The Evil Stepmother and the Rights of a Second Wife

Abstract

Marriage in pharaonic Egypt was characterised by the customary commitment of property to the children. Only with the birth of children could the implied contract of marriage take full economic effect. However, this commitment of resources to the offspring of a first marriage meant that the economic and social status of a second wife, and the prospects of her offspring, were necessarily inferior. The customary nature of this commitment of resources in marriage — subsistence to the wife, and inheritance to the children — also means that the practical and legal distinction between a marriage settlement and a will is blurred.