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Divorce in Ancient Egyptian Marriages

Taking the period of time into account (around 700 BC), in a fascinating way, divorce was as easily initiated as marriage in early Egyptian marriages. This being regarded as a private matter, the Egyptian government took no interest in it. Divorce could be brought about by either party and the most common reasons for a husband to divorce his wife included the inability to bear children, especially a son, and the desire to marry someone else or that she simply stopped pleasing him! A woman could divorce her husband for mental or physical cruelty or adultery but, in some cases, if she chose to divorce, she forfeited her right to communal property.

While the life of single women was rather restricted in a male dominated society, a married woman could expect to be more protected should the marriage fail. The primary concern was that she would not suffer through the break-up. If the marriage ended in divorce through no fault of her own, the rights of the wife were equally protected. If the bride ended up committing adultery (which was extremely frowned upon for both men and women), she still had certain rights to maintenance from her former husband. She did not lose out altogether.

Once divorced, both men and women could remarry as soon as they wished and archive material suggests that they readily did this. What is really surprising about ancient Egypt and this era is the parity women held with men in their rights to own, manage and receive property, though this was not always respected. Women appeared to have held their own in marriage settlements, with some independence after separation. Thus the ancient bride, with such ease of marriage and divorce, and the financial protection she generally received, appears to have had a better time of her relationship than some brides in modern times!

Sources
Negm, Ahmed (2002). Marriage Customs: Present/ Past (web document) Egypt.
Silverman, David (1997). Ancient Egypt, Oxford University Press, New York.
Stritof, Sheri & Bob (2002). History of Marriage marriage.about.com.

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