bers, it will become evident that,
however surprising such an agreement might seem from the one-sided
patriarchal view (which always accepts the subjection of the woman),
it was entirely a wise and just arrangement. It was certainly one that
was entered into voluntarily by both partners of the marriage; there
was no compulsion of law. All the evidence that has come down to us is
witness to the success in practice of these marriage contracts. No
other nation has yet developed a family relationship so perfect in its
working as the Egyptians. The reason is not far to seek. It was based
on the equal freedom and responsibility of the mother with the father.
There was no question, it seems to me, of one sex ruling or obeying
the other, rather it was the co-operation of the two for the welfare
of both and of the children.

So far we have dealt only with the position of the established wife.
All the written marriage contracts refer to the "taking" and
"establishing" a wife as two distinct steps, and in some cases the
second stage, which seems to have conveyed the proprietary rights, was
not taken until after the birth of children. There would thus be wives
not necessarily holding the position of "lady of the house," but
capable of being raised to such rank by later contract.[215] It is
probable, as M. Revillout suggests,[216] that "the taking to wife" was
a comparatively informal matter, but needing ratification by contract
for any lasting establishment, which commonly would be done after the
birth of a child to ensure the rights of the father's inheritance,
passing through the mother to the children. All the evidence is in
favour of this wise arrangement. There are many examples of contracts
being entered into by the husband for the benefit of a woman, who had
been "with him as a wife to him." Relations between the sexes of an
even less binding character than this were not ignored.[217] It seems
clear that little regard was paid to pre-nuptial chastity for women,
and in no marriage contract is any stress laid on virginity, which, as
Havelock Ellis[218] says, clearly indicates the absence of any idea of
women as property. "It is the glory of Egyptian morality to have been
the first to express the dignity of woman."[219]

M. Paturet takes the view that it was not so much as the mother, but
as woman, and being the equal of man, that the Egyptians honoured
their women. Perhaps the truth rather is that there was no separation
bet