Northern Cal. Egyptology Lecture: Women’s Rights in Marriage and Divorce in Ancient Egypt

The American Research Center in Egypt, Northern California chapter, and the UC Berkeley Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures invite you to attend a lecture by Alison Wilkinson, Johns Hopkins University: Women's Rights in Marriage and Divorce in Ancient Egypt Sunday February 9, 2025, 3 PM  Pacific Standard Time Social Sciences Building, UC Berkeley This is an in-person lecture and is not virtual. No registration is required. The lecture will be recorded. P. BM EA 10074, a Demotic divorce contract from Ptolemaic Thebes (Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum). About the Lecture: This talk presents a deep dive into the textual evidence for marriage and marital separation with a focus on the question: What rights did women have in these processes? New Kingdom and Demotic legal records together with New Kingdom letter correspondences are examined for the answers. The talk incorporates a recently reanalyzed Ostracon Deir el-Medina 439 for insights on a woman's rights in divorce during the New Kingdom. The focus on textual sources aims to extrapolate the contemporary perspectives of marriage and divorce. The lexical and grammatical analysis presents insights into the process, social implications, and consequences of these social acts. Subtle differences arise in the role of men versus women, most especially within the context of divorce. This "marriage" of gender studies and linguistic analyses uncovers subtle nuances concerning marital unions and separations within the culture of ancient Egypt. About the Speaker: Parking is available in UC lots all day on weekends, for a fee. Ticket dispensing machines accept debit or credit cards. Parking is available in lots around the Social Sciences Building, and in lots along Bancroft. A map of the campus is available online at http://www.berkeley.edu/map/ . About Northern California ARCE: For more information, please visit https://www.youtube.com/@NorthernCaliforniaARCE, https://facebook.com/NorthernCaliforniaARCE/, https://twitter.com/ARCENCPostings, and https://khentiamentiu.org. To join the chapter or renew your membership, please go to https://arce.org/membership/ and select "Berkeley, CA" as your chapter when you sign up.