Women in Ancient Civilization
1. INDIA
Describing the status of Indian women, Encyclopedia Britannica (11th ed., 1911, Vol.28, p.782) states:
In India, subjection was a cardinal principle. Day and night must women be held by their protectors
in a state of dependence, says Manu. The rule of inheritance was agnastic, that is descent traced through
males to the exclusion of females.
In Hindu scriptures, the description of a good wife is as follows:
" a woman whose mind, speech and body are kept in subjection, acquired high renown in this world,
and, in the next, the same abode with her husband."
(Marriage East and West by David and Vera, Dolphin Books, Doubleday and Co.,Inc., N.Y., 1960)
2. ATHENS
In Athens, women were not better off than either the Indian or the Roman women.
" Athenian women were always minors, subject to some male-- to their father, to their brother, or to some
of their male kin." (Allen, E. A., History of Civilization, Vol. 3, p.444)
Her consent in marriage was not generally thought to be nescessary and she was obliged to submit to the wishes
of her parents, and receive from them her husband and her lord, eventhough he were stranger to her.
3. ROME
A Roman wife was described by historian as:
"A babe, a minor, a ward, a person incapable of doing or acting anything according to her own individual taste,
a person continually under the tutelage and guardianship of her husband." (Allen, E. A., History of Civilization, Vol. 3, p.550)
In the Enclopedia Britannica (11th ed., 1911,op cit., Vol. 28, p782), we find a summary of the legal status of women
in the Roman civilization:
In a Roman Law, a woman was even in historic times completely dependent. If married, she and her property
passed into the power of her husband...the wife was the purchased property of her husband, and like a slave
acquired only for his benefit. A woman could not exercise any civil or public office .... could not be a witness,
surety,tutor or curator; she could not adopt or could not be adopted, or make will or contract.
Among the Scandinavians races, women were:
under perpetual tutelage, whether married or unmarried. As late as the Code of Christian V, at the end of the
7th century, it was enacted that if a woman married without the consent of her tutor, he might have, if he
wished, administer and usurp her goods during her life
According to the English Common Law:
... all real property which a wife held at the time of a marriage became a possession of her husband. He was
entitled to the rent from the land and to any profit which might be made from operating the estate during
the joint life of the spouses. As time passed, the English courts devised means to forbid a husband's
transfering real property without the consent of his wife, but he still retained the right to manage it and
to receive the money which it produced. As to a wife's personal property, the husbands power was complete.
He had the right to spend it as he saw fit.
-Nessa Rj, 21/04/2012
(source: The Status of Woman in Islam by Dr. Jamal Badawi, April 1980)
Describing the status of Indian women, Encyclopedia Britannica (11th ed., 1911, Vol.28, p.782) states:
In India, subjection was a cardinal principle. Day and night must women be held by their protectors
in a state of dependence, says Manu. The rule of inheritance was agnastic, that is descent traced through
males to the exclusion of females.
In Hindu scriptures, the description of a good wife is as follows:
" a woman whose mind, speech and body are kept in subjection, acquired high renown in this world,
and, in the next, the same abode with her husband."
(Marriage East and West by David and Vera, Dolphin Books, Doubleday and Co.,Inc., N.Y., 1960)
2. ATHENS
In Athens, women were not better off than either the Indian or the Roman women.
" Athenian women were always minors, subject to some male-- to their father, to their brother, or to some
of their male kin." (Allen, E. A., History of Civilization, Vol. 3, p.444)
Her consent in marriage was not generally thought to be nescessary and she was obliged to submit to the wishes
of her parents, and receive from them her husband and her lord, eventhough he were stranger to her.
3. ROME
A Roman wife was described by historian as:
"A babe, a minor, a ward, a person incapable of doing or acting anything according to her own individual taste,
a person continually under the tutelage and guardianship of her husband." (Allen, E. A., History of Civilization, Vol. 3, p.550)
In the Enclopedia Britannica (11th ed., 1911,op cit., Vol. 28, p782), we find a summary of the legal status of women
in the Roman civilization:
In a Roman Law, a woman was even in historic times completely dependent. If married, she and her property
passed into the power of her husband...the wife was the purchased property of her husband, and like a slave
acquired only for his benefit. A woman could not exercise any civil or public office .... could not be a witness,
surety,tutor or curator; she could not adopt or could not be adopted, or make will or contract.
Among the Scandinavians races, women were:
under perpetual tutelage, whether married or unmarried. As late as the Code of Christian V, at the end of the
7th century, it was enacted that if a woman married without the consent of her tutor, he might have, if he
wished, administer and usurp her goods during her life
According to the English Common Law:
... all real property which a wife held at the time of a marriage became a possession of her husband. He was
entitled to the rent from the land and to any profit which might be made from operating the estate during
the joint life of the spouses. As time passed, the English courts devised means to forbid a husband's
transfering real property without the consent of his wife, but he still retained the right to manage it and
to receive the money which it produced. As to a wife's personal property, the husbands power was complete.
He had the right to spend it as he saw fit.
-Nessa Rj, 21/04/2012
(source: The Status of Woman in Islam by Dr. Jamal Badawi, April 1980)