Pharaoh is the honorific title of the king of ancient Egypt, and it is a transliteration of Egyptian Hebrew.
In ancient Egypt, pharaoh was not initially synonymous with ruler. In the days of the Old Kingdom, pharaoh meant only the royal palace. Until the beginning of Thutmose III in the eighteenth dynasty, the word pharaoh began to be used for the king himself, and gradually evolved into a respectful title for the king.
After the 22nd Dynasty (945-730 BC), pharaoh officially became the title of king. As an autocratic monarch of slavery, the Pharaoh held military, judicial and religious power throughout the country and was the supreme ruler of ancient Egypt.
Both the Egyptian pharaoh and the Chinese emperor possessed supreme power, with the power of life and death. In addition, they are very different from ordinary people in terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation. In the life of the pharaohs in ancient Egypt, jewels were everywhere.
Although the pharaohs of ancient Egypt and the emperors of China were rulers of the same dynasty, they had many differences. For example, in ancient times and China, there were many female pharaohs. In China's historical dynasty, there is only one female emperor.
In the ruling system of ancient Egypt, there was actually more than one female ruler. In addition to the famous Cleopatra, as early as 1,000 years ago, there were many female rulers in ancient Egypt.
As more and more male pharaohs succeeded to the throne. In order to promote patriarchal ideas, these male pharaohs deliberately obliterated the traces of the power of female rulers. Later, in order to allow women to become accessories of the royal power, the royal family stipulated that all heirs should be men. Unless there is no suitable male heir, then it is possible for a female pharaoh to appear.
In addition to female pharaohs, the pharaohs of ancient Egypt also had a wonderful system, that is, the pharaohs of ancient Egypt married their own daughters and had children with her.
For this kind of wonderful system, our country has been very opposed to it since ancient times. After all, in the face of ethics and morality, this is a kind of incestuous behavior. And this kind of behavior will also have a serious impact on the next generation. For example, the marriage of consanguineous relatives can lead to premature death of children, intellectual problems, physical defects and so on.
So for the health of the next generation. Marriage between close relatives has been prohibited in our country since ancient times. However, although the marriage of close relatives violates ethics and morality and is not accepted by the world, in the eyes of the ancient Egyptians, this behavior could not be more normal.
So, why did the pharaoh of ancient Egypt marry his daughter and give birth to an heir? Why did this happen in ancient Egypt?
In fact, the decision of the ancient Egyptians to marry close relatives and marry their daughters as wives was mainly caused by the influence of six factors.
First, for pure blood. In the royal family of ancient Egypt, in order to make the blood of the royal family members more pure, they would choose to marry close relatives. In other words, when a person ascends to the position of Pharaoh, his wife can only be his relatives. Relatives here include daughters, nieces, sisters, aunts, etc.
Second, strengthen the position of God. In ancient Egyptian culture, the existence of Pharaoh was the same as that of God in our country. The ancient emperors of our country all called themselves "dragons". The pharaoh claimed to be "the god who came to the world". In ancient Egyptian mythology, gods could marry anyone.
In order to show the difference, the pharaoh also advocated interbreeding. For example, Isis and Osiris, they were originally a pair of brother and sister, but they finally came together. When the common people saw that they revered the pharaohs as gods, they would naturally try to imitate this behavior, thinking that only in this way could they have the purest blood.
Influenced by this culture for a long time, ordinary people have long been accustomed to it. Not only brothers and sisters can marry, but mother and son can also marry. The whole of ancient Egypt was pervaded by this idea. Naturally, no one thinks it violates human ethics. Under the influence of this general environment, no one dares to propose different ideas.
In other words, gods can marry close relatives. And those who marry close relatives are gods. It was through this method that Pharaoh further consolidated their status as gods.
Third, Akalia. Akalia is a famous tyrant in the history of ancient Egypt, but the reason why he is considered a tyrant is not because he married his daughter, but because he oppressed the people and made their life difficult and life became a problem . Moreover, Akalia's personal style is also very problematic. In order to satisfy his own selfish desires, he wantonly plundered the women of the common people, even his brother's women, so Akalia's reputation was not good. However, Akalia doesn't care about these, his desire for beauty is endless
Later, in addition to snatching the beauty, Akalia and his wife gave birth to a daughter named Atana. Atana was very beautiful from an early age, and Akalia left home when Atana was a child to fight on the frontier.
Atana was already a well-known beauty when she was eighteen years old, and the nearby tribes also coveted her beauty and snatched her away. After Akalia came back, he was very angry when he heard the news. In order to appease Akalia, the leaders of the neighboring countries prepared a peerless beauty for him.
Akalia liked beauties in the first place, and when he heard that someone was going to offer him a great beauty, he was not to mention how happy he was. Not long after, a beautiful woman was sent from a neighboring country, and Akalia was impressed at first sight. Akalia didn't learn the truth until months later. It turned out that the beauty sent by this neighboring country was her own daughter Atana.
Helpless, this is the end of the matter. Atana was still pregnant with her own flesh and blood, so it was too late to say anything. In this way, Akalia became the first pharaoh to marry his own daughter. Because Lao Wang has absolute authority in the local area, no one dares to object. Over time, it became a deep-rooted tradition.
The fourth is for the power in hand. In order to prevent the power of the royal family from being stolen by outsiders, the royal family stipulates that close relatives can marry. Because only in this way, the married woman and the children born are all members of her own family, and will not involve other members outside the royal family. Therefore, in the eyes of the royal family of ancient Egypt, marriage between close relatives was the most effective means of preventing the leakage of power.
Because in their view, even if there is a problem within the royal family, there is a phenomenon of seizure of power. But the result is the same, power is still firmly in the hands of the royal family members.
Fifth, prevent the outflow of property. In ancient Egypt, the status of women was still relatively high. Just like in a matrilineal clan society, they can inherit and control the family property, so in order to ensure that the property does not flow out, it is all in the hands of family members, and women in the royal family will also choose to marry close relatives.
In fact, from ancient times to the present, the way of property outflow has always been the most worrying issue of the royal family. For example, if a pharaoh's daughter marries outside, it may cause the royal family's property to flow out with the daughter's marriage. In ancient Egypt, the status of women was relatively high, and they all had a lot of property in their hands. Therefore, in order to prevent the outflow of property, in the royal family of ancient Egypt, it was expressly stipulated that women should marry close relatives when they get married.
Sixth, in the early slave society of ancient Egypt, people's thinking was not civilized, and social civilization had not yet been established. Therefore, in the ancient Egyptian culture that lacked ethical concepts, no matter what the pharaoh did, he would not think it was wrong. Even if it is a marriage between close relatives, they will think that it is not against ethics, because there is no ethical concept in their ideology.
To sum up, in ancient Egypt, pharaoh married his daughter as a wife, which has long been a means of maintaining royal power and financial resources. In the eyes of the ancient Egyptians, this kind of close relative marriage was a very normal thing. It doesn't feel unethical.
Of course, the harm posed by close relatives is enormous. This also caused some Egyptian pharaohs to have physical and mental problems. For example, in the archeology of ancient Egypt, scientists discovered the difference between the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun.
According to information, the cause of death of the 19-year-old Egyptian pharaoh was a family genetic disease. Scientists used modern technology to restore Tutankhamun 's face and figure, but found that he was a person with club feet and buck teeth. The reason why Tutankhamun looked like this is because of a family hereditary disease brought about by the marriage of close relatives.
Another example is Tutankhamun 's father, Amenhotep IV, who also looks very strange: his limbs are extremely slender, his abdomen protrudes, and his hips are broad. If he is not intersex, or if he is disguised as a man, it is certain that he must have some diseases that are different from ordinary people. And this disease may be caused by consanguineous marriage.
The custom of marriage between close relatives lasted for nearly 2,000 years in ancient Egypt. It was not until the Romans conquered Egypt in 30 BC that this wonderful system was submerged in the long history of ancient Egypt.