Intersections of Kinship and Status
Kinship v. Status The Relationship Between Kinship and Status
Status and kinship bonds directly correlate with each other. If one was born into the hierarchy, you held higher status immediate upon birth. Ones kinship bonds are of the utmost importance in defining where people stood on the social status ladder.
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The Female Pharaohs of Egypt
In a predominantly patriarchal society, It may be surprising for some to learn that there were multiple female pharaohs throughout the Dynastic period in Egypt. These female "kings" were just has powerful and just as important as their male counterparts. The last Pharaoh of Egypt, who was part of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, was female and her name was Cleopatra VII. The role of women within royalty was decided based on kinship. To the nobles, kinship relations and keeping the royal blood in power overruled any other identifiers. That is, royalty was royal first and foremost. The kinship relations kept the high status power in the hands of their own. Ones gender was not a deciding factor when it came to the highest level of leadership. The equal treatment of the female Pharaohs is documented in both the hieroglyphics and in the archaeological record of their lavish tombs. The Boy King King Tutankhamen was born in the 18th dynasty and was named Pharaoh at the early age of 9. He ruled for a little less than ten years before he died, his cause of death has been greatly contested by experts. King Tut was treated with the same mortuary regards as he predecessors, he would be mummified. (Woods). His mummified body would be placed in a gilded sarcophagus and then buried in a tomb at the Valley of the Kings. King Tutankhamen became famous after death due to his extravagant tomb filled with gold . Of course, the lavish tomb was traditional for Egyptian Pharaohs but the discovery of his tomb excited the world due to it being the first pharaoh's tomb discovered that had not been disturbed by grave robbers (Woods). His role as Pharaoh at such a young age verifies that to the Egyptian Dynasties, kinship was most important. They had to keep leadership in the family. The main source of status for King Tut relied solely on the fact that he was part of the royal lineage. |