The astonishing internal marriage customs of the ancient Egyptian royal family

Cleopatra is a famous Cleopatra in Egyptian history because she ruled together with her husband and son, and some people call her the Queen of Egypt. The legendary color of this queen is not only because she experienced the Roman invasion during her rule, and with her unparalleled beauty conquered the invaders, General Caesar and General Anthony, achieving a new situation where she slept in the same bed and ruled together with the invaders. Political situation, and because she has rich experience in marrying brothers and invaders.

Cleopatra is also known as Cleopatra VII. Her first husband was her brother, King Ptolemy XIII of Egypt, who jointly held power. After the death of Ptolemy XIII, his brother Ptolemy XIV succeeded to the throne, and Cleopatra married this brother and ruled together. It is said that when Caesar invaded the Egyptian capital, Cleopatra suddenly came to Caesar and completely conquered the invaders with her peerless beauty. After that, she and Caesar jointly controlled power in Egypt. Cleopatra later killed Ptolemy XIV, and she and Caesar's son Caesar the younger succeeded him, known as Ptolemy XV. Cleopatra also married Caesar's old subordinate and the new magnate of Rome, Antony, thereby stabilizing his power and the situation in Egypt.

This article explores not Cleopatra's beauty and power, but why she married her brother twice and the Egyptian royal marriage tradition behind her marriage model.

It is said that Cleopatra married her brother at the behest of her father. When Ptolemy XII died, he instructed Ptolemy XIII, who had succeeded him, to marry his sister Cleopatra and jointly manage government affairs. Judging from the old king's will, there is no conceptual obstacle to brother and sister getting married. Looking back at the marriage history of emperors in the Ptolemy Dynasty, it turns out that brother and sister marriage, father and daughter marriage, mother and son marriage, uncle and nephew marriage, aunt and nephew marriage have always been the marriage tradition in the Egyptian royal palace. Cleopatra is first understood by today's readers only because of his outstanding reputation. Many people call this incestuous marriage because marriage between immediate relatives is prohibited in most civilized parts of the world today. Considering that moral and ethical standards have different requirements and taboos in different regions, different nations, and different eras, we may be arbitrary if we use today's standards to ask people of all eras, all regions, and all cultural circles. Therefore, I think it is more objective and neutral to call this phenomenon blood marriage.

Let's list the blood marriages of the Ptolemies. Ptolemy II (reigned from 285 to 246 BC) married his sister Arsino after the death of two husbands, abolished her status as queen and made her queen. This was the first blood marriage in the Ptolemaic Dynasty.

The second blood marriage occurred in Ptolemy VIII. Ptolemy VIII first married his sister Cleopatra II, queen of Ptolemy VI. Later, he married his niece and stepdaughter, Cleopatra III, the daughter of his sister, so that Cleopatra II and Cleopatra III served as wives of Ptolemy VIII at the same time. When Ptolemy VIII died, he handed over state power to Cleopatra III. Could it be said that this was the reason why Cleopatra III was willing to marry his uncle and stepfather earlier? I don't think so, because since royal intragamy was a tradition, Cleopatra III did not have any personal purpose and had to act in accordance with tradition.

Cleopatra III ruled jointly with her son Ptolemy IX. The Ptolemy IX later married his own daughter.

King Ptolemy X married his sister Selina.

Ptolemy XI married his aunt Berenisi III, widow of Ptolemy IX, and co-ruled. Later, because he quickly killed Queen Berenisi III, he aroused national outrage and was killed in a civil uprising.

Ptolemy XII (reigned 80- 51 BC), son of Ptolemy IX. His queen Cleopatra V may be his sister. During his visit to Rome, the queen and daughter Berenisi IV co-regent. After the death of the queen, the people of Alexandria, the capital, supported Berenisi IV as their sole ruler. Ptolemy XII returned to his country with the help of the Roman army, executed his daughter, and returned to power. Before his death, he appointed another daughter Cleopatra VII as co-ruler.

The so-called Cleopatra, who later became famous around the world and immortalized through the ages, was Cleopatra VII. After the death of Ptolemy XII, Cleopatra VII, in accordance with his father's will, married his successor brother Ptolemy XIII and continued to serve as regent. During the decline of the Ptolemy Dynasty, Cleopatra VII experienced hardships and tried many times to turn the tide. From assisting his father in handling government affairs to being defeated by the Roman general Octavian in 31 BC, Cleopatra VII co-ruled power with four kings (father, two brothers and husband, and son) for more than 20 years. He was a decisive politician of that era.

The last ruler of the Ptolemy Dynasty was Ptolemy XV, son of Cleopatra VII and Caesar. Both mother and son died at the hands of the Roman general Octavian (Caesar's grandson and adopted son and later the first Roman emperor Augustus).

The Ptolemy Dynasty was established by Ptolemy, a general of Alexander, king of Macedonia in Greece. Ptolemy conquered Egypt under the leadership of Alexander. Due to the sudden death of Alexander, the Alexander Dynasty gradually disintegrated. Ptolemy changed from governor of Egypt to independent king. His family ruled Egypt for hundreds of years. It is said that the Macedonian royal family did not originally have the custom of blood marriage, so why did the Ptolemaic royal family promote this ancient blood marriage?

The answer is: When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Because the ancient Egyptian dynasty always practiced blood marriage within the royal family.

Before the Macedonians conquered Egypt, Egypt could trace its national history back about 3,000 years. These three thousand years are usually divided into five stages, namely the Early Kingdom, the Ancient Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, the New Kingdom, and the Late Dynasty, for a total of 31 dynasties. Dynasties in Egypt's history prevailed in royal intragamy, which means that the king should marry a woman who is related by blood. Although this system was not so absolute, each dynasty tried its best to adhere to this custom. Now let us select 18 dynasties and examine the marriage situation of successive kings of this dynasty to verify the actual situation of their royal family intragamy.

The 18th Dynasty in Egypt had a total of 14 kings and ruled for 348 years (from 1570 BC to 1320 BC, equivalent to the Shang Dynasty in China).

Amenhopt I (reigned from 1546 to 1526 BC) was the second king of the 18th Dynasty. He married his sister Akhopt II.

The third king, Thutmose I, also married his sister Ahmus.

The fourth king Thutmose II married his half-sister Hatshepsut (born to Queen Ahmus).

This Queen Hatshepsut later became the fifth king of the 18th Dynasty. She may be the first queen in Egyptian history, echoing Cleopatra more than a thousand years later.

Thutmose III married his half-sister Neferula. He made seventeen expeditions to Western Asia, greatly expanding the territory of Egypt. Some people call him, along with Alexander and Napoleon, the three greatest conquerors.

The seventh king was Amenhopt II, who married his half-sister Melitamon.

The ninth king Amenhopt III first married Tayi, who was of civilian origin, and later Queen Tayi asked him to marry their common daughter Setamon. Not only do mother and daughter marry the same husband, but also the biological father marries his biological daughter.

The Tenth King Amenhopt IV was a man who dared to do something. His religious reform was very big, but he failed in the end. He first married a foreign princess and had six daughters. Later, he married his eldest daughter, Meli Tatun, and his third daughter, Ankai Sepatun. Among them, the eldest daughter replaced her mother and was named the "Great Queen".

After the 11th King Smenkara ascended the throne, he married former queen Melitaten. Princess Melita Tatun first married her father and became queen, and later married her uncle and became queen. Smenkara became the husband of his niece and the son-in-law of his brother.

Tutanhamun, the twelfth king, was the younger brother of Smenkala and Amenhopt IV. He married Amenhopt IV's third daughter and Princess Ankai Sepaton, which means that he married his niece and became his brother's son-in-law.

The last two kings of the 18th Dynasty were not of royal blood. They both married widows or princesses of the royal family, but they did not belong to what later generations would call a blood marriage.

Finally, let me introduce the origin of the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu, who was famous for his pyramids. Khufu was the second king of the Fourth Dynasty during the Ancient Kingdom of Egypt. His mausoleum pyramid was the pinnacle of pyramid art in Egyptian history, and the largest pyramid used as a symbol today is his soul home. The Fourth Dynasty was founded in 2613 BC, six hundred years earlier than the Xia Dynasty in China.

Khufu's father, Sifru, married his half-sister Haitafili and gave birth to Khufu. Later, Sifru married his daughter Nefertekau and gave birth to Nefermaat. From Khufu's perspective, his father was both his father and uncle, and also his brother-in-law. His mother is both his mother and aunt, and also his great-aunt. Nefertekau was both his sister and his concubine mother. Nefermaat was the head of government of Khufu's court (equivalent to the prime minister of China). Khufu was both his half-brother and his biological uncle. Such a complicated blood relationship makes it difficult for ordinary people to imagine.

The reasons for the formation of intramarriage in the Egyptian royal family cannot be simply speculated and deserve careful study. Perhaps it can be said that this is a relic of blood marriage within ancient clans. In fact, many groups in Egyptian society practiced blood marriage. This fact proves that the ancient state of mixed marriage and group sex did exist widely. Using anthropological research methods, it is not difficult to draw such a conclusion. But not every system and custom must be inherited directly from ancient times. Even if heterogamy did not exist in ancient times, as Finnish scholar Westermark believed, the Egyptian royal family could create such consanguinity based on its own religious thoughts, cultural concepts, and political needs.