One thing that almost must be refute is polygamy in AE soceity. Certain the pharoah have many wives and concubines,but simply the pharoah. The same was not true for the commoners,and most tended to have simply one wife implying most were monogamous instead of polygamous as postulated by some scholars. Very rarily did we find multiple marriages to more than one wife.
Hope this clarifies some points and misconceptions about AE soceity.
quote:Are there any cases where confusion over this point reach the level of the Kemetic royalty. ie - where husband and wife are mistaken to be brother and sister?
Originally posted by ausar:
One slight misconception arises from the titles that husband and wife called each other such as sister/brother. The titles had no incestous conotations,for the words were simply meant for a husband and wife in a loving relationship,and not brother or sister marriages.
The matriarchy , or descent through the female line was the basis of the social organization in Kemet, Nubia, and other Black states of antiquity, whether in Africa or Asia (IE Susa/Elam). It was the female who transmitted political rights and authority.
So, sometimes it was necessary for a king to 'marry' his sister, or even his daughter. It was a question of legitimacy.
For the ordinary citizen, this wasn't an imperative. One husband, one wife, was sufficient...
He was Ahmose I, during who's reign Egypt was finally and completely liberated from the Hyksos. Various scholars attribute different dates to his reign, but he probably became ruler of Egypt around 1550 BC at the age of 10, and ruled for a period of around 25 years before his death (examination of his well preserved mummy suggest he was about 35 when he died).
Ahmose I (Amosis to the Greeks) was given the birth name Ah-mose (The Moon is Born).
His thrown name was Neb-pehty-re (The Lord of Strength is Re). He was probably a boy when he assumed the throne, having lost his father Seqenenre Tao II and his brother Kahmose within three years of each other.
His mother was Queen Ahotep, a powerful woman who was perhaps his co-regent during his early years.
Egyptologists believe that during his very early reign, little was probably accomplished and perhaps the Hyksos may have even gained some ground, recapturing Heliopolis. However, by the end of his first decade in power, we know from an autobiography of Ahmose, son of Ibana, a naval officer from El-Kab, that he laid siege on Avaris (The tomb of Ahmose Pennekheb, another soldier also records the campaigns).
This was a long battle interrupted by the need to put down insurrections in already liberated territories, but appears to have been successful sometime between his 12th and 15th year as ruler. Afterwards, he attacked the southwest Palestinian fortress of Sharuhen in a six year siege that would finally put an end to Hyksos control of Egypt.
quote:
Originally posted by Osiris II:
His mother was Queen Ahotep, a powerful woman who was perhaps his co-regent during his early years.
So he was the son of Ahotep and Seqenenra TaoII?