Encyclopedia of society and culture in the ancient world ( PDFDrive ) 502

family: Asia and the Pacific Scarab stamp seal and impressions, in lapis lazuli, depicting Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of love, fertility, marriage, and childbirth (Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago) was the couple’s failure to have children, specifically a male heir to continue the family line In most such cases, however, the couple did not seek a divorce Divorce was costly because of the need to return the bride’s dowry and often to provide additional compensation It was also an inconvenience because it disrupted the amicable connection between the groom’s and the bride’s families Thus, couples often found other ways to produce an heir One alternative was for the husband to take a second wife, a decision that required the consent of his first wife Another was to find a surrogate mother, to be chosen by the wife, who was considered the mother of the child The most common and easiest option was to adopt In the Akkadian language, the word for family literally means “nest,” illustrating the ancient Near Eastern concept of marriage and family life: Above all, the family centered on creating and bringing up offspring, since children were the focal point of the family and guaranteed its survival into the future The mortality rate of babies and young children was very high, and children were considered gifts from the gods, their conception and well-being the subject of many prayers A typical family setup consisted of the head of the household, his wife, the husband’s widowed mother, the husband’s younger unmarried brothers and sisters, the couple’s children, and a number of slaves, mostly women and some of them with children, usually fathered by the husband These children, too, were slaves but could be made legitimate by adoption, often providing a solution to the lack of an heir when the wife could not conceive or carry a pregnancy to term or bore only girls Otherwise legitimizing the children born by a slave to her master was unusual, though possible All members of the extended family were dependent on the head of the household, and this dependency implied that he was entitled to sell or pledge not only the slaves but also any other member of his family whenever he wished to 451 so This right, however, was exercised only in extreme situations, typically bankruptcy Slaves born into a household usually spent their entire lives there, and selling one of them often implied that the family was in dire straits The manner of treatment of members of his extended family was at the discretion of the head of household Certain slaves were not treated much differently from legitimate relatives, and some masters arranged marriages for male slaves, who were very likely their natural sons Polygyny, having two or more wives, was practiced in the ancient Near East While the kings of Mesopotamia and Persia commonly had more than one wife as a way to guarantee the succession to the crown, evidence suggests that the practice of polygyny was limited, certainly because of the expense involved Meanwhile, cohabitation with slave women who were not considered legitimate wives was common and probably standard practice for the average head of household of an urban family Many women died during a pregnancy or in childbirth, and widowers were normally quick to marry again Widows, on the other hand, typically stayed single if there was a male heir If that boy was too young to succeed his father immediately, his mother could act as his legal guardian According to surviving testaments, the wife’s position in these circumstances was elevated to that of “father and mother.” A widow without children, however—most likely a young, only recently married woman—could also return to her birth family’s house or else remain in her husband’s home under the authority of his brother(s) Historians know far less about conditions in the countryside Many families living on rural estates as farmers were slaves They belonged either to wealthy households in the cities or to institutions such as temples and palaces The available information comes largely from institutional archives, and from these rosters of personnel historians learn little more then the basic family setup, which corresponds to that of the urban elites but without slaves: a couple with their children living with the husband’s widowed mother and his unmarried siblings ASIA AND THE PACIFIC BY MICHAEL ALLEN HOLMES Family life in ancient Asia has been difficult to reconstruct based on archaeological records, for customs governing relationships can rarely be determined by the inspection of artifacts and objects Written records, meanwhile, generally address the activities of royalty or of gods and goddesses, likewise revealing little of life among common people As a result, much of what is known about ancient familial attitudes comes from knowledge about the spread and rise of religious philosophies Confucius (551–479 b.c.e.), whose Chinese name is K’ung Futzu, meaning “Master Kong,” exerted extraordinary influence over the cultures of the East In his philosophy Confu-