Marriage Law & the Role of Women in Ancient & Medieval Society - Essay Example

Marriage Law & the Role of Women in Ancient & Medieval Society Women’s studies in the second-half of the twentieth-century tempt one to assume modern women’s rights are the result of an upward curve. However, marriage laws in the earliest recorded civilizations gave women a far higher recognition than many civilizations that came later. In ancient Sumer, five thousand years ago, women’s wedding contracts guaranteed a respect that is still lacking in some countries today. In ancient Egypt, the power of feminine sexuality and mystery was reflected in art and politics. The Old Testament codified marriage laws and the New Testament extended the idea to include God. Medieval Christianity’s theological interpretation of sexuality was responsible for a society that understood women as the source of sin. This essay sketches the nature of marriage laws practised by these civilizations and the ideas about women they illustrate. The marriage laws of ancient Sumer, the earliest civilization, created a form that would eventually appear in many later cultures and centered on the approval of the bride’s family Gero, J. M. & Margaret, W. (1995). Women in a Mens World: Images of Sumerian Women. Honeypage Press, Cardiff. The dominant marriage law was the ‘law of Nisaba and Hani’ Delaporte, L. (1970). Mesopotamia: The Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian Civilizations. Routledge, London, p74-79 which stated that the suitor must ask a girl’s parents before they could marry. If the family agreed, a monogamous partnership would be legalised with a marriage contract. The paterfamilias (the husband) took responsibility for all relatives and slaves, but legal institutions and literary evidence (for instance the Gilgamesh epic George, A. (2000) The Gilgamesh Epic. Penguin, London. ) suggest that Sumerian women endured far less oppression than their counterparts. Marriage in the Near East was confirmed by a written document that sealed the specific terms for both spouses Delaporte, L. (1970). Mesopotamia: The Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian Civilizations. Routledge, London, p74-79. The husband specified the responsibilities of the wife, the sum he would pay her for divorce, the punishment if she was unfaithful, and all other matters Postgate, J.N. (1992). Early Mesopotamian: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History. Before this contract could be executed, the bride’s parents signed a preliminary agreement. During the reign of Hammurabi, the parents would arrange the marriage and confirm it with gifts and a tirhatu (an amount of money) Delaporte, L. (1970). Mesopotamia: The Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian Civilizations. Routledge, London, p74. During the age of Ur, a royal wedding would be celebrated with the release of five fattened oxen, five rams and thirty sheep. The tirhatu was not compulsory and did not signify a final state of marriage. If the fiancé stopped the marriage, he left the money with the girl’s father. If the bride broke the engagement, her father returned it. If the fiancé broke the engagement but seduced the girl, he could be put to death. Unfaithful brides returned to their father’s house and paid a penalty. Brides were normally given a sheriqtu (dowry) by their closest living male relatives. Many women were granted rights of inheritance and property. In Delaware’s words Delaporte, L. (1970). Mesopotamia: The Sumerian, Assyrian and Babylonian Civilizations. Routledge, London, p76: ‘She might have private possessions, buy them and sell them without the consent of her husband; she could sell her slaves and the law placed no obstacle in her way save in the case of a slave-woman, given by her to her husband as a concubine who had born him children’. If a husband was absent from his property, his wife managed it and one third of the earnings was granted to her. The law under Hammurabi allowed a wife to dissolve a marriage, take back her dowry and return to her parent’s house. All debts accumulated during the marriage were held with joint responsibility. In ancient Egypt, the qualities of women were worshiped and revered Troy, L. (1986). Patterns of Queenship in Ancient Egyptian Myth and History. Blowfields Press, Frogston. Women of Egypt’s elite class held respect and independence as shown in their art. In J.M. Roberts words: ‘The Pharaoh’s female consorts are sometimes depicted, too, with an intimacy of mood found nowhere else in the art of the Near East before the first millennium BC and suggestive of real emotional equality; it can hardly be accidental that this is so.’ Roberts, J.M. (1993). The Penguin History of the World, p 64. Penguin, London. Egyptian gods, such as Isis, display a profound admiration for femininity. In Roberts’ words, ‘Both love stories and scenes of family life reveal what was at least thought to be an ideal standard for society as a whole and it emphasises a tender eroticism, relaxation and informality, and something of an emotional equality of men and women’ Roberts, J.M. (1993). The Penguin History of the World, p 64. Penguin, London. Marriage laws were extremely important in this society because an Egyptian princess gave her husband the right to succeed the throne. They were, therefore, frequently incestuous. Women in Egypt could own property and inherit family goods. Many were literate and employable as female scribes. In ancient Greece and Sparta, women were treated far worse than they had been in either Sumer or Egypt Vrissimtzis, N.A. (1997). Love, Sex and Marri Vrissimtzis, N.A. (1997). Love, Sex and Marriage in Ancient Greece. Agia Books, Edinburgh. In Athens, women were refused citizenship and were not allowed to hold property. In Sparta, women held these rights but were not allowed to conduct significant business, although some worked as court entertainers or concubines. Women could obtain a divorce in theory, but it carried great social consequences and was difficult to obtain. Socially, women could only appear in public if chaperoned by their husbands or female servants and education was withheld from them Vrissimtzis, N.A. (1997). Love, Sex and Marriage in Ancient Greece. Agia Books, Edinburgh. A notorious peculiarity of Greek marriage law was the public practise of homosexual relationships alongside heterosexual marriages. The rigid codification of marriage laws in the Old Testament reflects the evolving social consciousness of the Israelite nation Schweiser, G. (1973). Marriage in the Old and New Testaments. Clarendon Press, Oxford. Numbers 26:6 states: ‘Let them (Israelite women) marry who they think best; only, they shall marry within the family of the tribe of their family’; priests could not ‘marry a harlot or a woman who has been defiled, or a woman divorced from her husband’ Leviticus 21: 7; and a husband could not ‘… take again to be his wife a woman whom he has formerly married but then send away to be defiled by another’ Deuteronomy 24:4. These marriage laws were used to bring unity and closeness to the tribes of Israel as they became a nation and as a metaphor for Israel’s relationship with Yahweh. When Israel betrays this special relationship with God, she is described as an adulterous bride. In the New Testament, the marriage laws of the Old Testament are extended to confirm the coalescence in marriage of not only man and wife but this unit with God also Schweiser,G. (1973). Marriage in the Old and New Testaments. Clarendon Press, Oxford. Fifteen-hundred years later little advance had been made for women. In Emile Amt’s words: ‘In all classes below the highest there was much drudgery to be done by women; until this century European peasant women worked on the land as women do in Africa and Asia today’ Amt, E (Editor). (1993). Womens Lives in Medieval Europe: A Sourcebook. Routledge, New York. London, p66. Women still faced severe restrictions upon their rights of inheritance and the Catholic Church had established a biblical base for the subjugation of women. This attitude flowed chiefly from the interpretation that sexuality was inherently evil and women, as descendents of Eve, were the originators of this sin and constant temptation. Nonetheless, medieval Europe also afforded some women of privileged birth the opportunities to make outstanding contributions in arts, theology and leadership. Perhaps the wisest conclusion that a historian can make with respect to marriage laws in these civilizations is to recognise the sheer diversity of traditions and practices. The tendency to think of the ascent of women’s rights as a continual upward curve is seriously challenged and sometimes contradicted by a look into history’s laws. In ancient Sumer, brides were given security and prosperity beyond the imagination of many women in Africa, South East Asia or the Middle East today. From these civilizations emerged marriage laws that confirmed a monogamous model of marriage as well as a profound appreciation of the feminine that matches anything produced in our times. The Old Testament represents an important codification of specific and detailed marriage laws; the New Testament adds the idea of an eternal union with God. This idea would be amplified throughout the next two millennia, being blamed in the Middle Ages for the subjugation of women. Nonetheless, Christianity imbued marriage with a spiritual vitality that has not been exceeded by any other human civilization. Read More