Pharaohs wedding

In most cases, marriage is the simple realization of a mutual desire to live together and to found a family; "marriage" is then reduced to the simple fact of living under the same roof. To do this, it seems that no administrative or religious procedure was required: the consent of the couple would have been sufficient. The woman is free to choose her husband and the Egyptian morals forbade the father to thwart the wishes of his daughter. The absence of an official act to seal the marriage, before the Low Period, should not lead us to believe that marriage is an act done lightly and easily defeasable.

The Egyptians married with the women around them (cousin, neighbor, etc.) but, it seems, never with their sisters. The wise men warned young men against unknown women:


Morality also recommended taking a woman of the same social class and extolling the qualities of simple women



The Egyptian ideal of a life as a couple can be summed up as having a house, taking a wife, having children (and especially a boy), maintaining one's authority while remaining happy and ensuring the material well-being of  the household.

Polygamy is not forbidden, but it is infrequent and seems to be reserved for elites (notables, governors of the province in the style of pharaoh), especially at times of weakening of royalty.

Incestuous marriage exists among the rich and at the court of the pharaoh notably during the fourth, eleventh, late seventeenth and early eighteenth dynasty in times of political unrest.


Divorces were not common. Adultery in the woman of the people can deserve the death sentence whereas in the man, it can be cause of divorce asked by the woman.