The roles of women and attitudes towards them have always varied between societies and time periods, and there is immense proof of sexism in the past centuries. However what if we explore further down history, and into the ancient times, we see some surprising evidence .Women were treated very differently in different places in the ancient world, and contrasts can be seen between gender roles in Rome, compared to that of Egypt. It is evident that women would not have been equal to men in any of these periods, however some ancient women had more rights that women have today in the 21st century.
One of the most early stories in Roman mythology that tell us a lot about attitudes to women is the Rape of the Sabine women. The first settlers of Rome abducted women from neighboring tribes, and a war broke out to retrieve the women. Hersilia, wife of Romulus however intervened to prevent bloodshed. The story shows that women were definitely not seen as equals, but as property owned by the men that they wanted to get back, or “baby making machines”. It also suggests that it wasn’t uncommon or shocking when a husband raped his wife, otherwise this wouldn’t have been written about in Roman times.
In day to day life in a roman society women have the duty of looking after the home and to nurture a family, in particular, to bear children. They had no say in politics or financial matters, however some women with powerful partners might have influenced public affairs through their husbands. There is evidence of women running their own financial affairs, owning businesses, running estates etc as well. This shows that women did contribute a lot to society, but without being recognised or credited due to the prejudices against them.
Ancient Egyptian women had greater rights than many women of other societies, and some may say even more than the modern day. In ancient Egypt a person’s rights were depended upon her social class not her sex. All landed property descended in the female line, from mother to daughter, as that was thought to be a stronger bond. Women in ancient Egypt were the equals of men in every area except occupations, but within that patriarchy, women had a lot of power and independence for that time. Egyptian religion honored females in the form of goddesses, and so it is hardly surprising that women were important members of the clergy and temple life as well. In order to become a priest, one had to first be a scribe, which required years of dedicated study. Once a woman became a scribe she could enter the priesthood, go into teaching, or become a physician. Female doctors were highly respected in ancient Egypt, and the medical school in Alexandria was attended by students from many other countries.
Women's status began to decline in Egypt with the rise of Christianity and its belief that sin had entered the world through Eve's disobedience and that women were of less value and less to be trusted than men, combined with the Arab Invasion that brought Islam to Egypt which sadly ended the kind of equality Egyptian women for almost 3,000 years.
By Sanjana Iyer
