Gender Equality in Ancient Egypt :: Gender, Equality, Ancient Egypt, history,

Egyptians treated women very well, compared to other ancient civilizations. Some of the different rights that women had, were that they could own property, borrow money, sign contracts, file for an annulment, and appear in court as a witness. With those rights, came many responsibilities that the women were also equally subject to. Most people assumed that in the ancient world, the man was the head of the household. This fact varied for different women. There were a lot of strong woman who disagreed with this, and decided to forget about custom and rule their families. Women could become pharaoh, but only in very special circumstances. An example would be Cleopatra VII. Otherwise, women were totally equal to men, as far as the law goes. During the day, women stayed home with their daughters, and taught them housekeeping skills, like cooking and cleaning. Girls were also taught how to weave, dance, and play music. The boys went to school and learned how to be scribes. It took the students up to ten years to memorize all the hieroglyphic signs. They also had lessons in other subjects, such as astrology, astronomy, practical arts, mathematics, and games and sports. The teachers were very strict. If a boy was not behaving, he would be whipped or beaten. Aside from work and learning, women and children had a lot of leisure time. The children would spend time with their families, and play games, go to parties and feasts, dance, play with pets, and just relax. Two of the Egyptians favorite board games, were Snake and Senet. One very important thing to the Egyptians was fashion. Women and older children wore light linen clothing made from flax. Young children usually wore nothing. Boys wore little kilts and sometimes tunic-style shirts. Women and older girls, wore ankle-length, sheath dresses, that were plain and simple. Women, both rich and poor, owned a lot of makeup and jewelry. They had bracelets, rings, necklaces, earrings, beaded collars, and more. Women mostly wore black eye charcoal, and eye shadow. Black eye charcoal is like eyeliner. They used it like eyeliner, but they also put it on their eyebrows.