The Role of Women in Ancient Societies

The role of women has evolved tremendously throughout history; however, to truly understand how far this evolution has come close attention must be paid to some of the oldest civilizations, such as that of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Incas. The inferior role of women is clearly depicted in the professional life in all three ancient civilizations, in which there were only a few occupations available to women. In public life where men seemed to dominate, women were also not treated equally. They were kept out of the public life and sheltered as much as possible. In domestic life, which seemed to be the women's domain, women were also treated unequally, as they were expected and obligated to do all the chores and raising of their children. The role of women was not equal to that of men in ancient Egypt, Greece and the Inca civilization and this is evident through professional life, public life and domestic life.

Ancient Egyptian society presented women with many inequalities, most notably in the professional life, and public life, where women were excluded as much as possible, as well as the domestic life where women were burdened with most of the responsibilities. The professions available to Egyptian women were merely a few, and were most often then not very significant or important. In Egypt women held none of the important offices of state and, apart from queens regnant and certain priestesses, wielded very little political power.1 Women were not deemed worthy of holding powerful and influential jobs, and by restricted them from obtaining any of these positions they were kept from acquiring any substantial amount of power. Professions that were mainly in the public were off-limits to women. It is an uncomfortable fact that no women could aspire to be a king's scribe, an army general, a governor of a city or province, or an ambassador to foreign lands.2 Women were kept out of the public life as much as possible, and prohibiting them from having a profession in the public was one way this was accomplished. Women were responsible for taking care of all domestic duties. Besides looking after her children, she had to keep her home clean and her linen laundered, to prepare food and drink and to go to market.3 Women had the tough task of taking care of the children, and providing the family with everything they needed to sustain life. Egyptian women were seen as inferior to men and had significantly less political and public power, yet were responsible for all domestic duties.

In Ancient Greece, women were given much less rights and inclusion in the professional and public life, where they held insignificant jobs, if any at all, could not travel freely and were given all the responsibility in the domestic life. There were few professions open to Greek women, most of which were similar to their domestic responsibilities. Poorer women, even citizens, went out to work, most of them pursuing occupations that were an extension of women's work in the home.4 Women rarely held jobs, and only in extreme cases of poverty where one family member could not provide enough to take care of the entire family would the woman obtain a job related to her household duties, since that was considered the women's "field". As well, women were not allowed to roam freely in public. Citizen women were perpetually under the guardianship of a man, usually the farther or, if he was dead, the male next-of-kin.5 Women were not allocated the same amount of freedom as men were and were only allowed out in public if they were accompanied by a man. They spent the majority of their time performing their many endless domestic duties. They concerned themselves with the care of young children, the nursing of sick slaves, the fabrication of clothing, and the preparation of food.6 Women were continuously on-call taking care of all the responsibilities which were related to domestic life. In ancient Greece, women had little chance of obtaining a job, going out in public alone was unheard of, and they were accountable for all domestic responsibilities.

In the Inca civilization, women had few options in their professional life, did not have the same rights as men in public life, and were burdened with the majority of domestic duties. In theInca civilization the only jobs performed by women were ones related to their household duties. They spun fibre into yarn and wove cloth to provide clothing for the family and to pay taxes.7 Women did not generally have a profession, except for occasionally fabricating things which could be used as payment for taxes. Women were also sheltered from the public life. She had no direct ability to rule and could never become Sapa Inca (head of state, or ruler).8 Professions that were very public were restricted to women, which kept them less involved in public life, and gave them less of an opportunity to acquire power. All women in the household were required to work together to complete all domestic duties. Her daughters help her feed the chickens and guinea pigs, milk their own cow, and clean the house.9 Women were required to take care of most of the work that was needed in and around the home. In the Inca society, women were not treated as equals, having fewer options in professions, less involvement in public life, and most of the household responsibilities.

In conclusion, women in ancient Egypt, Greek and in the Inca civilization were treated as inferior to males in all areas of life; professional, public and domestic. They were restricted for having positions in most, if not all powerful professions, which were deemed appropriate only for males. They were not accepted in public life as men were, and were restricted from have any positions which were highly public. Women were encouraged to concentrate their time in the domestic life. Their main role was in the home, where they were to tend to anything or anyone (child) who needed anything. They were mainly what are today refereed to as housewives, however, with much more pressure and many more responsibilities. Women were not equals and even in today's society there are still minimal inequalities, however, when compared with ancient Egyptian, Greek andInca civilization these small inequalities truly seem negligible.

1 Barbara Watterson, Women in Ancient Egypt (Gloucestershire: Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, 1991), 23.

2 Ibid., 53.

3 Ibid., 125.

4 Sarah B. Pomeroy, Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves (New York: Schocken Books, 1975), 73.

5 Ibid., 62.

6 Ibid., 72.

7 Barbara Somervill, Empire of the Inca (New York: Facts on File, Inc, 2005) 83.

8 Ibid., 64.

9 Ibid., 11.