Incestuous and close-kin marriage in Ancient Egypt and Persia
an examination of the evidence
- ISBN: 9788763507783
- Editorial: Museum Tusculanum Press
- Fecha de la edición: 2009
- Lugar de la edición: Copenhagen. Dinamarca
- Colección: CNI Publications
- Encuadernación: Cartoné
- Medidas: 25 cm
- Nº Pág.: 224
- Idiomas: Inglés
This work examines the evidence for marriage and sexual relations between siblings and between parent and child in ancient Egypt and pre- Islamic Iran. Incestuous relationships, as a cultural feature, is usually dismissed for both ancient Egypt and Iran on the grounds that it is only found as the exception, being allowed for royalty as representatives for the divine on earth, or that the evidence for it is unreliable. Neither view, from the perspective of this study, is tenable. This book restricts its examination to the sources for incestuous relationships between members of non-royal nuclear families and puts forth arguments against the generally held axiom that the prohibition of incest is a universal phenomenon. Paul John Frandsen is former Associate Professor at the Carsten Niebuhr Section, University of Copenhagen.