though the emperor remained on the throne. Re-
member that Japanese wives and grandmothers were responsible
for determining promotions, marriage partners, and succession
within their families. Visible political power was completely in
male hands, but an extraordinary complex system disguised the
invisible power of Fujiwara women.
Emperors in this period tended to resign when they were
barely thirty. If an emperor was reluctant to become a Buddhist
monk or simply resign, the Fujiwara chancellor would encourage
him to do one or the other. The crown prince, heir to the
emperor's post, was normally a minor when he ascended the
throne, and the new emperor's powers would be exercised by a
regent. The former emperor's empress or his grandmother tradi-
tionally were the most influential in choosing a regent, and since
both of them were FUjiwaras, often daughters of the chancellor,
the new regent was usually the old chancellor.
The underaged emperor married another Fujiwara consort,
and when the first male child was born, the emperor's mother,
grandmother, and the chancellor would have the infant declared
crown prince. When the emperor reached maturity, the same
group coerced him, if necessary, to make the Fujiwara regent his
chancellor. And a new cycle would begin.
Through much of his life, the crown prince would actually be
living with his mother's family. When the empress became preg-
nant she moved out of the emperor's compound to avoid causing
the pollution pregnant women brought by their presence on sa-
cred ground. She went to her parents' compound to have the
baby, which was usually raised by her family. Given these tradi-
tions, it took a strong-willed emperor to defy Fujiwara control.
Fujiwara marriage politics were unchallenged from the middle of
the ninth century until the middle of the eleventh century. Then
the emperors managed to regain control, although their power
was much reduced.
Another reason Japanese aristocrats preferred daughters over
sons was the much wider choice of marriage partners women
enjoyed. Traditionally male aristocrats married women from their
own or a slightly higher social level, but they could recognize
 PATRIARCHY IN CHINA AND JAPAN 187

any children of theirs who were born to women of any social

level. In Murasaki's novel, her hero, Prince Genji, was the son of
the emperor and a concubine. Even though his father was em-
peror, he could never become emperor, because his mother was
not from a noble family. Yet Prince Genji's daughter, born to a
commoner woman, eventually became empress after she was
adopted by Genji's aristocratic wife.
Marriage created obligations for both parent families to sup-
port each other economically and politically. An awarded office
included usage of designated land and a percentage of its farm
production. At court, families sought to marry their children to
government officials, and daughters could marry higher officials
than could the sons.
Most noble writers had considerable wealth. Women such as
Murasaki Shikibu and Sei Shonagon owned the separate houses
in which they had lived before coming to the court. On the
deaths of their fathers, such women received a share of the es-
tate, and they may have had additional landholdings. Some
empresses had so much property (land was given with the title)
that they had to have an administrative council to manage it. Yet
their seclusion prevented their hands-on administration, and they
had to rely on trusted relatives to supervise the property and to
protect it from dangers such as annexation by a neighbor.

Suggested Further Readings

The only female Chinese emperor, Wu Tse-tien (625-705 C.E.), is

sympathetically portrayed by Diana Paul, "Empress Wu and the
Historians: A Tyrant and Saint of Classical China," in Nancy Auer
Falk and Rita M. Gross, eds., Unspoken Worlds: Women's Reli-
gious Lives in Non-Western Cultures (New York: Harper and
Row, 1980). A theory of the causes of footbinding can be found
in Joanna F. Handlin, "Lu Kun's New Audience: The Influence of
Women's Literacy in Sixteenth-Century Thought," in Margery
Wolf and Roxane Witke, eds., Women in Chinese Society (Stan-
ford: Stanford University Press, 1975). Also see Mary Daly,
Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism (Boston: Bea-
con Press, 1978), for a view of footbinding as an epitome of
patriarchal victimization of women; Patricia Ebrey, "Women,
Marriage, and the Family in Chinese History," in Paul S. Ropp,
ed., Heritage of China: Contemporary Perspectives in Chinese
 188 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Civilization (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), who

explains the spread of footbinding in the Song dynasty as a
gender characteristic that distinguished the southern elite from
the northern Chinese; and C. Fred Blake, "Foot-binding in Neo-
Confucian China and the Appropriation of Female Labor," Signs
19 (spring 1994): 676-712, for a complex argument that women
voluntarily endured footbinding as an expression of female soli-
darity in a male-dominated culture, and for a comprehensive
bibliography. Ivan Morris, The World of the Shining Prince:
Court Life in Ancient japan (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1969)
was written to describe the court life in Murasaki Shikibu's The
Tale of Cenji, trans. Edward G. Seidensticker (New York: Alfred
A. Knopf, 1987). It is equally applicable to Sei Shonagon's The
Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, 2 vols., trans. and ed. Ivan Morris
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1967), which was written
in the same period. The Morris edition of The Pillow Book con-
tains notes and explanatory essays useful to students. The article
by Hitomi Tonomura, "Black Hair and Red Trousers: Gendering
the Flesh in Medieval Japan," American Historical Review 99
(1994): 129-54, analyzes gender in twelfth-century Japanese lit-
erature. She explains some of the changes that took place from
the sixth century, when matrilocal and matrilineal marriages
were the usual practice, to the fifteenth century, when patriarchy
was the norm.
 -11-
AFRICA
Traders, Slaves, Sorcerers,
and Queen Mothers

A cast metal commemorativehead of a royal woman, kingdom of Benin,

Nigeria. It was probably madein the 15005. (The Bellmann Archive.)
 190 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

In Egypt, where the African continent abuts the Arabian penin-

sula, women's lives have been documented since the days of the
Old Kingdom. For Roman North Africa, Cleopatra and Perpetua
illustrate facets of women's lives. Religious records of Jews and
Muslims in North Africa, and of Christians in Ethiopia expose the
rituals of daily life at the beginning of the second millennium CE.
About that time, Muslim men began writing in Arabic about the
West African societies they visited in the region south of the
Sahara Desert, in a band of savannah lands stretching from the
Atlantic to Ethiopia they called the Sudan. Indigenous histories
transmitted orally for centuries by professionals, who memorized
their narratives and are often called griots in West Africa, confirm
and ampl ify aspects of the Arabic written accounts. These
sources focus on the cities that flourished on the routes that
caravans took to carry West African goods to the ports of the
Mediterranean; the sources also concentrate on the great empires
of the Sudan: Ghana and Mali.
Male Muslim traders, scholars, or travelers often had little op-
portunity to observethe private life of the Sudanic peoples, for
foreigners were usually lodged in separate districts outside Afri-
can towns. Public ceremonies and political eventsseen by out-
siders were easi Iy misunderstood. But these observations can
confirm the antiquity of institutions such as female slavery or
queen mothers that are more fully explained in historical sources
of later centuries. For instance, strangers could see slave women
at work and free women selling goods in markets.

11.1 Female Slavery and Women's Work

Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Warraq lived in West Africa in the tenth

century, when Ghana was flourishing. His comments on the skill
of slave cooks in Awdaghust are preserved in "The Book of
Routes and Realms," a compilation of earlier accounts edited by
Abu Ubayd al-Bakri and published in Spain more than a hundred
years later.

There are Sudan women, good cooks, one being sold for 100
mithqals or more. They excel at cooking delicious confectionssuch
as sugarednuts, honeydoughnuts,variousotherkinds of sweetmeats,
andotherdelicacies.
 WOMEN IN AFRICA 191

From N. Levtzion and J.F.P. Hopkins, eds., Corpus of Early Arabic Sourcesfor
WestAfrican History, trans. J.F.P. Hopkins (Cambridge,UK: CambridgeUniver-
sity Press, 1981), 68. © 1981 by University of Ghana, International Academic
Union, CambridgeUniversity Press.Reprintedwith the permissionof Cambridge
University Press.

AI-Bakri also described slave girls whose most important attri-

butes were their beauty and sexuality, but these were second-
hand accountsof what sometraveler was told, rather than what
he saw. His personalobservationswere of working women. Abu
Abdallah Ibn Battuta also mentionedthem often in his accountof
travel in Mali in the middle of the fourteenthcentury.

When one of them goeson a journey he is followed by his male and

female slavescarrying his furnishingsand the vesselsfrom which he
eatsanddrinks madeof gourds.

From N. Levtzion and J.F.P. Hopkins, eds., Corpus of Early Arabic Sourcesfor
WestAfrican History, trans. J.F.P. Hopkins (Cambridge,UK: CambridgeUniver-
sity Press, 1981), 287. © 1981 by University of Ghana, International Academic
Union, CambridgeUniversity Press.Reprintedwith the permissionof Cambridge
University Press.

According to Ibn Battuta, in both the capital city of Mali and in

Walata, where people were "proud of the number of male and
female slaveswhich they have," they were reluctantto sell "edu-
cated slave girls" (Levtzion and Hopkins, 301-2). This reluctance
to sell skilled women is not surprising, for both within African
societiesand in the Muslim lands of North Africa and Western
Asia, female slaves were more valuable and costly than male
slaves. Although defeatedAfrican men could be enslavedto be
soldiers, miners, farmers, and laborers,adult maleswere as likely
to be killed in raids or in the aftermath of battles. Slaves who
were women and children fit more easily into African house-
holds, where they assumedthe lowest status among the family
dependents.
The importanceof slavery in Africa was closely related to the
position of women, the natureof marriage,and the principles on
which African societieswere organized.Despitethe rise and fall
of somegreat empires, most of the continentwas organizedinto
 192 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

smaller units of peoples who claimed common bonds of descent

and language that distinguished them from neighboring peoples.
Whether ancestry was traced through patrilineal or matrilineal ties,
elder men usually dominated women and younger men. Older
women or wives or sisters of senior men might exercise significant
power. Age and gender were not the only determinants of inequal-
ity within family units. Marriages between equal lineages required
the payment of bridewealth by the prospective groom and his fam-
ily to the parents of the bride, who lost the services of one of their
productive dependents when she moved to her new home. But
when such a bride came into her new home as the first, or senior,
wife, she and her children acquired superior status within the
household. Ranked below them were subsequent wives,sometimes
acquired as pawns when families paid off their debts by offering a
daughter. At the bottom of the hierarchy were slaveconcubines and
their children. Within these inequalities, kinship mattered. After a
slave woman had borne chi Idren within the household, she was
unlikely to be sold but was also unlikely to be freed. However, her
children, if born to any free male of the household, were recog-
nized as relatives, rather than slaves.Her grandchildren were likely
to be fully incorporated into the family. In this situation, the slave
woman was doubly valuable: she reproducedthe lineage by bear-
ing heirs for it; at the same time she producedgoods for consump-
tion or trade in her daily work.
Everywhere in Africa work was divided by gender. Free and
slave women were valued as workers because it was they who,
more often than not, were responsible for growing food crops.
The assignment of tasks varied from culture to culture. Men
might weavein one place, while a neighboring people believed
that only women could do this job. Building houses could be
regarded as women's work in one place, as men's in another,
and as a cooperative endeavorin yet another. Free individuals
did not cross rigid gender boundaries within their own culture,
yet slavescould be assigned to do any task regardless of gender.
Women did the laborious work of grinding grains and cooking,
but they also sold their surpluses in local markets.
Ibn Battuta, while traveling through rural Mali, observed a
man weaving on a loom set in the trunk of a large baobab tree.
He commented on the crops, familiar and strange. The "ele-
gantly" carved calabashes and foods he describes can be found
still, more than 600 years later, in the region:
 WOMEN IN AFRICA 193

Gourdsgrow very big in the land of the Sudan.They make bowls of

them, cutting each in half so as to make two bowls, and carve them
elegantly.. . . The traveler in this country does not carry any sup-
plies, [whetherstaplefood] or condimentnor any money, but carries
only pieces of salt and the glass trinkets which people call nazm
[beads] and a few spicy commodities.What pleasesthem most is
cloves, mastic, and . .. incense. When he reachesa village the
women of the Sudanbring anili [a plant] and milk and chickensand
nabq flour and rice and funi (which is like mustardseed ... ) and
cowpeameal and he buys from them what he wants.

From N. Levtzion and 1.F.P. Hopkins, eds., Corpus of Early Arabic Sourcesfor
WestAfrican History, trans. 1.F.P. Hopkins (Cambridge,UK: CambridgeUniver-
sity Press, 1981), 287. © 1981 by University of Ghana, International Academic
Union, CambridgeUniversity Press.Reprintedwith the permissionof Cambridge
University Press.

Women worked hard on their farms, in their houses, and at their

market stalls. Though they were obligated to feed themselves,
their children, and their husband, each wife expected to have her
own space within the family compound, to control her own
children's behavior, and to keep the profits of her own work.
Furthermore, West African women moved freely about their
villages or cities (except for their exclusion from spaces or build-
ings privileged to men only), since they, unlike North African
women, were not secluded.

11.2 Women's Friendship with Men

As Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan, crossed much of the fourteenth-cen-

tury Islamic world from the Straits of Gibraltar to China, he found
many societies whose women's behavior shocked a North Afri-
can Muslim man. Few were as disturbing as the women of Mali.
Ibn Battuta's first experience with Sudanese women occurred in
the Saharan border town of Walata.

Most of the inhabitantstherebelongto the Masufa[a Berberpeople],

whosewomen are of surpassingbeautyand have a higher statusthan
 194 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

the men.... As for their men, they feel no jealousy.... These are
Muslims who observethe prayer and study fiqh [religious laws] and
memorizethe Koran. As for their women, they have no modestyin
the presenceof men and do not veil themselvesin spite of their
assiduityin prayer. ...
The women there havefriends and companionsamongthe foreign
men, just as the men have companionsfrom among the foreign
women. One of them may enter his houseand find his wife with her
man friend without making any objection.
One day I went into the presenceof the qadi [chief justice] of
Walata, after asking his permissionto enter, and found him with a
young and remarkablybeautiful woman. When I saw her I hesitated
and wished to withdraw, but she laughedat me and experiencedno
shyness.The qadi said to me: "Why are you turning back?Sheis my
friend." I was amazedat their behavior,for he was afaqih [religious
scholar] and a pilgrim. I was informed that he had askedthe sultan's
permissionto makethe Pilgrimage[to Mecca] that year with his lady
friend (I do not know whetherit was this one or not) but he had not
allowed him [to do so].
One day I went into the presenceof Abu MuhammadYandakan
al-Masufi in whosecompanywe had come and found him sitting on
a carpet. In the courtyardof his housethere was a canopiedcouch
with a woman on it conversingwith a man seated.I said to him:
"Who is this woman?" He said: "She is my wife." I said: "What
connectionhas the man with her?" He replied: "He is her friend." I
said to him: "Do you acquiescein this when you have lived in our
country and becomeacquaintedwith the preceptsof the Shar'[iaJ?"
He replied: "The associationof women with men is agreeableto us
and a part of good conduct,to which no suspicionattaches.They are
not like the womenof your country." I was astonishedat his laxity. I
left him, and did not return thereafter.He invited me severaltimes
but I did not accept.

From N. Levtzion and J.F.P. Hopkins, eds., Corpus of Early Arabic Sourcesfor
WestAfrican History, trans. IF.P. Hopkins (Cambridge,UK: CambridgeUniver-
sity Press,1981),285-6. © 1981 by University of Ghana,InternationalAcademic
Union, CambridgeUniversity Press.Reprintedwith the permissionof Cambridge
University Press."Iwalatan" in the original hasbeenchangedto "Walata."
 WOMEN IN AFRICA 195

11.3 Sorcerers and Queens

Mali, which Ibn Battuta visited in 1352, had grown from an

insignificant kingdom to a vast empire more than a century ear-
lier, in the reign of Sundiata.The origins of this empire are re-
corded orally by the griots of Guinea. While the narrative is
primarily the story of the rise to power of the warrior king Sun-
diata, or Mari Djata, his exploits dependedupon the help of two
women, his mother, Sogolon, and his half-sister Nana Triban.
Their story beginswith Sundiata'sfather, King Maghan Kon Fatta,
and the competitionamonghis threewives.
The king's first wife, called SassoumaBerete, had two chil-
dren. Her son would succeedhis father and be called King Dan-
karan Touman. Her daughterwas PrincessNana Triban, whose
timely help was crucial to Sundiata'ssuccess.The secondwife,
Sogolon Kedjou, had threechildren, Sundiataand two daughters,
PrincessesSogolon Kolonkan and Sogolon Djamarou. The third
wife was called Namandje,and she had one son, Manding Bory,
who was Sundiata'sbestfriend.
Sundiata'sbirth and early childhood were deeply influenced
by sorcery and occult powers. When King Maghan had been
ruling for some years, and his eldest son was already eight,
Sundiata'sbirth was forecast bya hunter-sorcerer.The sorcerer
told the king that his successorhad not been born and foretold
the arrival of the king's secondwife, Sundiata'smother, Sogolon.
She would be hideous, the sorcerer said, with an enormous
hump on her back and bulging eyes. Now, the king was vainly
handsomeand, as king, expectedto pick beautiful women as
wives. The sorcerer predicted that Sogolon's son would im-
mortalize Mali by his conquests,becomingmore powerful than
Alexander the Great. There was, however, one precondition; a
powerful red bull should be sacrificed before the future wife
could arrive. The sacrificewas made.
Eventually two hunters, carrying silver bows on their shoul-
ders, appearedbefore the king. They brought as a present a
woman whom they thought worthy to be his wife. As the girl
knelt before the king, he could not see her veiled face but ob-
servedthe hump on her back. King Maghan could not hide his
revulsion at Sogolon'sappearanceand asked the huntersto ex-
plain. They told a strange tale of a distant land, where while
hunting a prize buffalo the huntersencountereda starving,weep-
 196 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

ing old woman whom they fed. She told them that she was the
wild buffalo and, because of their generosity, how to kill her.
They should then cut off her tail of gold, carry it to the land's
king, and collect the reward of the most beautiful maiden in the
land. But rather than choosing the loveliest girl, she warned they
must look for the ugliest, who would be sitting on a platform
beside the crowd. This woman, Sogolon Kedjou, was the buffalo
woman's double, or spirit, who would be "extraordinary" to the
man who could make love to her. When one of the hunters
carried out these instructions his reward was the mockery of the
kingdom, whose people laughed him out of town in the com-
pany of Sogolon.
When she refused to make love with the hunters, they brought
her to the king of Mali. Maghan decided he must carry out the
prophecy and ordered preparations for a wedding, inviting peo-
ple from all twelve villages of his small kingdom.
Belief in sorcery was as usual in Africa as in the rest of the
world's medieval societies. Occult power offered causal explana-
tions for what might otherwise be inexplicable. Power was often
attributed to sorcery, whether it was that of the king, of the
successful hunter, or of the blacksmith who could forge iron from
red dirt. Women could also gain power through the mastery of
magic. But as Sogolon's story shows, such powers did not spare
her the human griefs that befell ordinary women.
While the king prepared a magnificent wedding, Sogolon
lived in seclusion with his elderly aunt. Naturally, rumors about
her were everywhere, especially since it was known that she was
not beautiful. Most of the rumors came from the jealous first
wife, Sassouma Berete.

At the home of the king's old aunt, the hairdresserof Nianiba was
plaiting Sogolon Kedjou's hair. As she lay on her mat, her head
resting on the hairdresser'slegs, she wept softly, while the king's
sisterscameto chaff her, as was the custom.
"This is your last day of freedom; from now onwardsyou will be
our woman."
"Say farewell to your youth," addedanother.
"You won't dancein the squareany more and have yourself ad-
mired by the boys," addeda third.
Sogolonneveruttereda word and from time to time the old hair-
 WOMEN IN AFRICA 197

dressersaid, "There,there,stop crying. It's a new life beginning,you

know, more beautiful than you think. You will be a mother and you
will know the joy of being a queen surroundedby your children.
Comenow, daughter,don't listen to the gibesof your sisters-in-law."
In front of the housethe poetesseswho belongedto the king's sisters
chantedthe nameof the young bride.

D.T. Niane, Sundiata:An Epic of Old Mali, trans. G.D. Pickett (London: Longman
Group Limited, 1965), 10.

The wedding proceedednormally, celebratedby dancing and

musicians and the king's distribution of expensivegifts to his
subjects.The first problem occurredon the wedding night. King
Maghan at first was no more able than the huntersto make love
to Sogolon. The violence by which the king finally would have
his way-in fact, marital rape-is maskedin the grio(s story by
elements of magic that blame Sogolon's female wraith. The
morning after the wedding night, the exhaustedking met the
griot.

"What is the matter,my king?" askedthe griot.

"I havebeenunableto possessher-andbesides,shefrightens me,
this young girl. I even doubt whethershe is a human being; when I
drew close to her during the night her body becamecovered with
long hairs and that scaredme very much. All night long I calledupon
my wraith but he was unableto masterSogolon's."All that day the
king did not emerge....

D.T. Niane, Sundiata:An Epic of Old Mali, trans. G.D. Pickett (London: Longman
GroupLimited, 1965), 11.

After failing for seven nights King Maghan vainly consultedthe

greatestsorcerersof Mali. Finally he actedon his own plan.

One night, when everyone was asleep, Nare Maghan got up. He
unhookedhis hunter'sbag from the wall and, sitting in the middle of
the house,he spreadon the groundthe sandwhich the bag contained.
The king began tracing mysterious signs in the sand.. . . Sogolon
 198 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

woke up. Nare Maghan stopped drawing signs and with his hand
underhis chin he seemedto be broodingon the signs.All of a sudden
he jumped up, boundedafter his sword which hung above his bed,
and said, "Sogolon, Sogolon, wake up. A dream has awakenedme
out of my sleep and the protective spirit of the Mandingo kings has
appearedto me. I was mistakenin the interpretationI put upon the
words of the hunterwho led me to you.... Sogolon,I must sacrifice
you to the greatnessof my house.The blood of a virgin of the tribe of
Konde must be spilt, and you are the Konde virgin whom fate has
brought under my roof. Forgive me, but I must accomplishmy mis-
sion. Forgive the handwhich is going to shedyour blood."
"No, no-why me?-no,I don't want to die."
"It is useless,"said the king. "It is not me who hasdecided."
He seizedSogolonby the hair with an iron grip, but so great had
been her fright that she had already fainted. In this faint, she was
congealedin her human body and her wraith was no longer in her,
and.when she woke up, she was already a wife. That very night,
Sogolonconceived.

D.T. Niane, Sundiata:An Epic of Old Mali, trans. G.D. Pickett (London: Longman
GroupLimited, 1965), 11-l2.

Sogolon's pregnancyassuredher status at the court. Her only

problem was the jealousyof the king's first wife, who fearedthat
the new favorite's child might displaceher eight-year-oldson as
heir. SassoumaBeretesoughthelp from sorcerersto kill her new
rival, but they feared Sogolon. When the baby was due, nine of
Mali's greatestmidwives were called to the palaceto attend the
delivery of her son, formally namedMari Djata. He was called,
after his mother, Sogolon Djata. When spokenquickly this latter
namesoundedlike "Sundiata."
The joy marking Sundiata'sbirth diminishedas he grew, for he
still crawled at three years,spokefew words, and displayednone
of his father's beauty.The slow developmentof the child thrilled
SassoumaBerete. She enjoyed taunting Sogolon, for each
woman knew that her own future was linked to that of her son.
Sogolon nearly despairedbecauseneither her herbal medicines
nor her sorcery strengthenedSundiata'sweak legs. The king's
estrangementincreased when Sogolon's second child was a
 WOMEN IN AFRICA 199

daughter, Kolonkan, who resembled her mother. Abandoning

Sogolon, the king married his third wife, a legendary beauty
whosefather was an ally of Maghan's.
King Maghan died when Sogolon'sson was seven.The coun-
cil of elders choseSassoumaBerete'sson as successor,with his
mother serving as regentand queen mother. She avengedherself
against her co-wives mercilessly. Sassoumaencouragedgossip
about Sundiata'sstill uselesslegs and taunted Sogolon until she
lost her temper and scolded her child for causing her so much
humiliation. Sundiata'sresponsewas miraculous: he seized an
iron rod which bowed as he leanedon it to rise to his feet; then
he strode out of the village to uproot a baobabtree which he
presentedto his mother. His triumph madeSundiatasuch a hero
that his mothergainednew respect.

... in conversationpeople were fond of contrastingSogolon'smod-

esty with the pride and malice of SassoumaBerete. It was because
the former had been an exemplary wife and mother that God had
granted strength to her son's legs for, it was said, the more a wife
loves and respectsher husbandand the more she suffers for her child,
the more valorous will the child be one day. Each is the child of his
mother; the child is worth no more than the motheris worth.

D.T. Niane, Sundiata:An Epic of Old Mali, trans. G.D. Pickett (London: Longman
GroupLimited, 1965), 22.

Sogolon bore primary responsibility for educatingher son in the

lore of animals and plants. As Sundiataapproachedmanhood,
his prowess as a hunter enhancedhis popularity. Sassouma's
unceasingsurreptitious attacks on the families of her co-wives
finally promptedthem to flee into exile. For sevenyears Sogolon
and her family wanderedin adjacentkingdoms where Sundiata
learnedaboutstatesmanship, trade, and war. Sogolondied just as
Mali was invaded and Sundiatawas called to defend his people
againstthe conqueringKing of Sosso,SoumaoroKante. Sundiata
raised an army and fought bravely, but Sundiatacould not defeat
the sorcerer king in battle. Another woman rescued Sundiata.
This was his half-sister Nana Triban, the daughter of King
Maghan'sfirst wife, SassoumaBerete.
 200 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

When Sundiataleft Mali, his half-brother King DankaranTou-

man forced Nana Triban into a marriageof alliance with the King
of Sosso, Soumaoro.At first she cried often, but eventuallyshe
became resigned. She later told Sundiata, "I was nice to
Soumaoroand was the chosenone amonghis numerouswives. I
had my chamber in the great tower where he himself lived. I
knew how to flatter him and make him jealous. Soon I became
his confidante and I pretendedto hate you, to share the hate
which my mother bore you."* In reality, Nana Triban conspired
with Sundiata'sfriends to find the key to Soumaro's power.
Through flattery she cajoled the secretfrom the king. The Tana,
or magic power, of Soumaorohad a correspondingsecretweak-
ness that negated it: the ergot in a chicken spur. She then fled
from her husbandto Sundiata'scamp.
When Nana Triban revealed this taboo to Sundiata, he was
able to vanquish the enemy king with an arrow tipped in ergot
and claim his seat as king of Mali. The ability of a woman to
subvertthe most powerful man by tempting him to boastto her is
shown in this African tale of Nana Triban and the king of Sosso,
as it is in the Jewishstory of Delilah and Samson.

11.4 Queensand Queen Mothers

Ibn Battuta arrived in Mali's capital at the end of July 1352, and
during his sevenmonths'stay there he had many opportunitiesto
observethe customsof the king's court. He refers to the king by
the Arabic word "sultan" or the Malinke word "Mansa." The
rituals of the court were strict. No one spokedirectly to the ruler,
nor did he respond directly; instead, as Ibn Battuta explains, a
speakeraddressedan official, Dugha-alsoknown as the griot-
who repeatedthe words to the king and through whom the king's
responsewas interpreted. This practice was common among
West African rulers and is continuedtoday at the courts of some
traditional rulers. Anyone honored by the king's attention or
wishing to show respectto the royal family would sprinkle dust
on his or her head or back, "like one washing himself with
water," Ibn Battuta noted. It was near the end of the reign of
MansaSulaymanthat the eventsdescribedbelow took place.

*Niane, Sundiata,57.
 WOMEN IN AFRICA 201

It happenedduring my sojourn at Mali that the sultan was dis-

pleasedwith his chief wife, the daughterof his maternal uncle,
called Qasa.The meaningof qasa with them is "queen." She was
his partner in rule accordingto the custom of the Sudan,and her
name was mentionedwith his from the pulpit. He imprisonedher
in the houseof one of the farariyya [princes] and appointedin her
place his other wife Banju, who was not of royal blood. People
talked much about this and disapprovedof his act. His female
cousins [literally, daughtersof his paternaluncle] went in to con-
gratulate Banju on her queenship.They put asheson their fore-
arms and did not scatter dust on their heads. Then the sultan
releasedQasafrom her confinement.His cousins went in to con-
gratulate her on her release and scattereddust over themselves
accordingto the custom.Banju complainedabout this to the sultan
and he was angry with his cousins. They were afraid of him and
soughtsanctuaryin the mosque.He pardonedthem and summoned
them into his presence.The women's custom when they go into
the sultan'spresenceis that they divest themselvesof their clothes
and enter naked. This they did and he was pleasedwith them.
They proceededto come to the door of the sultan morning and
evening for a period of seven days, this being the practice of
anyonewhom the sultanhad pardoned.
Qasabeganto ride every day with her slave girls and men with
dust on their headsand to standby the council place veiled, her face
being invisible. The emirs [chiefs] talked much about her affair, so
the sultan gatheredthem at the council place and said to them
throughDugha[his griot]: "You havebeentalking a greatdeal about
the affair of Qasa.Shehascommitteda greatcrime." Then one of her
slave girls was brought boundand shackledand he said to her: "Say
what you have to say!" Sheinformed them that Qasahad senther to
latil, the sultan'scousin[literally, son of his paternaluncle] who was
in flight from him at Kanburni, and invited him to deposethe sultan
from his kingship, saying: "I and all the army are at your service!"
When the emirs heard that they said: "Indeed, that is a great crime
and for it she deservesto be killed!" Qasawas fearful at this and
soughtrefuge at the houseof the khatib [religious leader]. It is their
customthere that they seeksanctuaryin the mosque,or if that is not
possiblethen in the houseof the khatib.
 202 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

From N. Levtzion and J.F.P. Hopkins, eds., Corpus of Early Arabic Sourcesfor
WestAfrican History, trans. J.F.P. Hopkins (Cambridge,UK: CambridgeUniver-
sity Press,1981),294-5. © 1981 by University of Ghana,InternationalAcademic
Union, CambridgeUniversity Press.Reprintedwith the permissionof Cambridge
University Press.

Qasa's story reveals how aristocratic women could manipulate

the opinions of others in the ruling elite and of the general pub-
lic. Sulayman's imprisonment of her was unpopular and a threat
to all of the royal family. Despite the king's anger, Qasa was
released. In her retaliation, however, she went too far. Whether
she merely sought to humiliate Sulayman publicly or actually
plotted with his cousin in deposing the king, Mali's leaders were
fearful of renewing the civil wars that had plagued the empire
after Sundiata's reign. While no women ever ruled Mali, they
were active players in the family politics of the empire.
Elsewhere on the African continent, women played Sundiata's
role as mythiC founders of states and cities. Legends and oral
histories of both matrilineal and patrilineal peoples repeat com-
mon themes: a queen who chose the site for a city, who estab-
lished the ruling family, who held the symbols of power, and
who governed. Often she is perceived as having chosen to share
power with a male stranger or with her son, from whom subse-
quent kings derived their power. Some of these legends are an-
cient but persistent. Ethiopia's medieval Christian kings invested
their monarchy with the religious and political heritage of the
Queen of Sheba, whose wealth had dazzled King Solomon. In
Daura, Nigeria, medieval oral histories recall that this Hausa
city-state was founded and ruled by a queen, or magajiya,
named Kufuru. Eight queens succeeded her, but the last, Daura,
shared her power with a Muslim stranger from Baghdad who
managed to kill a sacred snake that had prevented her people
from drawing water out of their only well. Thenceforth, Daura
was ruled by men, and as Islam spread in its ruling class, women
were subordinated to men. But in Daura, as in many other Afri-
can states, women's power remained institutionalized through
the office of the queen mother. The myth of Daura's origin re-
mained significant until the Hausa were conquered by the Fulani
in the nineteenth century. Here the fact that queens preceded
kings justified the doctrine that the magajiya or queen mother
was the only person who could countermand the king's orders
 WOMEN IN AFRICA 203

and, when necessary, initiate action to remove him from the

throne.
But African states did not require such ancestors to justify the
institution of the queen mother, a unique means of restraining
the power of a monarch and of allowing women to be repre-
sented at court. Tombs and archaeology from Meroe, a Nubian
state south of Egypt, indicate that queen mothers exercised
power beside kings when that state was at its peak between 170
B.CE. and 330 CE.
Royal genealogies name the queen mothers, as well as the
kings, of medieval Christian Ethiopia. In the centuries after 1500
C.E. queen mothers could be found among many of Africa's
states, including those of the Lovedu and Swazi peoples in south-
ern Africa, the Bamileke of Cameroon's grassfields, and the Akan
peoples of modern Ghana. In all of these societies, the queen
mother constitutes a necessary office of state, sometimes filled by
a woman whose son is king and sometimes by one who may not
be related to the king but is of royal descent. Monarchy with a
queen mother achieved a complementary balance of power, for
the king was not absolute, and the separate realms of feminine
and masculine were represented at court. Parallel concerns with
balance might be symbolized by the appointment of officials of
the right and left, north and south. In Ethiopia, the king's three
key wives were called the queen of the right, the queen of the
left, and the junior queen of the right. But none of them exer-
cised as much power as the queen mother.
Queen mothers did not ordinarily rule, as did the regent
queens of Europe or China. Usually a queen mother was ap-
pointed when the king ascended to office. As in Daura, her
principal power was that of rebuking or criticizing the king
(which no other person was allowed to do). The queen mother
also usually presided over subsidiary courts, often hearing cases
involving women; she had the power to pardon or offer sanctu-
ary to criminals condemned by the king and to regulate the
affairs of women in the kingdom. Contrary to those cases where
politically astute female rulers who seized power were publicly
gendered as male, the African queen mother's gender was al-
waysfemale.
Historical records also document the occasional activities of
ruling African women, such as Queen Amina, whose conquests
extended the borders of the Hausa city-state of Zazzau in the
 204 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

sixteenth century, or a queen who led her troops against the

Ethiopian Christians in the tenth century C.E., when that country's
monarchy was weakened by contesting claimants to its throne.
This queen killed her male predecessor before assuming power
for a reign of over thirty years. Her army killed Christians and
demolished churches as she established her kingdom's indepen-
dence and regional power.

11.5 The Meaning of Nudity

Ibn Battuta criticized African women's baring of their bodies, as

would many subsequent travelers from other continents.

One of their disapprovedacts is that their female servantsand slave

girls and little girls appearbefore men naked, with their privy parts
uncovered.During RamadanI saw many of them in this state,for it
is the custom of the farariyya [princes] to break their fast in the
houseof the sultan,and eachone brings his food carriedby twenty or
more of his slave girls, they all being naked. Another is that their
women go into the sultan'spresencenakedand uncovered,and that
his daughtersgo naked.On the night of 25 RamadanI saw about200
slavegirls bringing out food from his palacenaked,having with them
two of his daughterswith roundedbreastshaving no covering upon
them.

From N. Levtzion and J.F.P. Hopkins, eds., Corpus of Early Arabic Sourcesfor
West African History, trans. J.F.P. Hopkins (Cambridge,UK: CambridgeUniver-
sity Press,1981),296-7. © 1981 by University of Ghana,InternationalAcademic
Union, Cambridge UniversityPress.Reprintedwith the permissionof Cambridge
University Press.

Note that Ibn Battuta is describing ceremonial nudity at the king's

palace, not everyday dress, but to an orthodox Muslim the na-
kedness on the holy day marking the end of fasting for Ramadan
was extraordinarily shocking. Ibn Battuta's own account of the
events following Queen Qasa's fall from favor tells of royal
women who usually wore clothing, which they removed before
the king as a sign of their submission. Casual misreading and
reliance on sometimes uninformed foreign travelers' comments
about female nakedness contributed significantly to stereotypes
 WOMEN IN AFRICA 205

about "primitive" Africa. Tension between orthodox Islam, as

interpreted by North African men like Ibn Battuta, and West
African societies whose elite males had become Muslims would
exist for many centuries until an African Muslim synthesis pene-
trated the culture beyond the courts. Much of this tension was
gendered. Muslims, Jews, and Christians all believed God re-
quired men and women to cover their bodies, and in the medi-
eval years this meant head coverings as well as clothes that
reached from neck to hands and feet. One of the most pervasive
symbols of social inferiority and lack of civilization for Christian,
Jewish, and Islamic peoples was the sight of women with bare
breasts, whether in Africa, Asia, the island Pacific, or the Americas.

Suggested Further Readings

Annie lebeuf, liThe Role of Women in the Political Organization

of African Societies," in Denise Paulme, ed., Women of Tropical
Africa (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1963) analyzes
the roles of queens and queen mothers in African monarchies
without attention to historical chronology. like many scholars
working from anthropological sources, she assumes that the "tra-
ditional" has been unchanging. M.G. Smith, in The Affairs of
Daura (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978), attempts
to set legends within historical time. For Taddesse Tamrat,
Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270-1527 (Oxford: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 1972), gender is a minor factor in the politics of
East Africa's most powerful nation. Though most of Karen Sacks's
examples are drawn from later periods, she analyzes women's
roles, access to power, and subordination by kin groups in sev-
eral types of African societies in Sisters and Wives (Westport, CT:
Greenwood Press, 1979). Women's slavery is discussed in Paul
lovejoy, Transformations in Slavery (Cambridge: Cambridge Uni-
versity Press, 1983) and in Claire C. Robertson and Martin A.
Klein, eds., Women and Slavery in Africa (Madison: University of
Wisconsin Press, 1983).
This page intentionally left blank:
 -12-
SOUTHEAST ASIA
The Most Fortunate Women
in the World

A fifteenth-centurysculpture from Sukuh temple,Java. The ligure on the

right is a woman poundingrice. On the left is Ganesha,the elephant-headed
Hindu god. (Photograph by SarahShaverHughes.)
 208 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

The environment of Southeast Asia's islands' and peninsulas is

one of lush tropical rain forests; volcanic soils; a frost-free, year-
round growing season; and easy water transport. Straddling the
waterways between India and China, the region has attracted
merchants and missionaries since ancient times. Hindu, Bud-
dhist, and Confucian beliefs accompanied these travelers. By the
twelfth century CE., sculpture and temple complexes in Thailand,
Cambodia, Burma, and Indonesia were visible expressions of the
influence of India. Except in Vietnam, China's impact (like that of
the later waves of Muslims and Christians from the Middle East
and Europe) was subtle. By 1600, all the world knew of the
wealth to be claimed by the nations that vied for control of the
spice trade in the East Indies. Until then, outside cultures influ-
enced the peoples of Southeast Asia only selectively. Tales from
the Hindu epic poem the Ramayana shaped Javanese ballet and
puppet performances just as Hindu architectural forms shaped
the temples of Prambanan and Anghor Wat, but the caste system
was rejected.

12.1 Gender Autonomy

The extent to which Southeast Asians retained distinctive re-

gional customs is nowhere clearer than in their gender relation-
ships. Instead of the patriarchy of China or India, these peoples
developed a remarkable pattern of female independence and
achievement. Of all the ancient civilizations examined in this
volume, the women of Southeast Asia were the most fortunate.
But that fact is not generally known even among feminist histori-
ans. Few ancient sources concerning Southeast Asian women
have been translated into English, and very little research on
gender has been published. Anthony Reid's history of the region
between 1450 and 1680 analyzes some aspects of these
women's lives.

Relations between the sexes representedone aspect of the social

systemin which a distinctive SoutheasternAsian pattern was espe-
cially evident. Even the gradual strengtheningof the influence of
Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucianismin their respective
spheresover the last four centurieshas by no means eliminated a
common pattern of relatively high female autonomy and economic
importance. In the sixteenth and seventeenthcenturies the region
 THE FORTUNATE WOMEN OF SOUTHEAST ASIA 209

probably representedone extremeof human experienceon theseis-

sues.It would be wrong to say that women were equal to men-in-
deed, there were very few areas in which they competeddirectly.
Women had different functions from men, but theseincluded trans-
planting and harvestingrice, weaving, and marketing. Their repro-
ductive role gave them magical and ritual powers which it was
difficult for men to match. Thesefactors may explain why the value
of daughterswas never questionedin SoutheasternAsia as it was in
China, India, and the Middle East; on the contrary,"the more daugh-
ters a man has,the richer he is."
Southeastern
Throughou~ SoutheasternAsia wealth passedfrom the male to the
female si\.ie in marriage-thereverseof Europeandowry. Vietnam in
modern times has been the exception to this pattern as to many
others, becauseof the progressiveimposition of the sternly patriar-
chal Confuciansystemin the fifteenth century. Yet in southernViet-
nam as late as the seventeenthcentury men continued what must
have beenan older SoutheasternAsia pattern,giving bride-wealthat
marriageandevenresiding with the families of their brides.
To someearly Christian missionariesthe practiceof paying bride-
wealth was disapprovedas a form of buying a wife. Although the
terminology of the market was occasionallyused in this as in other
transactions,the practice of bride-wealth in fact demonstratedthe
high economicvalue of womenand contributedto their autonomy.In
contrast to the other major area of bride-price, Africa, where the
wealth went to the bride's father and was eventually inherited
through the male line, SoutheastAsian women benefited directly
from the system.Tome Pires put it strongly for the Malays he knew:
"The man must give the woman ten tahil and six mas of gold as
dowry which must always be actually in her power." In other cases
bride-wealthwas paid to the bride's parents,who transferredsome
propertyto their daughter.

Anthony Reid, SoutheastAsia in the Age of Commerce,1450-1680,vol. 1, The

Lands below the Winds (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press,1988), 146-7.
© 1988 by Yale University.

In Thailand, Burma, Cambodia,and Malaya, newlyweds usually

moved to the bride's village to farm land donatedby her mother.
 210 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

The husband in these societies (in sharp contrast to the Chinese

or Indian models) was the one who had to adjust to a new family
of in-laws. On some islands, such as Bali, women could not own
land. Laws in most of Southeast Asia, however, provided for joint
ownership of property accumulated in marriage. Some legal
codes, such as that of medieval Thailand, called for the distribu-
tion of common property in a divorce according to each spouse's
economic contribution, with wives expecting to receive the
larger share. Equal inheritance for all children, regardless of gen-
der, was customary, even in regions influenced by Islam, where
the principle of giving sons bequests twice as large as those given
to daughters was ignored.

The relative autonomyenjoyed by women extendedto sexual rela-

tions. SoutheastAsian literatureof the period leavesus in little doubt
that womentook a very active part in courtshipand lovemaking,and
demandedas much as they gave by way of sexual and emotional
gratification. The literature describesthe physical attractivenessof
male heroesand their appealto women as enthusiasticallyas it does
the reverse.... "If Hang Tuah passed,married women tore them-
selvesfrom the embracesof their husbandsso that they could go out
and see him." Romantic tales of love were as prominent as in any
otherof the world's literatures....
Even more characteristicof an essentiallySoutheastAsian genius
were (and are) the earthyrhyming quatrainsknown aspantun in Malay
and lam in many of the Tai languages.They do not always deal with
matters of love, but their most characteristicspontaneousexpression
was as a dialogue betweenman and woman or the two parties to a
marriagenegotiation,taking the form of a battle of the sexesin which
eachtried to outdothe otherin wit andsuggestiveallusion....
As usual, Chou Ta-kuan had a colourful way of describing the
expectationsthe Cambodianwomen of his day [1297] had of their
men. "If the husbandis called away for more than ten days, the wife
is apt to say, 'I am not a spirit; how am I supposedto sleepalone?'" ...
At Javanesemarriages,according to Raffles, the groom was sol-
emnly warned,"If you should happento be absentfrom her for the
spaceof sevenmonths on shore, or one year at sea, without giving
her any subsistence... your marriageshall be dissolved,if your wife
desiresit, without further form or process."...
 THE FORTUNATE WOMEN OF SOUTHEAST ASIA 211

The most graphic demonstrationof the strong position women en-

joyed in sexualmatterswas the painful surgerymen enduredon their
penis to increasethe erotic pleasureof women. Once again, this is a
phenomenonwhose dispersionthroughoutSoutheasternAsia is very
striking. . .. A careful recent survey of the ethnographicevidence
suggeststhat the phenomenonmay best be understoodas a symptom
of the power and autonomyenjoyedby SoutheastAsian women. The
authorsshow ... that some women also undergoa clitoral circumci-
sion kept secret from men and purported to enhancefemale sexual
pleasure.The early SoutheastAsian patternappearsto be the opposite
of that in parts of Africa, where surgery was designedeither to en-
hancesexualgratification in men or to decreaseit in women.
The most draconiansurgerywas the insertionof a metal pin, com-
plementedby a variety of wheels, spurs, or studs, in the central and
southernPhilippines and parts of Borneo. Pigafettawas the first of
the astonishedEuropeansto describe[in 1524] the practice:
The males,large and small, have their penispiercedfrom one side
to the other nearthe headwith a gold or tin bolt as large as a goose
quill. In both ends of the samebolt some have what resemblesa
spur, with points upon the ends; other are like the head of a cart
nail. I very often asked many, both old and young, to see their
penis becauseI could not credit it. In the middle of the bolt is a
hole, through which they urinate.... They say their womenwish it
so, and that if they did otherwisethey would not havecommunica-
tion with them. When men wish to havecommunicationwith their
women, the latter themselvestake the penis not in the regularway
and commencevery gently to introduce it, with the spur on top
first, and then the other part. When it is inside it takes its regular
position; and thus the penis always stays inside until it gets soft,
for otherwisethey could not pull it out. ...
The sameresult was obtainedin other parts of SoutheastAsia by
the less painful but probably more delicate operation of inserting
small balls or bells under the loose skin of the penis. The earliest
report [1433] is from the ChineseMuslim Ma Huan. He reportedin
Siam,
when a man has attained his twentieth year, they take the skin
which surroundsthe membrumvirile, and with a fine knife ... they
 212 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

open it up and insert a dozentin beadsinside the skin; they close it

up and protect it with medicinal herbs.... The beadslook like a
cluster of grapes .. . If it is the king ... or a great chief or a
wealthy man, they use gold to make hollow beads,inside which a
grain of sandis placed.... They makea tinkling sound,and this is
regardedas beautiful.

NumerousEuropeanwriters note the samephenomenonin Pegu

during the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies.... The primary purpose
seemsagain the pleasureof the female. When the Dutch admiral
Jacob van Neck asked in some astonishmentwhat purpose was
servedby the sweet-soundinglittle goldenbells the wealthy Thais of
Patani carried in their penises,they replied that "the women obtain
inexpressiblepleasurefrom it."

Anthony Reid, SoutheastAsia in the Age of Commerce,1450-1680, vol. 1, The

Lands below the Winds (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988), 147-50.
© 1988 by Yale University.

12.2 Marriage

The average marriage was monogamous, although rulers had

multiple wives and wealthy men had casual sexual relations with
their slaves. Premarital sex was considered normal, but once
married the couple commonly remained faithful. Adultery was a
serious crime in many communities. Anthony Reid thinks the
ease of divorce was an important factor in maintaining wide-
spread monogamy.

Among the overwhelmingmajority of ordinary people,the patternof

monogamy was reinforced by the ease of divorce, the preferred
meansof ending an unsatisfactoryunion. In the Philippines, "mar-
riageslast only so long as harmonyprevails,for at the slightestcause
in the world they divorce one another."In Siam, similarly, "Husband
and Wife may part againat pleasure,dealingtheir goodsand children
without further circumstance,and may re-marry if they think good,
without fear of shame or punishment.".... Throughout the island
world the rule appearedto be that the wife (or her parents)kept the
bride-wealthif the husbandtook the initiative to end the marriage,
 THE FORTUNATE WOMEN OF SOUTHEAST ASIA 213

but had to repay it if she was primarily responsible.At least in the

Philippines and Siam the children of a marriage were divided at
divorce, the first going to the mother,the secondto the father, and so
on....
That the majority Muslim population of Indonesiaand Malaysia
had divorce rates in excessof 50 percent as late as the 1960s is
sometimesattributed to the influence of Islam in sanctioningeasy
divorce for men. Much more important,however,was the pan-South-
east-Asianpatternof female autonomy,which meantthat divorce did
not markedly reducea woman'slivelihood, status,or network of kin
support. In noting the acceptancethe Javanesegave to women of
twenty-two or twenty-threeliving with their fourth or fifth husband,
Earl [1837] attributed this attitude entirely to the freedom and eco-
nomic independence enjoyedby women.
Christian Europewas until the eighteenthcentury a very "chaste"
societyin comparativeterms, with an exceptionallylate averageage
of marriage(in the twenties), with high proportionsnever marrying
and with a low rate of extramaritalconceptionsby later standards.(In
England this rate rose from only 12 percentof births in 1680 to 50
percentby 1800.) SoutheastAsia was in many respectsthe complete
antithesisof that chastepattern,and it seemedto Europeanobservers
of the time that its inhabitantswere preoccupiedwith sex. The Portu-
guese likedto say that the Malays were "fond of music and given to
love," while Javanese,like Burmese,Thais, andFilipinos, were char-
acterizedas "very lasciviously given, both men and women." What
this meantwas that pre-maritalsexualrelationswere regardedindul-
gently, and virginity at marriagewas not expectedof either party. If
pregnancyresultedfrom thesepre-maritalactivities, the couplewere
expectedto marry, and failing that, resortmight be had to abortionor
(at leastin the Philippines)to infanticide.
Within marriage,on the otherhand,the fidelity and devotedness of
SoutheastAsian couples appearsto have surprisedEuropeans.The
womenof Banjarmasin,for example,were "very constantwhen mar-
ried, but very loose when single." In pre-Islamic South Sulawesi
fornication with an unmarried woman was overlooked, but with a
married(upperclass?)woman was punishedwith death.Even Span-
ish chroniclerswho took a dim view of the sexualmorality of Filipi-
nos sometimesconcededthat "the men treat their wives well, and
 214 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

love them accordingto their habits... ," The economicautonomyof

women and their capacity to escapefrom unsatisfactoryunions
obliged husbandsas well as wives to make some effort to keep the
marriage intact. One example of how such a pattern operatedto
constrain foreign men accustomedto different patternsis given by
Scott, who commented[in 1606] on a Chinesebeatinghis Vietnam-
esewife in Bantenthat this could not have happenedif the wife had
been a local woman, "for the Javanswill hardly suffer them to beat
their women."
Curiously, when female virginity is mentionedas a major factor in
marriage,it is as an impedimentrather than an asset.In pre-Spanish
Philippines, according to Morga, there were (ritual?) specialists
whosefunction was to deflower virgins, "it being thoughtan obstacle
and impedimentto marriagefor a girl to be a virgin." ... The West-
ern literature offers more titillation than explanationfor such prac-
tices, generally suggestingthat SoutheastAsian men preferredtheir
women experienced.It seemsfar more likely that the hymenalblood
was considereddangerousor polluting to men, as is the casetoday
with menstrualblood in many areas.
The pattern of premarital sexual activity and easy divorce, to-
getherwith the commercialelementpotentially involved in the pay-
ing of bride-wealth,ensuredthat temporarymarriageor concubinage
rather than prostitution becamethe dominantmeansof coping with
the vast annual influx of foreign traders to the major ports. The
systemin Pataniwas describedas follows:

When foreignerscometherefrom otherlandsto do their business...

men come and ask them whether they do not desire a woman;
these young women and girls themselvesalso come and present
themselves,from whom they may choosethe one most agreeable
to them, providedthey agreewhat he shall pay for certainmonths.
Oncethey agreeaboutthe money(which doesnot amountto much
for so great a convenience),she comes to his house, and serves
him by day as his maidservantand by night as his weddedwife. He
is then not able to consortwith other women or he will be in grave
trouble with his wife, while she is similarly wholly forbidden to
conversewith othermen, but the marriagelastsas long as he keeps
his residencethere, in good peaceand unity. When he wants to
 THE FORTUNATE WOMEN OF SOUTHEAST ASIA 215

departhe gives her whateveris promised,and so they leave each

other in friendship, and she may then look for anotherman as she
wishes,in all proprietywithout scandal.

Exactly the same pattern is described for Javanesetraders in

Bandafor the nutmeg season,for Europeansand others in Vietnam,
Cambodia,Siam, and Burma. Hamilton relatedin affectionatedetail
how the systemworked in Pegu,where a formal marriageritual was
held for these temporary relationships,to which both parties were
bound by legal obligation. Like Chou Ta-kuan in Cambodia,he ap-
preciated the double advantageof such local wives as not only
bedmatesbut commercial partners. "If their Husbandshave any
goods to sell, they set up a shop and sell them by retail, to a much
betteraccountthan they could be sold for by wholesale."
Prostitution was much rarer than temporarymarriageor concubi-
nage, but it beganto appearin the major cities in the late sixteenth
century.In every casethe prostituteswere slavewomenbelongingto
the King or nobles. The Spanishdescribedsuch womenas offering
themselvesin small boats in the water city of Brunei in the 1570s;
the Dutch describeda similar phenomenonin Pataniin 1602, though
it was lesscommonand lessrespectablethan temporarymarriage....
It seemsprobablethat this type of slaveprostitutionin the major port
cities of the region developedin responseto a demandfrom Europe-
ans and Chinesewith different expectations.It may also have been
stimulatedby a growing sense,at least among Muslims, of the im-
propriety of temporarymarriageswith foreignersand unbelievers.
The broad pattern of sexual relations-relativepremarital free-
dom, monogamyand fidelity within marriage(which was easily dis-
solved by divorce), and a strong female position in the sexual
game-conflictedin different ways with the practices of all the
world religions which were increasingtheir hold on SoutheastAsia
in the age of commerce.The sharpestconflict might have beenex-
pectedwith Islamic law, which made women both legally and eco-
nomically dependenton their husbandsand markedly restrictedtheir
rights to initiate divorce....
The talak formula of Islamic law, whereby a man could divorce
his wife (but not the reverse)by thrice repeatinga simple repudia-
tion, was also known in the cosmopolitanports of the region....
 216 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Since the economic and social position of the divorced Southeast

Asia woman was at least as strong as that of the man, however, this
religious prescriptionhad little effect on the practice of divorce. As
the greatArab navigatorIbn Majid complained,Malays "do not treat
divorce as a religious act."
A Spanishobserverin Brunei noted that husbandswere entitled to
divorce their wives for the most trivial reasons,but that in practice"they
usually divorce voluntarily, both togetherwanting it; and they agreeto
return half the dowry andto divide the children ifthey havethem."

Anthony Reid, SoutheastAsia in the Age of Commerce,1450-1680,vol. 1, The

Lands below the Winds (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988), 152-8.
© 1988 by Yale University.

The nineteenth-century Vietnamese poet Ho Xuan Huong suc-

cinctly expresses the Southeast Asian woman's contemptuous
view of polygamy, a marriage practice introduced to her country
by a thousand years of Chinese political domination (111 B.C.E. to
939 C.E.) and continued by the male Viet elite's admiration for
Confucian values.

Sharinga Husband

One wife is coveredby a quilted blanket, whileone wife is left in

the cold.
Cursedbe this fate of sharinga commonhusband.
Seldomdo you havean occasionto possessyour husband,
Not eventwice in one month.
You toil and endurehardshipsin order to earnyour steamedrice,
and then the rice is cold and tasteless.
It is like renting your servicesfor hire, and then receiving no
wages.
How is it that I haveturnedout this way,
I would rathersuffer the fate of remainingunmarriedand living
aloneby myself.
 THE FORTUNATE WOMEN OF SOUTHEAST ASIA 217

Ho Xuan Huong, "Sharing a Husband," in A. Woodside, ed., Vietnam and the

ChineseModel (Cambridge,MA: HarvardUniversity Press,1971),48.

12.3 Merchants, Diplomats, and Queens

In Southeast Asia, participation in public life by women was

greater than in any other society discussed in this volume. Elite
and ordinary women pursued opportunities beyond the house-
hold domain. Trade, diplomacy, statecraft, warfare, and literacy
are activities chosen to illustrate the influential roles Southeast
Asian played.
~omen played. Because they owned property and earned
their living, women had considerable freedom to live as they
pleased.
In Bayon a Khmer temple has a carving from the twelfth cen-
tury C.E. depicting two female Cambodian merchants dressed in
fashionable sarongs with elaborate jewelry. The Chinese traveler
Zhou Daguan described the milieu in 1297 CE.:

In Cambodiait is the women who take charge of trade. For this

reason a Chinese arriving in the country loses no time in getting
himself a mate, for he will find her commercial instincts a great
asset.Market is held every day from six o'clock until noon. Thereare
no shopsin which merchantslive; instead,they display their goods
on matting spreadupon the ground.

Chou Ta-kuan (Zhou Daguan),The Customsof Cambodia, translatedinto English

by Paul Pelliot from the Frenchversion that1. Gilman d' Arcy Paul translatedfrom
the original Chinese(Bangkok: Siam Society, 1987),20.

This is the earliest written record of women in trade, but, Reid

explains, numerous subsequent references testify to these prac-
tices continuing into the twentieth century:

Since marketing was a female domain par excellence,this is the

placeto start. Even today SoutheastAsian countriestop the compara-
tive statisticsassembledby EsterBoserupfor female participationin
trade and marketing. Fifty-six percentof those so listed in Thailand
were women,51 percentin the Philippines,47 percentin Burma, and
46 percent in Cambodia.Although Indonesiahas a lower rate, 31
 218 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

percent, this still contrastedsharply with other Muslim countries,

particularly in the Middle East (1 to 5 percent). In Bangkok at the
time of the 1947 census,three times as many Thai women as men
were registered as owners or managersof businesses.A famous
Minangkabaupoemfirst written down in the 1820sexhortedmothers
to teachtheir daughters"to judge the rise and fall of prices." South-
east Asian women are still expectedto show more commercially
shrewd and thrifty attitudesthan men, and male Chineseand Euro-
pean traders are apt to be derided for having the mean spirit of a
womanon suchmatters.
Although the casualvisitor to SoutheastAsia today might not be
awareof the female trading role, which is now restrictedto rural and
small-scalemarkets,this has not always been the case.Early Euro-
pean and Chinese traders were constantly surprised to find them-
selvesdealingwith women:

... It is their [Siamese]customthat all affairs are managedby their

wives ... all trading transactionsgreatand small [1433]....
The money-changersare here [Aceh], as at Tonkin, most
women [1699]....
It is the women [of Maluku] who negotiate,do business,buy
and sell [1544]. ...
It is usual for the husbandto entrust his pecuniaryaffairs en-
tirely to his wife. The women alone attendthe markets,and con-
duct all the businessof buying and seIling. It is proverbial to say
the Javanesemen arefools in moneyconcerns[1817].

The prominenceof foreignersand of the ruling circle in the trade

of most SoutheastAsia cities ensuredthat most of the large-scale
merchantsand shipownerswere male. A significant numberof local
women did, however,join this circle. A famous one was Nyai Gede
Pinateh, a promoter of Islam and "foster-mother" of Sunan Giri,
whose tomb is still honored at Gresik. She was a foreign-born
Muslim.... Around 1500 she appears to have been acting as
shahbandar(harbourmaster)of Gresik and reportedlysenther ships
to trade in Bali, Maluku, and Cambodia.Some royal women used
their accessto capital to good effect. In the 1660sthe wife of Sultan
 THE FORTUNATE WOMEN OF SOUTHEAST ASIA 219

Hasanuddinof Makassar,Lomo' Tombo, owned ships which she

senton very profitable trade missionsto Johor....
Besides these privileged royal women, the Dutch and English
dealt with some formidable female traders.In Cochin-China[Viet-
nam] they haggledover pepperpriceswith "a greatwomanmerchant
(coopvrouw) of Sinoa [Hue]" who had madethe journey to the capi-
tal of Cochin-Chinain order to check the market. She representeda
firm comprisingtwo sistersand a brotherwhich could deliver much
pepper, and although she travelled with a male companion, "the
woman did the talking and the man listenedand agreed."A woman
of Mon descent,Soet Pegu, usedher position as sexual partnerand
commercialpartnerto successiveDutch factors in Ayutthayato vir-
tually monopolize Dutch-Thai trade in the 1640s and thereby also
gain greatinfluenceat court....
From trade it was not a great step to diplomacy, especially for
those who had beenboth commercialand sexualpartnersof foreign
traders. Such women frequently becamefluent in the languages
neededin commerce.Thus the first Dutch mission to Cochin-China
found that the king dealt with them through a Vietnamesewoman
who spokeexcellentPortugueseand Malay and had long residedin
Macao. She, along with anotherelderly woman who had had two
Portuguesehusbandsas well as one Vietnamese,had beenthe princi-
pal translatorfor the Cochin-Chinacourt for thirty years.... Later
the Sultanof Deli, in Sumatra,ordered"a mostextraordinaryand old
eccentricwoman" namedChe Laut to accompanyJohn Andersonon
his embassyto various Sumatranstates.Shewas "a prodigy of learn-
ing," spokeChinese,Thai, Chuliah, Bengali, and Acehneseand knew
the politics of all the Sumatrancoastalstatesintimately.

Anthony Reid, SoutheastAsia in the Age of Commerce,1450-1680, vol. 1, The

Lands below the Winds (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988), 163-6.
© 1988 by Yale University.

Fernao Mendes Pinto traveled in Asia in the sixteenth century.

His account, The Travels of Mendes Pinto, is a Portugueseclas-
sic. In Sunda,West Java, he was surprisedthat an ambassadorof
the emperorof Demark, the ruler of Java, Bali, and Madura, was
an older woman, a widow about sixty yearsold. She was shown
 220 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

the highest honors by the local ruler, a vassalof Demark. He met

her at the dock, took her to his palace, and lodged her with his
queen, while he movedout to anotherapartmentsome distance
away.
Pinto explainedthat even though the Javanesewere Muslims,
who generally did not allow women public roles, SoutheastAs-
ians ignored that Islamic tradition.

Now in order to understandwhy a woman, rather than a man, was

sentto deliver this message,one must know that it was always a very
ancientcustomamongthe rulers of thesekingdoms, ever since they
began,for mattersof greatimportancerequiring peaceand harmony
to be handledthrough women. This is true not only for private mes-
sagesthat the lords send their vassalsas in this particular instance,
but also of public and general affairs that some kings handle with
eachotherthroughtheir embassies.

FemaoMendesPinto, The Travels of MendesPinto, trans. RebeccaD. Catz (Chi-

cago: University of ChicagoPress,1989), 383.

Reid interprets this practice as caused by the strong sense of

personalhonor of the men. In tensediplomatic encounters,male
tempersmight flare.

In someparts of the island world there appearsto have beena posi-

tive preferencefor using womenas envoys,particularly in the peace-
making process.... "If the King [in Banten in 1606] ... send[s] a
man [to fetch someone]the parties may refuse to come; but if he
once send[s] a woman, he may not refuse nor make excuse.More-
over if any inferior bodie have a suit to a man of authoritie, if they
comenot themselves,they alwayssenda woman."...
Of coursemen were also usedas envoys,and overwhelmingly so
as the international norms of Muslim and Christian states took
greatereffect in the seventeenthcentury. What the abovecomments
suggestis that the preoccupationof elite males with ordering the
political systemin terms of hierarchiesof status,and the obligation
for them to avengeany infraction of that status(especiallyin Java),
madethem dangerousemissariesfor thosewho really soughtpeace.
 THE FORTUNATE WOMEN OF SOUTHEAST ASIA 221

Men could not bargainas women were expectedto, nor subordinate

their senseof honourto the needfor a settlement.
This peacemakingrole is difficult to reconcilewith the tradition of
female warriors. Since warfareis normally an exclusively male busi-
ness,every culture is probably inclined to romanticizeand celebrate
thoseexceptionalwomen who emergeto savea desperatesituation.
Vietnam has no heroesmore renownedthan the Trung sisters,who
rose up againstthe Chinesein A.D. 43. Thais remembertwo sisters
who led the successful defence of Phuketin 1785: QueenSuriyothai,
who was killed defending Ayutthaya in 1564; and Lady Mo, who
rescuedKhorat in 1826 after leading an escapeby severalhundred
captive women.... If such militant heroinesplayed a larger role in
SoutheastAsia than elsewhere,it is probably becausestatus was
more prominent than gender, and women were not excludedfrom
taking the lead if the occasionrequiredit. ...

Anthony Reid, SoutheastAsia in the Age of Commerce,1450-1680, vol. 1, The

Lands below the Winds (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988), 166-7.
© 1988 by Yale University.

Mendes Pinto was also impressed with the military ardor of some
women rulers and told the story of events that happened when
he was in Malacca near the Sumatran kingdom of the queen of
Aaru.
While the queen was outside the fortified stockade, it was
overwhelmed by a superior force of Achinese and the king was
killed, along with many of his followers. The enemy left a small
force to occupy the captured fortification. The queen wanted to
kill herself, but her people convinced her not to. Instead

. . she mounted an elephantand rode off, accompaniedby three

hundredof her personalguardsand many otherswho joined her later,
swelling the ranksof her followersto sevenhundredstrong; and with
them she headedstraightfor the city, determinedto set it afire so as
to preventthe enemyfrom gatheringthe spoils: shefound aboutfour
hundred Achinese there engagedin plundering what was still left;
and urging her men to turn themselvesinto amucks,reminding them,
with tears streamingdown her cheeks,of their obligation to do so,
 222 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

shefell upon the enemyso courageouslythat, accordingto what was

said later in Malacca, not a single one of the four hundredescaped
alive.
And when sherealizedthat she was not powerful enoughto do as
much as she would have liked to, she withdrew once more into the
forest.

FernaoMendesPinto, The Travels of MendesPinto, trans. RebeccaD. Catz (Chi-

cago: University of ChicagoPress,1989),49.

There she organized a guerilla war against the enemy before the
rainy season ended military campaigns. She also sought help
from other kingdoms. Finally she approached the king of Jantana
in Malaya, an enemy of the Achinese. In response to her request
for assistance, he offered to go to war with her enemies if she
would marry him to give him an excuse for war. She made his
promise a part of her dowry and married him. Her new husband
did fight, and he won.
As Reid reports, in Southeast Asia not all queens were reluc-
tant to rule alone. He finds an exceptional number of women
monarchs in the region.

Femalemonarchyis anathemaalike to the Hindu, Buddhist,Islamic,

and Chinesetraditionsof statecraft.Austronesiansocieties,however,
which include Polynesiaand Madagascaras well as Indonesiaand
the Philippines,have beenmore inclined than any other major popu-
lation group to placehighbornwomenon the throne.Sulawesi,where
birth always took priority over sex in succession,may be an extreme
case. Six of the thirty-two rulers of Bone (the largest Bugis state)
sinceits fourteenth-centuryorigins havebeenwomen....
Between the fifteenth and seventeenthcenturies,however, there
was a remarkabletendency for those statesthat participated most
fully in the expandingcommerceof the region to be governedby
women. Many statesraised women to the throne only when at the
peak of their commercial importance.... The only woman on a
Burmesethronein this periodwas Shinsawbu,who presidedover the
emergenceof Peguas a major entrepotin the Bay of Bengal. Japara,
on Java'snorth coast,was a significant naval and commercialpower
 THE FORTUNATE WOMEN OF SOUTHEAST ASIA 223

only underits famousqueen,Kali-nyamat,in the third quarterof the

sixteenthcentury....
Femalerule was one of the few devices available to a commer-
cially oriented aristocracyto limit the despoticpower of kings and
make the state safe for internationalcommerce.IskandarMuda had
beena particularly frightening exampleof the dangersof absolutism,
seekingto monopolizetrade with the English and Dutch while kill-
ing, terrorizing, and dispossessing his own orangkaya(merchant-aris-
tocrats). Having experimentedwith the female alternative, these
aristocratsof Aceh and Patani soughtto perpetuateit. In Patanithe
first queen"has reigned very peaceablywith her councillors . . . so
that all the subjectsconsiderher governmentbetter than that of the
dead king. For all necessitiesare very cheaphere now, whereasin
the king' s time (so they say) they were dearerby half, becauseofthe
great exactionswhich thenoccurred."Similarly, Aceh in the time of
its first queenwas notedby its greatestchroniclerto be frequentedby
international trade becauseof her just rule. The capital "was ex-
tremely prosperousat that time, foodstuffs were very cheap, and
everybodylived in peace."In contrast,"the very nameof a kinge is
long since becomenautiousto them ... through the Tyranical Gov-
ernmentof theire last kinge." Theft was strictly punishedunder the
queens,and property rights were respected.The orangkayafound
they could govern collectively with the queenas sovereignand ref-
eree,and there was somethingof the quality of ElizabethanEngland
in the way they vied for her favour but acceptedher eventualjudge-
mentbetweenthem.
This was not simply a case of powerful males making use of a
powerlessfemale as a figurehead,for women were also active in
both Aceh and Patanias tradersand orangkaya.In Patanithe level of
official tribute was loweredunderthe fourth queenbecauseshe was
said to have been independentlywealthy from her inheritanceand
her extensivetrade. In choosing to put women on the throne the
orangkayawere opting not only for mild rule but for businesslike
rule. As in otherfields, men were expectedto defenda high senseof
statusand honour on the battlefield but to be profligate with their
wealth. It was women's businessto understandmarket forces, to
drive hard bargains,and to conservetheir capital. In general,these
expectationsof women as rulers were not disappointed.Femalerule
 224 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

failed only when Pataniand Aceh ran out of credible candidateswho

still had the charismaof monarchy about them, and when the or-
angkayaof the port capital beganto lose their influence to forces less
interestedin trade.

Anthony Reid, SoutheastAsia in the Age of Commerce,1450-1680,vol. 1, The

Lands below the Winds (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988), 169-
72. © 1988 by Yale University.

12.4 WidespreadLiteracy

Southeast Asian women who were merchants were both numer-

ate and literate. European observers in the seventeenth century
commented on the high degree of literacy among both men and
women in Southeastern Asia. A Spaniard wrote of the Philippine
alphabetic symbols that "they use them a great deal, and the
women much more than the men. The former write them and
read them much more fluently than the latter" (Reid, 216). How-
ever, in the censuses taken during the early twentieth century,
literacy was lower. Anthony Reid concluded that:

Literacy in SoutheastAsia declined betweenthe sixteenthand early

twentieth centuries.If this occurredin the island world, it can only
have been becausethe more "modem" and universalist system of
monastic education introduced by Islam and Christianity acted to
suppressan older patternof literacy of quite a different type.
The most striking evidencefor such an interpretationcomesfrom
the 1930 Censusof NetherlandsIndia [Indonesia] and its less thor-
ough predecessorof 1920. Theserecordedthe highestliteracy any-
where in Indonesianot in thoseprovinceswhere the modem school
systemwas most widespread(North Sulawesiand Ambon) but in the
Lampung districts of southernSumatra.In 1930 45 percentof adult
men and 34 percentof adult womencould write.... The greatmcUor-
ity of theseliteratescould write, not in the roman script taught in the
governmentschools,nor yet in the Arabic script learnedfor reciting
the Koran, but in the old Indonesianka-ga-ngaalphabet.This was
taughtin no schooland had no value either vocationallyor in reading
any establishedreligious or secularliterature. The explanationgiven
 THE FORTUNATE WOMEN OF SOUTHEAST ASIA 225

for its persistencewas the local customof manjau, a courting game

whereby young men and women would gather in the eveningsand
the youth would fling suggestivequatrains(pantun)written in the old
script to the young womenthey fancied.
The sourcesdo not revealhow young peoplelearnedthe script, but
since it was not taught in school there must have been a processof
transmissionin the home, probably from mothersor older siblings,
with the very powerful incentiveof participationin the mating game.
Somethingof the sort was suggestedfor Bali by Jacobs,who re-
marked that the high literacy he observedthere [in 1883] was
achieved without any schools. "The Balinese learn this [writing]
from eachother in play, and alreadysmall toddlers teacheachother
to readthe Balinesealphabetand to write it on lontar leaves."
The Philippines,the writing systemsof which were probably de-
rived from thoseof Sumatra,reveala patternstrikingly similar to that
of Lampung.The detailedSpanishaccountsof the Philippinesmake
no mention of schools. They insist that Filipino writing served no
religious,judicial, or historical purposes,but was usedonly "to write
missivesand notesto one another.... "
The exceptionally high rates of female literacy reported for the
Philippines, Bali, and Lampung now begin to take on more signifi-
cance.In the absenceof formal schoolsserving to perpetuatea reli-
gious elite, literacy was apparentlytransmittedby older relatives to
children at home.....
In the countries more influenced by Indian culture the transmis-
sion of literacy by male religious specialiststhrough a monastictype
schoolsystemis too clear to be denied.Yet even so, in Javaand Bali
the evidenceof the pre-Islamickakawin literatureis that writing was
also usedon a grand scalefor love lettersand love poemswritten on
palm leaves,pandanuspetals,or strips of wood. At least amongthe
court circle, who are the subjectsof this classicalliterature, the skill
in composingpoemsof love appearsto have been an essentialac-
complishmentfor both sexes.
Virtually everywherein SoutheastAsia there was a strong tradi-
tion of contestsin poetry, usually of the four-line pantun type, be-
tweenmen and womenas part of the courtshipprocess....
What I am arguing for island SoutheastAsia is that although the
writing systemmust originally have been introducedfrom India in
 226 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

the first Christianmillennium to servea sacredliterature, it spreadto

many parts of Sumatra,South Sulawesi,and the Philippinesfor dif-
ferent, everydaypurposes.Prior to the sixteenth-centuryexpansionof
Islam and Christianity, writing was being adoptedby largely animist
cultures where women were more commercially and socially active
than in other parts of the world. Women took up writing as actively
as men, to use in exchangingnotes and recording debts and other
commercialmatterswhich were in the female domain. The transmis-
sion of literacy was thereforea domesticmatter,largely the responsi-
bility of mothersand older siblings, and had nothing to do with an
exclusive priestly class. Writing was facilitated by the relative sim-
plicity of alphabetsof only fourteencharactersfor consonantalsylla-
bles plus a few vowel markers.Equally important was the universal
availability of writing materialssuitablefor short notes or accounts
(but not for long compositions),in the form of palm-leafand bamboo
strips. On this basiswe can acceptlevels of literacy in sixteenth-cen-
tury Indonesiaand the Philippines that were very high by any con-
temporarystandardsand as high as any in the world for women.

Anthony Reid, SoutheastAsia in the Age of Commerce,1450-1680, vol. 1, The

Lands below the Winds (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988), 217-22.
© 1988 by Yale University.

Suggested Further Readings

There is a considerable literature on Australian aboriginal peo-

ples, mostly printed in Australia; for an example, see Wendy
Beck and Lesley Head, "Women in Australian Prehistory," Aus-
tralian Feminist Studies 11 (autumn 1990): 29-48. The problem
of Chinese influence on Vietnamese women is discussed in Van
Tai Ta, "The Status of Women in Traditional Vietnam: A Compar-
ison of the Code of the Le Dynasty (1428-1788)with the Chinese
Codes," Journal of Asian History 15 (1981): 97-145.
 -13-
THE AMERICAS
Aztec, Inca,
and Iroquois Women

TWQwomenmakinga kind of paperfrom plant material.Theseclay figurines

were crafted in western Mexico someLimebetween300 and 950 C.E.
(T he BeumannArchive.)
 228 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Human migration from northeasternAsia to the continentsof the

Western hemispherebeganabout 20,000 B.C.E. and continuedfor
someten millennia. Separatedfrom the culturesof the Old World
before the Neolithic age, the societies of the Americas created
their own genderedcultures. Gender patterns varied as much
amongthesesocietiesof the Americasbefore 1500 C.E. as they did
in the Old World. The Europeanappellationof "Indian" to all the
societiesin the Westernhemispherebeliestheir diversity.
Complexsocietiesnearly as old as thoseof the Mediterranean
or Asia developedin the Mesoamericanvalley of Mexico and on
the western edge of South America, where crops were first do-
mesticated.The cultivation of corn, potatoes, squash, cotton,
beans,and chili peppersspreadgradually from thesecentersto
other parts of North and South America and the Caribbean is-
lands. Seasonalgatheringof berries,acorns,and nuts, along with
fishing and trapping and hunting animals, continued on these
peripheriesas farming spread,bringing with it the development
of cultural complexesthat influencedwide areas.
By 1400 C.E. the Iroquoian-speakingpeoples of the eastern
woodlands of North America were one such culture. Ranging
from the Hurons, who lived north of Lake Ontario and the St.
LawrenceRiver, to the Senecas,Mohawks, Onondagas,Oneidas,
Cayugas,and Susquehannocks, who inhabited the region south
of thesewaters,the peoplesof lroquoia sharedgenderedcultural
traits, as well as deep enmities. These were egalitarian village
societiesin which women farmed while men huntedand waged
war.
At the sametime, the Aztecsdominatedcentral Mexico, while
the Inca empire ruled the peoplesof the PeruvianAndes. Aztec
and Inca societieswere stratified by 1400, with nobilities whose
men and women led privileged lives. Both of these relatively
recentempiresbenefitedfrom conquestsof neighboringpeoples
who were then required to pay tribute in goods and human
beings.Urbanity characterizedthe Incasof Cuzcoand the Aztecs
of Tenochtitlan,the latter perhapsthe world's largestcity before
1500 C.E.

13.1 Aztec Greetings to Newborn Babies

Aztec women lived in a patriarchalsociety, but one whoseurban

culture offered some noblewomensocial power, and many free
 AZTEC, INCA, AND IROQUOIS WOMEN 229

women economicopportunitiesin trade or occupationalspecial-

ization. Thesepossibilitieswere not apparentin the Aztec gender
ideals starkly revealed by midwives' ritual chants to newborns.
When an Aztec baby was born, the midwife ceremonially
greetedit as she cut the umbilical cord. She told the baby what
to expect in its new life, using a different speechfor boys and for
girls.
Becausebeing a warrior was the most prestigiousvocation for
boys, her speechemphasizedthat. Notice that the drink or food
given to the sun in the sacrifice of the "flowered death" was
blood spilled in battle or as priestskilled capturedwarriors.
My preciousson, my youngestone.... Heed, hearken:Thy home is
not here, for thou art an eagle, thou art an ocelot. . . . Thou art the
serpent,the bird of the lord of the near, of the nigh. Here is only the
place of thy nest. Thou hast only been hatchedhere; thou hast only
come, arrived.... Thou belongestout there.... Thou hast beensent
into warfare. War is thy desert, thy task. Thou shalt give drink,
nourishment,food to the sun, the lord of the earth.... Perhapsthou
wilt receive the gift, perhapsthou wilt merit death by the obsidian
knife, the flowered deathby the obsidianknife.
Fr. Bernadinode Sahagun,The Florentine Codex: GeneralHistory of the Thingsof
New Spain, vol. 6, trans. Arthur 1.0. Andersonand CharlesE. Dibble (SantaFe,
NM: The School of American Researchand the University of Utah Press,1960),
171-2. Reprinted by pennissionof the publishers,the School of American Re-
searchand the University of Utah Press.

For girls, the midwife emphasizedthe home.

My belovedmaiden.... Thou wilt be in the heart of the home, thou
wilt go nowhere,thou wilt nowherebecomea wanderer,thou becom-
est the bankedfire, the hearth stones.Here our Lord planteth thee,
burieth thee. And thou wilt becomefatigued, thou wilt becometired;
thou art to provide water, to grind maize,to drudge;thou art to sweat
by the ashes,by the hearth.
Fr. Bernadinode Sahagun,The Florentine Codex: GeneralHistory of the Thingsof
New Spain, vol. 6, trans. Arthur 1.0. Andersonand CharlesE. Dibble (SantaFe,
NM: The School of American Researchand the University of Utah Press, 1960),
172. Reprintedby pennissionof the publishers,the School of American Research
and the University of Utah Press.
 230 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

13.2 Aztec Women'sCareersand Character

The midwife aptly described the domestic drudgery of Aztec

women. Grinding dried kernels of corn (maize) on a stone metate
into smooth flour for tortillas was time-consumingand hard physi-
cal labor. Keeping an adequatesupply of water for the household
involved the women's making trips to local springs or aqueducts
while carrying heavy containers.But Aztec women were not forced
into seclusionin their homes,nor did they work only there.
Women traders dominatedthe market placesof Tenochtitlan
and its surroundingvillages. As a part of the marriageceremony,
the new bride was given five valuable cotton capes.The capes
were her starting capital for market trading. Women owned the
numerousfood stalls whose income was their property. Some
specializedin a commodity such as fish or salt, although these
women probably were the retail outlet for their families' busi-
nesses.In someof thesefamilies, women manufacturedthe prod-
uct, dyeing feathers, spinning rabbit fur into thread, or em-
broidering. Women invested in the merchantcaravansthat trav-
eled not only to villages within the Aztec empire but outside it as
well. Successfulfemale merchantsdevelopeda network of feast-
ing partnersand dependents, for Aztecs enjoyed feasts and gave
them for economic, political, and social reasons.These women
were free to use their wealth for personal satisfaction or to
endowtheir children.
Aztecs admired a woman describedas "robust," "very tough,"
and "middle-aged,"with sons and daughters,who was a skilled
spinner, weaver, and seamstress,as well as an excellent cook.*
With their love of feasting,sometimesfor days, "preparerof good
food" was high praise for a talent valued by the whole commu-
nity. And since weaving was a sacred art, a person called a
"skilled weaver" had high status.
To make sure that children were preparedto be warriors and
wives, all children attended schools. There were two different
types of schools. One was primarily for aristocratic children to
train them to be priestessesor priests, from which high officials
were chosen,and one was for commoners.Commonerswent to
the local House of Youth, where successfulwarriors trained the
boys for war, but the sourcesare silent on what the girls studied.

*Sahagun, The Florentine Codex,vol. 10,51.

 AZTEC, INCA, AND IROQUOIS WOMEN 231

Certainly they learnedthe ritual songsand dancesthat they prac-

ticed jointly with the boys, and somemay have learnedspinning
and weaving, the most prestigiousarts practicedby women. The
girls were carefully chaperoneduntil they were married.
Aztecs had the sametypes of female slavery that were found
in most of the ancient world. Subordinatekingdoms sent tribute
slaves. Foreign slaves were bought and sold. Aztec men and
women could enslavethemselvesand did so, especially in time
of famine, when parents also sold their children. Some Aztecs
were enslavedas punishmentfor crimes.
Prostitutes were reviled and exploited by free women and
men. Schoolboyslearnedsexual mores from prostitutesin state-
run brothels. The women condemnedto work in these "houses
of joy" were probably Aztec or foreign slaves.The free women
who managedthe brothels determinedthe fees charged. Inde-
pendentprostituteswho solicited at the marketplacewere identi-
fied by their clothing, their loose hair, and their red-stainedteeth.
A Franciscanpriest, Fr. Bernadinode Sahagun,compiled ac-
counts of women of different classesand occupationsfrom edu-
catedAztec informants.Sahagun'sresearch,done between1547
and 1568 during the secondgenerationof the Spanishoccupa-
tion of Mexico, reflects the beliefs of Aztecsof earlier times.
The noblewoman[is] a woman ruler, governor, leader-aprovider,
andadministrator.
The good womanruler [is] a providerof good conditions,a correc-
tor, a punisher,a chastiser,a reprimander.Sheis heeded,obeyed;she
createsorder; sheestablishesrules.
[Another] noblewoman[is] a protector,meritorious of obedience,
revered,worthy of being obeyed;a taker of responsibilities,a bearer
of burdens-famed,venerable,renowned.
The good noblewoman [is] patient, gentle, kind, benign, hard-
working, resolute,firm of heart, willing as a worker, well disposed,
careful of her estate.She governs, leads,provides for one, arranges
well, administerspeacefully.
Fr. Bernadinode Sahagun,The Florentine Codex: GeneralHistory of the Things of
New Spain, vol. 10, trans. Arthur 1.0. Andersonand CharlesE. Dibble (SantaFe,
NM: The School of American Researchand the University of Utah Press, 1960),
46. Reprintedby permissionof the publishers,the School of American Research
and the University of Utah Press.
 232 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Noblewomen merited repeateddescription becauseof their im-

portance to Aztec society. The empire was cementedby mar-
riages of royal daughters from Tenochtitlan to local lords in
subject towns. The latter lords married their own daughtersto
lower-ranking allies in villages. Acceptanceof a higher-ranking
wife by a male nobleman acknowledgedhis tributary status to
her father. Polygyny existedamongthe nobility, with the highest-
ranking wife and her children being privileged in statusand in-
heritance over lesser wives and concubines. According to
linguistic scholar Joyce Marcus, "An Aztec wife of high rank
might bring along a retinue of women-somenoble, somecom-
moner-whobecameadditional secondarywives or concubines
of the ruler. A ruler who married sisters consideredthem 'joint
wives,' although usually one main wife, or highest-rankingwife,
was designatedas the one who would provide the heirs."> A
Nahuatl (Aztec language)manuscriptrecords an early fifteenth-
centurywar that allegedly beganwhen Tecpaxochitl,daughterof
the ruler of Azcapotzalco,was relegatedto concubineinsteadof
wife by the ruler of Texcoco, who choseto marry a daughterof
the ruler of the more powerful city of Tenochtitlan.Though royal
Aztec women were given lovely names-Turquoise Stone,Water
Parakeet,Rain Flower-in written documentsit was their birth-
places and lands, rather than their personal names, that were
recorded. This practice emphasizedan Aztec woman's role in
linking two male rulers instead of her personal qualities. Her
children, however, would emphasizeher high lineage insteadof
their father's lower-ranking status. Despite their patrilineal cus-
toms, Aztec nobility calculatedtheir ancestrybilaterally in such
cases.A few Aztec women are shown as rulers of the empire in
the pictographic manuscripts,and, as Fr. Sahagun'scomments
suggest, noblewomen exercised power over their own lands.
Among the Mixtec, who controlled part of central Mexico in the
eleventhcentury, the reign of a warrior queen named6 Monkey
is attestedin four separatemanuscripts.After she led her army to
victory and had the heartscut out of two lords she defeated,she
was renamedWar Quechquemitl.
Fr. Sahagun'sdescriptionsof ordinary women were primarily

*Joyce Marcus, MesoamericanWriting Systems:Propaganda,Myth, and History

in Four Ancient Civilizations (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992),
225.
 AZTEC, INCA, AND IROQUOIS WOMEN 233

of their occupationalskills. Only daughtersof the nobility were

pawnedto rulers of subjecttowns; other women married men of
their own classand village.
The good weaver of designs is skilled-a maker of varicolored
capes,and outliner of designs,a blenderof colors, a joiner of pieces,
a matcher of pieces, a person of good memory. She does things
dexterously. She weaves designs. She selects. She weaves tightly.
She forms borders. She forms the neck. She uses an uncompressed
weave. She makes capes with the ballcourt and tree design. She
weavesloosely-a loose, thick thread. She provides a metal weft.
Sheforms the designwith the sun on it. ...
The cook is one who makes sauces,who makes tortillas; who
kneads[dough]; who makesthing acid, who leavens.[She is] wiry,
energetic. [She is] a maker of tortillas; ... she makes them disc
shape,thin, long.... She makes them into balls; twisted tortillas-
twisted about chili. . .. She makes tamales-meattamales; She
makescylindrical tortillas; she makesthick, coarseones.She dilutes
sauces;shecooks; shefries; shemakesjuices.
The good cook is honest, discreet; [she is] one who likes good
food-an epicure, a taster [of food. She is] clean, one who bathes
herself; prudent;one who washesher hands.... who has good drink,
goodfood.
Fr. Bernadinode Sahagun,The Florentine Codex: GeneralHistory of the Thingsof
New Spain, vol. 10, trans. Arthur J.O. Andersonand CharlesE. Dibble (SantaFe,
NM: The School of American Researchand the University of Utah Press,1960),
51-3. Reprintedby permissionof the publishers,the Schoolof American Research
and the University of Utah Press.

Featherssewn by skilled women into a personal identifying de-

sign were an important part of a warrior's dressworn into battle.
Noblemen could wear a shirt covered with feathers as part of
their battle dress, and honored warriors wore feathers in their
headbandsdaily.
The feather seller [is] a bird owner. She raises birds; she plucks
them. She plucks feathers; she treats them with chalk. She plucks
feathersfrom the back and the breast;she peels downyfeathers.She
spins split ones.She spins feathers-spinsthem into an eventhread,
trims them. She spins them loosely, she spins them firmly; she uses
 234 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

the spindle, turnsthem loosely about the spindle, turns them firmly
aboutthe spindle.
She sells soft, spun [feathers];long, even thread-trimmed,loose,
loosely woven; white feathers,tail feathers,chick feathers,back and
breastfeathers,darkenedones,brown ones;goosefeathers,domestic
duck feathers,Peru duck feathers,wild duck feathers,turkey feath-
ers-black,white, yellow, bright red, tawny carminecolored....
The seller of fine chocolate... provides people with drink, with
repasts. She grinds cacao [beans]; she crushes,breaks, pulverizes
them. She chooses,selects, separatesthem. She drenches,soaks,
steepsthem. She adds water sparingly, conservatively; aeratesit,
filters it, .strains it, pours it back and forth, aeratesit; she makes it
form a head,makesit foam, she removesthe head,makesit thicken,
makesit dry, pours waterin, stirs waterinto it.
She sells good, superior, potable [chocolate]; the privilege, the
drink of nobles, of rulers-finely ground, soft, foamy, reddish, bit-
ter; [with] chili water, with flowers, with uei nacaztli, with
teonacaztli, with vanilla, with mecaxochitl, with wild bee honey,
with powderedaromaticflowers....
The physician [is] a knower of herbs,of roots, of trees,of stones;
she is experiencedin these. [She is] one who has [the results of]
examinations;sheis a woman of experience,of trust, of professional
skill; a counselor.
The good physicianis a restorer,a provider of health, a reviver, a
relaxer-onewho makespeoplefeel well. ... She curespeople;she
provides them health; she lances them, she bleeds them-bleeds
them in various places,pierces them with an obsidian lancet. She
gives them potions, purges them, gives them medicine. She cures
disorders of the anus. She anoints them; she rubs, she massages
them. She provides them splints; she sets their bones-shesets a
numberof bones.She makesincisions, treats one's festering, one's
gout, one'seyes.Shecuts [growths from] one'seyes.

Fr. Bernadinode Sahagun,The Florentine Codex: GeneralHistory of the Things of

New Spain, vol. 10, trans. Arthur lO. Andersonand CharlesE. Dibble (SantaFe,
NM: The School of American Researchand the University of Utah Press,1960),
53, 92, 93. Reprinted by permission of the publishers,the School of American
Researchandthe University of Utah Press.
 AZTEC, INCA, AND IROQUOIS WOMEN 235

In his collected descriptions of ordinary women, Fr. Sahagun

included comments about gender etiquette among the Aztecs.
Chewing gum, called chicle, was a libidinous act associated with
femininity and male homosexuality.

And the chewing of chicle [is] the preference,the privilege of the

little girls, the small girls, the young women. Also the mature
women, the unmarriedwomen use it; and all the women who [are]
unmarriedchewchicle in public.
One'swife also chewschicle, but not in public. Also the widowed
and the old women do not, in public. But the bad women, those
called harlots, [show] no fine feelings; quite publicly they go about
chewing chicle along the roads, in the market place, clacking like
castanets.Other women who constantly chew chicle in public
achievethe attributesof evil women.
For this reason the women chew chicle: becausethereby they
causetheir saliva to flow and thereby the mouths are scented;the
mouth is given a pleasingtaste. With it they dispel the bad odor of
their mouths,or the bad smell of their teeth.Thus they chew chicle in
order not to be detested.The men also chew chicle to causetheir
saliva to flow and to cleanthe teeth,but this very secretly-neverin
public.
The chewingof chicle [is] the real privilege of the addictstermed
"effeminates."[It is] as if it were their privilege, their birthright. And
the men who publicly chew chicle achievethe statusof sodomites;
they equalthe effeminates.

Fr. Bernadinode Sahagun,The Florentine Codex: GeneralHistory of the Thingsof

New Spain, vol. 10, trans. Arthur 1.0. Andersonand CharlesE. Dibble (SantaFe,
NM: The School of American Researchand the University of Utah Press,1960),
89-90. Reprinted by permissionof the publishers,the School of American Re-
searchand the University of Utah Press.

13.3 The Aztec Ceremony of the Sweeping of the Roads,

September 1-20

The Aztecs are well known for the practice of human sacrifice.
One of their beliefs was that the sun would not rise unless it was
supplied with human blood. The victims were usually captured
 236 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

male warriors, althoughthere were rituals in which women were

killed. On important occasions,the sources claim thousands
were sacrificed. In a few ceremonies,a personwas chosento act
out a role as a god-representative(ixiptla). Such people were
elaboratelydressedto representand act like the god or goddess
before their sacrificial death. Inga Clendinnen arguesthat they
were usually slaveswho had beensentas tribute from a subordi-
natestate.*
Aztec women knew that their sons and husbandsmight be
killed in battle or sacrificedat somedistant place. Widows, who
must have been numerous,sometimesmarried slavesto have a
husbandwho was exemptfrom war.
There were ceremoniesevery lunar month. Inga Clendinnen
describesone of the few in which women, in this casethe re-
spected female physicians and midwives, played a prominent
part.

The festival of the eleventhmonth,Ochpaniztli, the"Sweepingof the

Roads" ... was devoted to Toci, "Our Grandmother,"perhapsthe
most inclusive of the many namesgiven to the earth powers. The
primary referentof the "sweeping" was to the rush of winds before
the brief winter rains. The rains marked the end of the seasonof
growth and the beginning of the agricultural harvest, and the first
flowering ofthe seasonof war....
The solemnity of Ochpaniztli was marked off from the earlier
exuberanceby a five-day lull in all ritual action. Then, late in the
afternoonof the sixth day, in silence,and in carefully orderedranks,
the warriors performeda slow, formal march, their handsfilled with
flowering branches.... So they continuedover eight days with that
orderedsilent marching inthe last light of the Sun.
Then the pace changedwith the eruption into action of the mid-
wives and the women physicians,all the women wearing the sacred
tobaccopouch.... Divided into two bands,women surgedback and
forth in a play-skirmish; pelting eachother with flowers, reedsand
mossytree-parasitesmoldedinto balls. The group led by threemajor
officebearersof the curers' associationswept along with them the

*Inga Clendinnen, Aztecs: An Interpretation (New York: Cambridge University

Press, 1991),99-110.
 AZTEC, INCA, AND IROQUOIS WOMEN 237

bedeckedixiptla of Teteo Innan, "Mother of the SacredOnes": pa-

tronessof midwives, curers, the marketplacetraders and of things
domestic, and closely allied with Chicomecoatl,or "Sustenance
Woman." The doomedwoman was teasedand diverted; should she
weepit was thoughtthat many stillbirths and deathsof greatwarriors
would follow.
For four days the normally sedatewomen skirmishedbefore the
Houseof Songin the main templeprecinct.... (The victim so merci-
lessly playedwith musthavebeencloseto hysteriaas exhaustionand
excitementmounted.)On the fifth day towardssundownTeteoInnan
was broughtto the marketplace,her womenstill encircling her, to be
greetedby the priestsof Chicomecoatl,and for the last time walked
through her marketplace.. . . For the last few hours of her life she
was then takenback to "her" temple, and there adornedand arrayed.
In the thick of the night, in silenceand darkness,she was hurried to
the pyramid of the Maize Lord, and stretchedon the back of a priest.
They were placed "shoulder to shoulder," we are told, so she was
probablylooking up into the night sky when her headwas struck off.
Then, still in darkness,silence, and urgent haste, her body was
flayed, and a nakedpriest, a "very strong man, very powerful, very
tall," struggledinto the wet skin, with its slack breast,and pouched
genitalia; a double nakednessof layered, ambiguoussexuality. The
skin of one thigh was reservedto be fashionedinto a face-maskfor
the man impersonatingCenteotl, Young Lord Maize Cob, son of
Toci.
From this point on the priest in his skin had become and was
named"Toci." "She" cameswiftly and silently down the stepsof the
pyramid, her priestspressingclosely behindher, and flanked by four
"Huaxtec" attendants;young, male, near-nakedwearingrope breech-
clouts: emblemsof male sexuality. . . . At the foot of the pyramid
were the lords and chief warriors of the city. These men, who
scornedto tum their backsin battle, fled through the dark streetsto
the temple of Huitzilopochtli, the only sound the thud of their run-
ning feet, as Toci and her followers pursuedthem with brooms,the
"domestic" female symbol par excellence. . . but now soddenwith
humanblood. This was no "as if' exercisein terror: as they ran, we
are told, "there was much fear; fear spreadamongthe people;indeed
fear enteredinto the people."
 238 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

rnga Clendinnen, Aztecs: An Interpretation (New York: Cambridge University

Press,1991),200-2. © CambridgeUniversity Press1991. Reprintedwith the per-
missionof CambridgeUniversity Press.

The ceremony continued for two more days. Captives were sacri-
ficed, including four by Toci. At one point the priests threw
squash seeds and maize down from the temple to the people
below, signifying that the sacred seed corn for next year's crop
was safely stored. The climax each day featured the distribution
of weapons, shields, and protective apparel to groups of warriors.
Once they were ready for battle, a challenge was sent to the
enemy that had been chosen for that year's war. As the warriors
paraded, a cry of lament arose from their female relatives who
knew that some in their family might soon be dead.

13.4 The Politics of Iroquois Cooperation

In the eastern woodlands of North America, along what is today

the border between Canada and the United States, the lroquoian
peoples lived in self-governing villages loosely allied into na-
tions. No class distinctions divided their families into nobles and
commoners. Iroquois culture at the time of first contact with
Europeans in the early seventeenth century was distinguished by
their method of social control. Community action was possible
only with unanimous consent or, at a minimum, with the ab-
sence of public opposition. Because women were economically
and politically vital factors in Iroquois society, women's input
into community political decisions was essential. Nancy Bonvillain
explains:

An important point to bear in mind is that, for the Iroquois, social

roles were essentiallynon-competitive.That is, in contrast to our
tendencyto seeindividuals and aggregatesof individuals as occupy-
ing positionsof statusand influence which competewith eachother
for prominence,the Iroquoian view focusedon the interdependence
and harmonyamongindividuals and social groups.In many areasof
life, women and men had separateroles, but each was accorded
prestige.The fundamentalnon-competitiveness of their view of so-
cial functioning within the society was madeexplicit in political and
religious ceremoniesbut was evidentin daily life as well.
 AZTEC, INCA, AND IROQUOIS WOMEN 239

Nancy Bonvillain, "Iroquois Women," in Nancy Bonvillain, ed., Studiesin /roquo-

ian Culture (Rindge, NH: Departmentof Anthropology, Franklin Pierce College,
1980),48.

Bonvillain illustrates women's importance in providing at least

half the food and all the clothing used by the Iroquois.

Among the Iroquoian peoples,the primary mode of subsistencewas

horticulture, mainly the corn-beans-squash complex typical of farm-
ing societies in North America. Here, the horticultural labor was
predominantlydone by women. The adult male role in farming was
limited to cutting the treeswhen new land was preparedfor planting.
. . . In addition to horticultural tasks, women'ssubsistenceactivities
consistedof preparingfood, collecting firewood and all otherdomes-
tic work. They also madepottery, bark bowls and baskets,wove mats
and madeand decoratedall the clothing and ornamentsworn by both
men andwomen.

Nancy Bonvillain, "Iroquois Women," in Nancy Bonvillain, ed., Studiesin lroquo-

ian Culture (Rindge, NH: Departmentof Anthropology, Franklin Pierce College,
1980),49.

A revealing aspect of Iroquois life can be found in the long

houses. The long, half-cylindrical houses, constructed of saplings
and bark, were the common home of families of the same
ohwachira, a lineage traced through the female line. Each
housed from four to twenty families in rows on either side of a
center aisle that contained a fireplace every twenty feet. Two
families shared the same fireplace and were jointly responsible
for providing firewood and maintaining the fire. They also shared
food preparation, cooking in one pot and eating out of the same
pot.
The women of the oldest generation living in the long house
were the "matrons" who had the authority to allocate the farming
land as needed among the families, as well as the meat killed by
any of the husbands; some of the meat was given to each family
in the long house. It was said that no one would go hungry in an
Iroquois village until the last grain of corn was eaten. Women
 240 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

controlled the cleared fields, and men controlled the forest

where they hunted, fished, and traded.
Because the Iroquois were matrilineal, a daughter or son was
primarily affiliated with the mother's family. Unlike many matri-
lineal societies in which elder males monopolized public life,
among the Iroquois the older women of the lineages chose the
successors to the chiefs. Should the women become dissatisfied
with the chief's performance, they could replace him with an-
other.
Bonvillain explains that women had other political institutions.

Along with eachchief was a group of assistantsor "agoianders,"both

male and female, who advisedhim. Thesewere chosenby the ma-
trons of the matrilineage.Charlevoix [an early seventeenth-century
Europeanobserver]says "Each family has a right to choosea coun-
sellor of its own, and an assistantto the chief, who is to watch for
their interest; and without whose consentthe chief can undertake
nothing. Amongstthe Huron nations,the women namethe counsel-
lor, and often choosepersonsof their own sex." ...
Charlevoix,too, saysthat in the [local] councilsthe womendelib-
eratefirst and then inform the chiefs of their opinions, although he
addsthat " ... in all probability this is doneonly for form's sake."...
Intertribal councils were attendedby representativesfrom clan
groups within each of the separatenations. These representatives
were all men, althoughsomeof the men went to federal councils as
representativesof the women. Specific individuals were selectedas
oratorsto makepublic speeches.The oratorsspokefor the chiefs and
for other representedgroups, i.e., the women and the warriors.
Charlevoix mentions having attendeda welcoming council where
there was a male ". . . orator of the Huron women." . .. Lafitau
[another early seventeenth-century Europeanobserver] says "The
women have their orators who speakfor them in public councils.
Sometimesthey also choosean oratoramongthe men who speaksas
if he were a woman and sustainsthat role but that is seldom done
exceptin foreign affairs or meetingsof the confederatedtribes." ...
Nancy Bonvillain, "Iroquois Women," in Nancy Bonvillain, ed., Studiesin lroquo-
ian Culture (Rindge, NH: Departmentof Anthropology, Franklin Pierce College,
1980),54-5.
 AZTEC, INCA, AND IROQUOIS WOMEN 241

13.5 Food and Power

Because Iroquois politics was consensual, women could veto a

proposed action by continuing public opposition. There has been
some disagreement over what the basis was for women's influ-
ence in the community decisions. Judith Brown argues that their
leverage was based on control of the economy.

Iroquois womencontrolledthe factors of agricultural production,for

they had a right in the land which they cultivated, and in the im-
plements, and the seeds. Iroquois agricultural activities, which
yielded bountiful harvests,were highly organizedunder electedfe-
male leadership.Most important, Iroquois women maintainedthe
right to distribute and dispenseall food, even that procuredby men.
This was especiallysignificant, as storedfood constitutedone of the
major forms of wealth for the tribe. Through their control of the
economic organizationof the tribe, Iroquois matrons were able to
make availableor withhold food for meetingsof the Council and for
war parties,for the observanceof religious festivals and for the daily
mealsof the household.Theseeconomicrealities were institutional-
ized in the matrons'power to nominateCouncil Elders and to influ-
enceCouncil decisions.They had a voice in the conductof war and
the establishmentof treaties.They elected"keepersof the faith" and
servedin that capacity.They controlledlife in the longhouse.
The unusualrole of Iroquois women in politics, religion, and do-
mestic life cannot be dismissedsimply as a historical curiosity. It
cannotbe explainedby Iroquois kinship structure,nor can it be at-
tributed to the size of the women'scontribution to Iroquois subsis-
tence. The powerful position of Iroquois women was the result of
their control of the economicorganizationof their tribe.

Judith K. Brown, "Iroquois Women: An EthnohistoricNote," in Rayna R. Reiter,

ed., Toward an Anthropologyof Women(New York: Monthly Review Press,1975),
250-1.

An Iroquois woman's right to land depended on her family's

need for its products and her continuous planting of it. In contrast
to the situation in Europe, the Middle East, and much of Asia,
 242 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

there was no right to permanentprivate ownership of bounded

tracts of land. Becausethey practiced swidden (slash and burn)
farming, old fields were abandonedas new ones were cleared
from forests.The matronscontrolled the processof redividing old
and new acreage,as they did the division of crops and game.

13.6 Pawns of the Inca

Periodic redistribution of village land was once thought to have

been practicedby the Andean peoplesconqueredby the Incas in
the middle of the fifteenth century. Recent researchportrays a
more complex society in which land redistribution was relatively
unimportant. Instead of swidden horticulture practiced by fe-
males, the Andean people used remarkableirrigation systemsto
farm arid tracts whose cultivation was jointly controlled by cou-
ples. Protected-userights to land tracts were owned by either an
adult female or an adult male. Women inheritedfrom their moth-
ers and men inherited from their fathers. Both inherited land
usage, offices, and occupations.A woman traced her lineage
through her female ancestors;a term for this system is "dual
inheritance."Occasionallysomeonedied without an heir. In that
situation the inheritancewould be apportionedamongthe village
population after a part was allotted to the spouse.
Peopleprimarily identified with a clan, called an al/yu, whose
membersconsideredthemselvesdescendants ofthe same nota-
ble ancestor.Members of the al/yu, which was a complicated
web of obligations and responsibilities,had an ethic of coopera-
tion and sharing,especiallyof sharing labor. There was hierarchy
within the al/yu, with some receiving more labor and products
than others. Thus someonemight owe a woman a number of
days of field labor and receive in return her invitation to a ban-
quet. Marriage, however, involved interdependentand egalitar-
ian shared labor between husbandand wife. A Spanish priest,
Father BernabeCobo, in 1653 observedbut did not understand
the Andeandivision of labor:

And amongthesepeople,womenwere so subjectedand worked so in

the serviceof their husbands .... [T]hey did not just perform domes-
tic tasks, but also [labored] in the fields, in the cultivation of their
lands, in building houses,and carrying burdenswhen their husbands
 AZTEC, INCA, AND IROQUOIS WOMEN 243

were going away, in peaceor war; and more than once I heardthat
while women were carrying these burdens,they would feel labor
pains, and giving birth, they would go to a place where there was
water and they would washthe baby and themselves,and putting the
baby on top of the load they were carrying, they would continue
walking as before they gave birth. In sum, there was nothing their
husbandsdid, wheretheir wives did not help.

Irene Silverblatt, Moon, Sun, and Witches (Princeton:PrincetonUniversity Press,

1987),10.

Our culture sharesFather Cobo's opinion that physical labor is

demeaning.In contrast,the Andean population expectedevery-
one who was physically capableto work-eventhe Inca ceremo-
nially planted corn. Both women and men had prescribedroles
during planting. Men used a type of stick hoe, and women han-
dled the seeds.They were careful to pray to the "earth mother,"
make an offering of corn beer, and ask her for a good harvest.
"Earth mother" had two daughters,"corn mother" and "potato
mother." At harvest,women chosethe earsof corn and potatoes
to be saved for seed planting the next year. The seed corn and
potatoeswere dressedand placed in sacredstorage.In the long
run, the judgment of the women concerningwhich seedswere
promising was responsiblefor increasedyields and the develop-
ment of new varieties.
Women'sdomesticlabor was especiallyassociatedwith spin-
ning, weaving, and cooking-theprocessingof raw materialsfor
human consumption. Weaving had been developed and had
reachedan extraordinary level of artistry more than two thou-
sand years before in the Andean coastal communitiesand was
still a very important activity. Ordinary women literally wove the
clothes on their family's backs. Very fine pieces were worn by
leadersduring ceremonialoccasionsand given by them as pres-
tige presents.Thesetextiles included yarnsof cotton grown in the
coastal lowlands and fine wools from alpacasand vicunas that
grazedon the high pastures.Some pieces included bright feath-
ers from tropical birds that lived in the Amazonian basin across
the Andesmountains.
The best weaverswere found among priestessescalled ad/as,
 244 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

who were pledged to serve the Incan state. They were female
pawns of the Inca rulers, who had developed a unusually well-
organized system of subjugating conquered people by confiscat-
ing some of their daughters as property of the emperor (the Inca).
When the Incas conquered a nation, they required its people to
build a local temple to the sun, the Inca's personal god, and a
residence for young women chosen from the vanquished to be
"wives of the sun." The Incas selected virgin girls (usually before
menarche) on the basis of their beauty and high family status. In
their cloistered residence, ad/as learned spinning, weaving, pre-
paring food, and brewing ceremonial beer. Their seclusion and
virginity were carefully guarded. These women's main responsi-
bility was to administer the temple, dressing the sun-god figure
and making sacrifices and offerings to it. The ad/as'connection
to their family clan (allyu) would cease. The Incas honored them
for serving the sun god, but the ad/as' families and friends
thought of them as tribute whose normal lives had been sacri-
ficed to the conquerors.
Those of each local temple who were exceptional were taken
to the capital, Cuzco. Some were sacrificed, and a few became
secondary wives of the Inca himself, while the Inca gave others
as brides to men whom he favored. No man was permitted to
practice polygyny except those given additional wives by the
ruler. The ad/as were valuable to their new husbands, as they
came with fields and the labor obligated to work them for the
husbands' benefit. The new wife's weaving could be given as
gifts to other officials, putting them in debt to her husband. Ad/as
who remained serving their village temples might also be mar-
ried off at the whim of the Inca, although some women in each
residency never left and constituted a permanent staff.

SuggestedFurther Readings

Joyce Marcus is sensitive to gender and incorporates a discussion

of elite women in comparing sources of information on Aztec,
Mixtec, Zapotec, and Mayan cultures in MesoamericanWriting
Systems:Propaganda,Myth, and History in Four Ancient Civili-
zations (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992). Art and
writing were closely linked in these societies, whose carvings
and painted codices reveal both individual and social practices,
as Anna C. Roosevelt explains in "Interpreting Certain Female
 AZTEC, INCA, AND IROQUOIS WOMEN 245

Images in Prehistoric Art," in The Role of Genderin Precolumb-

ian Art and Architecture,edited by Virginia Miller (Lanham, MD:
University Press of America, 1988). In two articles, Rosemary
Joyce explores depictions of women's work: "Images of Gender
and Labor Organization in Classic Maya Society," in Exploring
Genderthrough Archaeology,edited by Cheryl Claassen (Madi-
son, WI: Prehistory Press, 1992) and "Women's Work: Images of
Production and Reproduction in Pre-Hispanic South Central
America," Current Anthropology34 (1993): 255-74. The social
importance of women's food and/or textile production is also
considered by Elizabeth M. Brumfiel in "Weaving and Cooking:
Women's Production in Aztec Mexico," EngenderingArchaeol-
ogy, edited by Joan M. Gero and Margaret W. Conkey (London:
Blackwell Publishers, 1991); Irene Silverblatt, "Andean Women
in the Inca Empire," Feminist Studies4 (October 1978): 36-61;
Mary D. Pohl, "Women, Animal Rearing, and Social Status: The
Case of the Formative Period Maya of Central America," The
Archaeologyof Gender,edited by Dale Walde and Noreen Wil-
lows (Calgary, Canada: Archaeological Association, University of
Calgary, 1991); Cherri M. Pancake, "Gender Boundaries in the
Production of Guatemalan Textiles," and Penny Dransart,
"Pachamama: The Inka Earth Mother of the Long Sweeping Gar-
ment," both in Dress and Gender, edited by Ruth Barnes and
Joanne B. Eicher (Providence, RI: Berg Publishers, 1992). Califor-
nia women are the topic of Thomas L. Jackson's, "Pounding
Acorn: Women's Production as Social and Economic Focus," in
Gero and Conkey, eds., EngenderingArchaeology.Debate about
the roles women played in Iroquois society began in the late
nineteenth century; a contemporary viewpoint that is different
from Judith Brown's is that of Elisabeth Tooker, "Women in Ir-
oquois Society," in Extending the Rafters: Interdisciplinary Ap-
proachesto lroquoian Studies,edited by Michael K. Foster, Jack
Campist, and Marianne Mithun (Albany, NY: State University of
New York Press, 1984).
This page intentionally left blank:
 GLOSSARY

Androcentric Centeredupon men; catering to men's desires or

interests.

Agnate A personrelatedby patrilineal descent.

Bilateral kinship Relativestracedthroughboth father and mother.

Bride-price SeeBridewealth.

Bridewealth Marriage paymentsfrom the groom and/orhis family

to the bride'sfamily or to the bride.

Conjugal Pertainingto the marital relationship.

Consanguineal A relative by birth in contrast to one related by

marriage.

Dowry Propertysentwith the bride at her marriage,eitheraspayment

to the husband'skin or as the wife's shareof her parent'sestate.

Endogamy A practice of marrying only within a specified group,

suchas an extendedfamily, clan, village, caste,or class.

Exogamy A practicein which marriagepartnersare soughtoutside

a specifiedgroup, suchas an extendedfamily, clan, village, or class.

Extended family A family unit making up one household,or re-

lated cooperatinghouseholds,consistingof parents,grown siblings,
their spousesand children, or othercloserelatives.

247
 248 WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY TO 1500

Levirate Marriage Practice requiring a dead man's brother (or

otherclosemale relative) to marry his widow.

Matriarchy Literally power exercisedby mothers; also refers to

femalesocial dominance.

Matrilocal Residenceof a marriedcouplewith the wife's kin.

Matrilineal Principle of descent from parent to child traced

through the female line, with links to the mother conferring kin
membership.

Misogyny Male hatredor fear of women.

Monogamy Marriageof one man and one womanonly.

Natal Relatingto the family or placeof one'sbirth.

Nuclear family A family unit consisting of parentsand their de-

pendentchildren.

Patriarchy Literally, power exercised by fathers; also refers to

male social poweror dominance.

Patrilocal Residenceof a marriedcouplewith the husband'skin.

Patrilineal Principle of descentthroughthe male line, with links to

the father conferringkin membership.

Pawns Those, especially women or children, whose individual

lives are sacrificedto serveother'sinterests:a ruler's daughtersmar-
ried for purposesof state or family alliance; dependentssold into
temporaryslaveryas collateralon a family debt; dependentsgiven to
a ruler as a sign of fealty.

Polyandry Marriageof a woman to two or more husbandscontem-

poraneously.
 GLOSSARY 249

Polygyny/polygamy Marriageof a man to two or more wives con-

temporaneously.

Uxorilocal Seematrilocal.

Virilocal Seepatrilocal.
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 ABOUT THE EDITORS

Sarah Shaver Hughes and Brady Hugheshavetaughtworld history

and women'shistory for many years. Brady Hughesretired in 1990
from the faculty of Hampton University, Virginia; Sarah Hughes
teachesat ShippensburgUniversity, Pennsylvania.SarahHughesre-
ceivedher doctoratefrom the College of William and Mary in 1975;
Brady Hughesreceivedhis from the University of Wisconsin,Madi-
son, in 1969.

251