posted
All right, all men have to pay to maintain their marriage, but the Ancient Egyptians took it one step further and made the men pay for the marriage as well!
quote:The concept of marriage in Egypt is not an easy topic. Certainly Egyptians seem to have taken mates in what most often appears to be lifelong monogamous relationships. After the Third Intermediate period we begin to find ancient "marriage contracts" that incorporate the phrase shep en shemet (price for "marrying" a woman)...
How much did the girl's family charge him?
Posts: 7069 | From: Fallbrook, CA | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
The same is still practiced in india and most of the muslim countries. But in indias case its the brides family who has to pay to the males family since they consider females as a burden to the family. while most muslim countries the males family pays the females family.
Posts: 1420 | Registered: May 2005
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^ The custom in India that Yonis brings up is called dowry. The dowry system is a tradition practiced in Europe in male dominated socieies where women were considered a burden. As such, the bride or at least the parents of the bride (particularly the father) had to pay the groom something that will aid him in caring for his bride and their future offspring. There are some scholars who suggest that the system is Indo-European in cultural origin since it is practiced by Indians mainly in the north, while others argue that the dowry system in India was introduced by the British. Many Europeans no longer carry on the practice as it now considred old-fashioned and even sexist.
Getting back more to T-rex's topic, the custom of the groom paying for his bride which is the reverse of dowry is known as bride-price. The bride-price system is usually practiced in cultures where women are held in much higher regard, and not only were they not considered burdens, but on the contrary were considered important members of the family. Thus when it came time for a girl to marry, her groom had to pay some sort of compensation for taking her away from her family (in cultures where the bride is to leave her family's home). This custom is very widespread in Africa, and can be seen for example in East African cultures where the bride-price is almost always in the form of cattle. The wealthier or higher in status a bride is, the more expensive her compensation price to the family.
It's funny because there are some feminist who are against the custom of bride-price because they mistake it as being a form of prostitution, yet when it came to the dowry system, no one ever considered that the men were prostitutes who were bought by the women! LOLPosts: 26239 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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As opposed to the Modern Ws.t where the wives family has to pay for the husband.
Father of the Bride - Dad Pays For many families, it is assumed that mom and the bride will make all the key decisions and dad will keep the cash flowing. In fact, one of my friends recently confided that his role in the wedding planning was to be a "living and breathing cash machine."Posts: 15202 | Registered: Jun 2004
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^ Yes, I was just about to say that the practice you just pointed out Rasol, where the parents of the bride have to pay for the wedding, is in fact a remnant or hold over of the old dowry custom!
Posts: 26239 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
^ Are they suggesting this was the only form of bride-price? Is there any other evidence or texts that include things like cattle or what not?
Posts: 26239 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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