‘Blood Is Thicker Than Water’ – Non-Royal Consanguineous Marriage in Ancient Egypt

An Exploration of Economic and Biological Outcomes

By (author) Joanne-Marie Robinson

Book cover: ‘Blood Is Thicker Than Water’ – Non-Royal Consanguineous Marriage in Ancient Egypt

Extent: 246 pages

Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing

Subjects: Ancient Egypt

Series: Archaeopress Egyptology

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(June 2020)

ISBN: 9781789695434

6.85 x 9.65 inches

Price: $53.00

In stock

Add to cart

Synopsis
Contents
Contributing Authors

This volume presents, for the first time, evidence for non-royal consanguineous marriage in ancient Egypt. The evidence was collated from select sources from the Middle Kingdom to the Roman Period, and it has been used to investigate the potential economic and biological outcomes, particularly beyond the level of sibling and half-sib

Discussions on consanguineous marriage within Egyptology usually focus on brother-sister marriages recorded in census returns from Roman Egypt, or royal sibling marriages amongst the ruling Ptolemies. However, no wide-ranging review exists of non-royal consanguineous marriage in ancient Egypt despite the economic and biological implications of such relationships. This is the first time that evidence for nonroyal consanguineous marriage in ancient Egypt has been collated from select sources spanning the Middle Kingdom to the Roman Period and a method created to investigate the potential economic and biological outcomes of these unions, particularly beyond the level of sibling and half-sibling unions. The working definition of consanguineous marriage used throughout this study is that used by clinical geneticists: unions contracted between cousins biologically related as second cousins or closer biological kin. This research argues that for some families, and under certain conditions, consanguineous marriage was a preferred economic strategy in terms of gifts given at marriage and in inheritance, and that families who married consanguineously may have received greater levels of intra-familial support without the expectation of reciprocity. Although there may have been adverse biological outcomes arising from congenital anomalies and genetic disorders in the offspring of consanguineous marriages, the research suggests that it is unlikely that these physical or cognitive disorders were distinguished from other medical disorders in the general health environment of ancient Egypt. The investigation focuses primarily on ancient Egyptian documentary and archaeological sources, including human remains, and is informed by research on consanguinity from a range of disciplines including anthropology, demography, economics and pathology.

Acknowledgements ;

Abbreviations ;

Glossary ;

Ancient Egyptian Chronology ;

Papyri and ostraca ;

Chapter 1: Ancient Egyptian marriage and kin terms, definitions of consanguinity and consanguineous marriage ;

Chapter 2: Consanguinity in historical context: evidence from select sources for consanguineous marriage in ancient Egypt, the Near East, Greece and Rome ;

Chapter 3: The use of inheritance and matrimonial goods as economic strategies in non-royal consanguineous families ;

Chapter 4: Consanguineous marriage in Deir el-Medina and economic impacts: family interrelationships, occupations, offspring, and expectations of altruism and reciprocity ;

Chapter 5: Biological outcomes of non-royal consanguineous marriage: prevalence, impact and perceptions of abnormality in ancient Egypt ;

Chapter 6: Conclusion ;

Appendix 1: Table of probable or possible non-royal consanguineous marriages from select sources ;

Appendix 2: Details of consanguineous and affinal links between consanguineously married couples in Deir el-Medina ;

Appendix 3: Number of known children in the eight family trees in which there are consanguineous marriages ;

Bibliography

By (author) Joanne-Marie Robinson

Other Titles in this Series

The Origins and Use of the Potter’s Wheel in Ancient Egypt

By (author) Sarah Doherty

The Tekenu and Ancient Egyptian Funerary Ritual

By (author) Glennise West

Delta Reports 1

Research in the Cultural History of the Ancient Egyptian Nile Delta

Edited by Eva Lange-Athinodorou Edited by Penelope Wilson

Egypt 2015: Perspectives of Research

Proceedings of the Seventh European Conference of Egyptologists (2nd-7th June, 2015, Zagreb – Croatia)

Edited by Mladen Tomorad Edited by Joanna Popielska-Grzybowska

Compulsion and Control in Ancient Egypt

Proceedings of the Third Lady Wallis Budge Egyptology Symposium

Edited by Alexandre Loktionov

A History of Research Into Ancient Egyptian Culture in Southeast Europe

Edited by Mladen Tomorad

The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Moon: Coffin Texts Spells 154–160

By (author) Gyula Priskin

Catalogue de la collection égyptienne du Musée d’Histoire et d’Archéologie de Vannes

By (author) Simone Petacchi By (author) Christophe Le Pennec

Proceedings of the XI International Congress of Egyptologists, Florence, Italy 23-30 August 2015

Edited by Gloria Rosati Edited by M. Cristina Guidotti

Environment and Religion in Ancient and Coptic Egypt: Sensing the Cosmos through the Eyes of the Divine

Proceedings of the 1st Egyptological Conference of the Hellenic Institute of Egyptology: 1-3 February 2017

Edited by Alicia Maravelia Edited by Nadine Guilhou

Prepared for Eternity

A study of human embalming techniques in ancient Egypt using computerised tomography scans of mummies

By (author) Robert Loynes

Egypt in Croatia: Croatian Fascination with Ancient Egypt from Antiquity to Modern Times

Edited by Mladen Tomorad

Tomb of Kha-em-hat of the Eighteenth Dynasty in Western Thebes (TT 57)

By (author) Amani Hussein Ali Attia

Proceedings of the XI International Congress of Egyptologists, Florence, Italy 23-30 August 2015

Volume 19

Edited by Gloria Rosati Edited by M Cristina Guidotti

Book cover: Invisible Connections: An Archaeometallurgical Analysis of the Bronze Age Metalwork from the Egyptian Museum of the University of Leipzig

Invisible Connections: An Archaeometallurgical Analysis of the Bronze Age Metalwork from the Egyptian Museum of the University of Leipzig

By (author) Martin Odler By (author) Jiří Kmošek

Royal Statues in Egypt 300 BC-AD 220

Context and Function

By (author) Elizabeth Brophy

‘Scènes de Gynécées’ Figured Ostraca from New Kingdom Egypt

Iconography and Intent

By (author) Joanne Backhouse

A Prosopographic Study of the New Kingdom Tomb Owners of Dra Abu el-Naga

By (author) Ángeles Jiménez-Higueras

Egyptian and Imported Pottery from the Red Sea port of Mersa Gawsis, Egypt

By (author) Sally Wallace-Jones Contributions by Andrea Manzo Contributions by Mary Ownby Contributions by Karin…

Doors, Entrances and Beyond… Various Aspects of Entrances and Doors of the Tombs in the Memphite Necropoleis during the Old Kingdom

By (author) Leo Roeten

Rise of the Hyksos

Egypt and the Levant from the Middle Kingdom to the Early Second Intermediate Period

By (author) Anna-Latifa Mourad

The Hypocephalus: An Ancient Egyptian Funerary Amulet

By (author) Tamás Mekis

The Family of Pa-di-Amun-neb-nesut-tawy from Thebes (TT 414) Revisited

The Case Study of Kalutj/Nes-Khonsu (G108 + G137)

By (author) Julia Budka By (author) Tamás Mekis

Archaeology and Geology of Ancient Egyptian Stones

By (author) James A. Harrell

Daily Life in Ancient Egyptian Personal Correspondence

By (author) Susan Thorpe

The Production, Use and Importance of Flint Tools in the Archaic Period and the Old Kingdom in Egypt

By (author) Michał Kobusiewicz

I templi del Fayyum di epoca tolemaico-romana: tra fonti scritte e contesti archeologici

Per una classificazione degli edifici sacri nell’Egitto tolemaico e romano

By (author) Ilaria Rossetti

The Delta Survey Workshop: Proceedings from Conferences held in Alexandria (2017) and Mansoura (2019)

Edited by Ayman Wahby Edited by Penelope Wilson

A Global History of the Reception of Ancient Egypt

Edited by José das Candeias Sales Edited by Susana Mota

Pharmacy and Medicine in Ancient Egypt

Proceedings of the Conference Held in Barcelona (2018)

Edited by Rosa Dinarès Solà Edited by Mikel Fernandez Georges Edited by Maria Rosa Guasch…

Similar Books

Archaeological Discoveries at the Temple of Ramesses II in Abydos

Vol. 2: Old Kingdom Wall, Papyri, Ostraca, and Leather Remains

Edited by Sameh Iskander

Deir al-Ganadla

A Unique Coptic Church in Middle Egypt

By (author) Mohamed Kenawi By (author) Jessica Distefano

Linguistic Heterogeneity in the Ramesside Royal Inscriptions

Volume 32

By (author) Julianna Kitti Paksi

Music from Ancient Meroë

Reconstructing Queen Amanishakheto’s Auloi

Edited by Susanne Gänsicke Edited by Stefan Hagel

Rewriting the History of the Great Sphinx

By (author) Colin D. Reader

Sais I

The Ramesside-Third Intermediate Period at Kom Rebwa

Volume 98

by Penelope Wilson

Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur Band 54

Volume 54

Edited by Jochem Kahl Edited by Nicole Kloth

A Legacy of Learning in Near Eastern Archaeology

Centennial Studies in Memory of Helene J. Kantor

Edited by Peter Lacovara

A Teaching Grammar of Middle Egyptian

By (author) Joshua Aaron Roberson

Amelia B Edwards

The 'Queen of Egyptology'

by Carl Graves

Ancient Egypt in 50 Discoveries

Highlights from the first century of the Egypt Exploration Society

Volume 8

edited by Stephanie Boonstra and Campbell Price

Archaeological Discoveries at the Temple of Ramesses II in Abydos

Vol. 1: Magazines, Animal Burials, and Miscellanea

Edited by Sameh Iskander

Clashing Religions in Ancient Egypt

Exploring Different Layers of Religious Beliefs

Volume 1

Edited by Marilina Betro Edited by Gianluca Miniaci

Current Research in Egyptology 2024

Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Symposium, Jointly Organised by the University of Liverpool, Swansea University, University of Birmingham, University of Oxford, and University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 2–6 September 2024

Edited by John Rogers Edited by Catherine Bishop-Allen Edited by Henry Bohun Edited by Reuben…

Delta Reports 1

Research in the Cultural History of the Ancient Egyptian Nile Delta

Edited by Eva Lange-Athinodorou Edited by Penelope Wilson

Excavating Ancient Egypt: Fifty Years of Archaeological Memories

By (author) Jeffrey Spencer

From Egypt to the Levant and Beyond

African Individuals and Groupsain Cuneiform Texts from the Late Bronze Age

Volume 133

by Mattias Karlsson

King David

Sacred and Secular in Biblical Times

Volume 1

by E. Bruce Brooks

Kom al-Ahmer — Kom Wasit III

The Archaeology of Two Ptolemaic Districts in the Western Nile Delta, Egypt

Edited by Mohamed Kenawi Edited by Giorgia Marchiori

Language, Semantics, and Cognition in Ancient Egypt and Beyond

Proceedings of the International Conference, Yale University, April 16-18, 2021

Volume 14

edited by Gaelle Chantrain

Lending in Ptolemaic Egypt

The Demotic Loan-Account Papyri of Panas, Son of Espmetis

By (author) Brian P. Muhs

Mortals, Deities and Divine Symbols: Rethinking Ancient Images from the Levant to Mesopotamia

Studies Offered to Tallay Ornan

Edited by Benjamin Sass Edited by Laura Battini

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Egyptological Essays in Honor of Peter Lacovara

Volume 11

Edited by Salima Ikram Edited by Sue DAuria Edited by Tom Hardwick

Outward Appearance versus Inward Significance

Addressing Identities through Attire in the Ancient World

Volume 15

edited by Aleksandra Hallmann

Sacredness at Deir El-Medina

Proceedings of the International Conference Florence, Italy 14-15 March 2024

Volume 7

Edited by Valentina Santini Edited by Massimiliano Franci Edited by Irene Morfini

The Amarna Letters

The Syro-Levantine Correspondence

By (author) Jacob Lauinger By (author) Tyler Yoder

The Drill in Sculpture

From Ancient Egypt to Modernism

Volume 3

Edited by Paola D'Agostino Edited by Lucia Simonato

The Oasis Papers 7

Studies on Late Roman to Modern Egypt in Honour of Fred Leemhuis

Edited by Gillian E. Bowen Edited by Colin A. Hope Edited by Olaf E. Kaper…

The Oxyrhynchus Papyri

Volume LXXXVIII

Volume 109

volume edited by A. Benaissa and W. B. Henry

The Village Gymnasium at Philoteris/Watfa in the Fayum

In Collaboration with Rita Hartmann. With Contributions by Cäcilia Fluck, Mary F. Ownby and Daniela Rosenow

Volume 10

By (author) Cornelia Römer By (author) Peter Kopp

Working in the Suburbs

The Archaeological Remains from Amarna Site M50.14-16

Volume 121

by Anna K. Hodgkinson

Ägypten und Levante XXXIV / Egypt and the Levant XXXIV (2024)

Internationale Zeitschrift für ägyptische Archäologie und deren Nachbargebiete / International Journal for Egyptian Archaeology and Related Disciplines

Edited by Manfred Bietak

Catalogue de la collection égyptienne du Musée d’Histoire et d’Archéologie de Vannes

By (author) Simone Petacchi By (author) Christophe Le Pennec