succession

For decades it was thought that the family system of the ancient Egyptians was very similar to our own. However, Ph.D. candidate Steffie van Gompel explains that the reality is somewhat different. "In Egyptian families, it was often the eldest son versus the rest of the children." "When wealthy people got married in ancient Egypt, in certain periods they had the option of drawing up a marriage contract." This stipulated, for example, how much money each party brought into the marriage and who would receive it in the event of a divorce. "On the basis of those contracts, it's often said that Egyptian women had a higher status than women in other societies at that time," says Van Gompel. "Unlike