Brother-Sister Marriage and Inheritance Strategies in Greco-Roman Egypt

Bibliographic Data

ID10993449
AuthorsJane Rowlandson (King's College London, corresponding author), Ryosuke Takahashi (0000-0003-0548-844X, Nagoya University)
Year2009
Volume99
Pages104-139
Publication date2009-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Roman Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0075-4358 • E-ISSN: 1753-528X
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.3815/007543509789744963
OpenAlexW2036512800
LanguageEN
Citations received9

Responding to recent discussions of brother-sister marriage in Roman Egypt, this article re-examines the Greek and Egyptian evidence for the practice, both papyrological and literary. Exploring possible antecedents in Egypt and Greece and the distinctive development of Egyptian inheritance practice, we argue that the brother-sister marriages involved real siblings, and that by the beginning of Roman rule such marriages were legitimised by a Ptolemaic law and the prevalent belief that they followed ancient Egyptian custom. But new circumstances introduced by Roman rule, particularly the increasing importance of private property ownership, encouraged the practice to become popular through much of northern Egypt. The explanation for brother-sister marriage in Egypt must be sought in the immediate local historical context, not that of the Eastern Mediterranean generally

Ancient history · Archaeology · Biology · Brother · Context (archaeology · Genealogy · Inheritance (genetic algorithm · Political science · Sister · Sociology · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Classics · Genetics · History · Law

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