The history of the condition of women in various ages and nations

by Lydia Maria Child

The ancient statues of Memnon and the Sphinx afford no evidence with regard to complexion, because they are usually painted red; that being the color applied to sacred subjects both in Egypt and various parts of India.

The features, with the exception of the lips, do not correspond to the standard of “African features,” which we have somewhat arrogantly established. In point of fact, the various tribes of that vast continent differ from each other in appearance as much as the Italians and the Norwegians; and we have taken the worst-looking as our standard of “negro features.” Dr. Richardson says: “The Nubians are perfectly black, but without possessing the least of the negro feature; the lips small, the nose aquiline; the expression of the countenance sweet and animated, and bearing a strong resemblance to that which is generally found portrayed in the temples and tombs of the ancient Egyptians.”

A recent traveller tells us, “The Ethiopian women brought to Egypt for sale, though black, are extremely beautiful; their features being perfectly regular, and their eyes full of fire. The price offered for them is generally six or ten times higher than could be obtained for Arabian women.”

Herodotus says, the Egyptian women left the management of the loom to men, while they themselves were abroad engaged in commerce; and that the laws required daughters, instead of sons, to support indigent parents. Some writers have said that the queens of Egypt were much more honored than the kings; and that in the marriage contract husbands promised obedience to their wives.

It seems probable that there was something of exaggeration in this. Perhaps the opinion had its origin in some intentional satire, which was supposed to be sober truth. That the Egyptian women enjoyed a degree of freedom and importance very uncommon in that age of the world, is beyond a doubt. That they were not confined to their own apartments is evident from the fact that Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the river with her maidens to bathe. They likewise succeeded to the throne, and to the inheritance of their fathers. When Solomon married the daughter of Pharaoh, he built her a magnificent palace near his own, and allowed her to worship the gods of her own country. As this was in direct opposition to the customs and opinions of the Israelites, there is reason to suppose these peculiar privileges were stipulated by Egyptians in the marriage contract. Her father gave her the whole city of Gazer for her portion.

It is not probable that women of rank were engaged in laborious occupations, as was common in other countries. When Psammenitus, one of their kings, was taken prisoner, he and the chief of his nobility were placed on an eminence near the city of Memphis, while his own daughter and other captive women were ordered to bear water in pitchers from the river; and the monarch is said to have considered this a greater disgrace than the loss of his kingdom and his liberty.

But notwithstanding the high respect paid to Egyptian women, and the undoubted fact that they were largely engaged in commerce and agriculture, there are many things to prove that they had not such unlimited ascendency as to reverse the usual order of things, by governing their husbands, and compelling them to do the work within doors.

The honorable office of the priesthood was entirely confined to the men, both in the temples of the goddesses and the gods. The mercantile caravans, going through rude and warlike places, could not have been composed of women. In one of the ancient Egyptian mausoleums have been found paintings in bass-relief, representing men planning furniture, hewing blocks of wood, pressing out skins of wine or oil, ploughing, hoeing, and bringing in asses laden with corn to be stored in the magazines; there is likewise a group of boatmen quarrelling, and a band of musicians playing on the harp, the flute, and a species of clarionet. The only women introduced are a group of dancing women.

Nymphodorus remarks that Sesostris obliged the men to employ themselves in feminine occupations, because his subjects were becoming very numerous, and he wished to weaken their characters, in order to prevent revolt. In opposition to those writers, who attribute such unlimited freedom and influence to the Egyptian women, some have asserted that they were kept constantly shut up, and their feet cramped, according to the present custom of the Chinese.

It is probable that these contradictory accounts refer to different parts of Egypt; for the various districts differed so much in their customs, that what was worshipped in one was despised and abhorred in another.