Ancient Digger Archaeology Featured On Nature Center Magazine

June 6, 2011--Nature Center Magazine just featured Ancient Digger as the Nature Site of the Week.

Emma Springfield writes,

The history of our wildlife and people is wrapped in the past. As we learn more about the past, we learn more about why things are the way they are now.

It's good to know where you come from in order to know where you are going." This is an old Irish saying. It basically means that your ancestors are part of who you are. In the world of nature there are people who study the past. These are the archaeologists and anthropologists. They find remnants of times past, study them, and tell us where we came from.

I'm so honored to be featured at a site which introduces readers to some of the most fascinating nature sites, news articles, videos, and travel guides. Although Ancient Digger does explore a variety of topics outside the realm of nature, the topic of archaeology regularly featured at Ancient Digger Archaeology, couldn't be understood without relying on the contexts of the natural world.

Thanks again to Nature Center Magazine and Emma Springfield for presenting the site of the week in such a professional and artistic manner.

Brother-Sister and Father-Daughter Marriage in Ancient Egypt

I recently read an article by Russell Middleton titled "Brother-Sister and Father-Daughter Marriage in Ancient Egypt". Upon studying the inner workings of Egypt and the Mesopotamian kings, I stumbled upon this piece and thought I would share the main points.

Brother-Sister and Father-Daughter Marriage in Ancient Egypt Overview

Anthropologists recognize that marrying one’s sister, brother, father, or mother was quite common in Ancient Egypt. Marriage of kin functioned "to preserve the purity of the royal blood line," to keep privilege and rank rigidly within the group .

The greatest instance of Pharaoh-sister marriage occurred during the Pharonic period. De Rouge called attention to evidence that Ramses II married two of his sisters and at least two of his daughters. This evidence was refuted by Erman, stating the title of "Royal Wife," bestowed upon daughters, was of mere ceremonial significance. There were no documented cases of brother-sister marriage during this period.

The Ptolemaic kings adopted the royal custom of sister-brother marriage, even though the union wasn’t actually permitted. Middleton mentions, of the thirteen Ptolemaic kings, seven contracted such marriages. Of those unions the most famous being between Ptolemy XIII, married to their sister, and the famous Cleopatra VI. Brother-sister marriage during the Greek period in Egypt seems to have been restricted to the royalty.

Commoners were practicing brother-sister marriage during the Roman period. Documents of a technical character have an "indisputable precision”, to attest to this fact. Most of the marriages were between full sisters.

Ultimately, this act of near kin marriages was a result of cross cultural influence, or rather the “diffusion hypothesis”. Middleton (1962) noted, this hypothesis does not answer the question of why the custom developed in the original host culture or why it was later adopted in a secondary culture.

Your thoughts?

Middleton, Russell. 1962 Brother-Sister and Father-Daughter Marriage in Ancient Egypt. American Sociological Review, Vol. 27, No. 5:603-611.

Also check out:

• The Art and History of Ancient Egyptian Jewelry
• Serapeum: The Tomb of the Apis Bulls
• In the Days of Pharaohs and Deities 
• Evidence for Pharaonic Seagoing Ships in Egypt 
• Mortuary Temple of The Pharaoh Queen Hatshepsut 
• The Mummified Bubastis Cat