Patriarchy In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

During the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Stone Age the practice of horticulture men and women equally maintained pasture living. However, during the Neolithic period agricultural farming became more prominent. Animal domestication was used for plow agriculture which was mostly done by men because this heavy labor didn’t seem fit for women because they weren’t physically capable. Overall, the rise of agriculture gave men a more important role due to their successful ability to hold communities together. As for women, they tended to the needs of the home and children, especially as child birth begun to increase significantly. There purpose was ideally to make children and their activeness in leadership begun to decline. In Cities and Civilization,

This tale is devoted to Gilgamesh as a godly legend. Despite the entertainment this tale brought Sumerians, it says a lot about ancient Sumer and significant outcomes of patriarchy. In “Prologue: Gilgamesh King in Uruk” it states, “His lust leave no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior’s daughter nor the wife of the noble.” This may be an exaggerated tale, but the power of Gilgamesh exploiting women’s sexuality shows that it was socially acceptable for a man with power living in Sumer to have sex with whomever he wants. Later on it also states, “Now, woman, make your breast bare, have no shame, do not delay but welcome his love. Let him see you naked, let him possess your body.” The women in this line is referred to as The Harlot in The Epic of Gilgamesh and her priority was to humanize the animalistic nature in Enkidu through sex. It is as if this is the norm in Mesopotamia and it’s completely inhumane for women. Once again it is directly shown that women were used for sex; a women’s sexuality was used to satisfy men. In all, these parts of The Epic of Gilgamesh show how being a Mesopotamian man included the ability to oppress women by using them as

“They are illustrations of Hunefer, a man of royalty in the 13th century who was being brought to the afterlife with The Book of the Dead. The Book of the Dead is portrayed as new chapter than pharaohs embarked on when they died. They would be mummified and given food, clothing, jewels, gold and other luxuries. Ceremonies would take place and rituals are performed to prepare the body.” These pictures depict the ceremonies for Hunefer as his body and soul are preparing for what laid ahead in the after world. For a long time, only the wealthy were given the Book of the Dead but over time nobles were also allowed to receive this luxury. It was a common belief that pharaohs and higher class people were more acceptable to have the Book of the Dead because they were “more enlightened” or “eligible;” so there was a connotation of low class people as a whole could not enter the afterlife because of their status. However, copies became available for commoners as well. The Book of the Dead became something that was celebrated just for pharoahs into a culture that was celebrated among Egyptian people mutually. The patriarchy in Egypt didn’t cause Egyptian to socially segregate based on their status or