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【簡譯】女神伊希斯的禮物：古埃及女性的地位

2022-08-19 09:29 作者:神尾智代 0人讀過 | 我要投稿

A story on a papyrus dating from the 2nd century CE relates that the goddess Isis, bestowing gifts on humanity, gave as much power and honor to women as she did to men. This tale reflects the high-status women enjoyed in ancient Egypt.

? ? ? ? ? 人們在公元2世紀的一張紙莎草紙上發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個故事，這個故事講述了女神伊希斯在向人類贈送禮物時，給予女性的權(quán)力和榮譽與男性一樣多。這個故事反映了女性在古埃及享有很高的地位。

Although they never had the same rights as males, an Egyptian woman could own property in her own name and hold professions that gave her economic freedom from male relatives (women could practice medicine, handle money and make real estate transactions). A wife was entitled to one third of any property that she owned jointly with her husband and, on her death, could will her property to anyone she wished, male or female. Egyptian women were equal in the court system and could act as witnesses, plaintiffs or defendants (as we would understand those terms today). Women were accountable for crimes they committed and would have to stand trial the same as any man.

? ? ? ? ? 雖然她們從未擁有與男性相同的權(quán)利，但古埃及女性可以以自己的名義擁有財產(chǎn)，并從事一些職業(yè)，使其在經(jīng)濟上不受男性親屬的影響（婦女可以行醫(yī)，處理金錢和進行房地產(chǎn)交易）。妻子有權(quán)獲得她與丈夫共同擁有的任何財產(chǎn)的三分之一，并且在她死后，可以將她的財產(chǎn)遺贈給她希望的任何人，無論男女。埃及女性在法院系統(tǒng)中是平等的，可以作為證人、原告或被告（正如我們今天所理解的這些術(shù)語）。女性要對她們所犯的罪行負責(zé)，并且要和男性一樣接受審判。

Married women were known by the title `Mistress of the House' and most women's time was spent caring for the home and children. Her responsibilities would include child rearing (unless she was wealthy enough to be able to afford a slave for the purpose) house cleaning, sewing, mending and making clothes, providing meals for the household and managing the accounts. Even so, there is ample evidence of women tending to chores outside of the home such as the care of livestock, the supervision of workers in the fields (even doing field work herself) the maintenance of tools, buying and selling slaves and real estate and taking part in the commerce of the market place (all of these rights and responsibilities, to this extent, the women of Sumeria and Greece never had).

? ? ? ? ? 已婚女性被稱為 "女主人"，大多數(shù)婦女的時間都用于照顧家庭和孩子。她的責(zé)任包括養(yǎng)育孩子（除非她足夠富有，能夠為此買下一個奴隸）、打掃房間、縫紉、修補和制作衣服、為家庭提供膳食和管理賬戶。即便如此，也有大量證據(jù)表明，婦女在家庭以外處理雜務(wù)，如照顧牲畜，監(jiān)督田間工人（甚至自己做田間工作），維護工具，買賣奴隸和房地產(chǎn)，參與市場商業(yè)活動（這些權(quán)利和責(zé)任，在蘇美爾和古希臘的婦女身上從未擁有）。

The Egyptian Wisdom Texts admonish husbands to treat their wives well since the balance between the male and the female resulted in harmony (known as ma'at) which was valued by the gods and, especially, the great goddess Ma'at, she of the white feather of Truth. Marriage was considered a pact between a husband and wife for a lifelong commitment of equal partnership and companionship which could only be broken by death (which was the will of the gods, not of the individual marriage partners) although divorce was common in practice.

? ? ? ? ? 埃及智慧書告誡丈夫要善待他們的妻子，因為只有男女之間平衡導(dǎo)致才會有和諧家庭（被稱為ma'at），這受到了眾神的重視，尤其是偉大的Ma'at女神，她擁有白色的真理之羽。婚姻被認為是丈夫和妻子之間的契約，是平等的伙伴關(guān)系和伴侶關(guān)系的終身承諾，只有死亡才能打破這種關(guān)系（這是眾神的意愿，而不是個別婚姻伙伴的意愿），盡管離婚在實踐中很常見。

Women were legally protected against abuse from their husbands and, in the documents from a 12th Dynasty lawsuit, a man had to “swear that he would henceforth refrain from beating his wife, on pain of one hundred blows with a cane and the loss of everything he had acquired together with her” (Nardo, 35).

? ? ? ? ? 婦女在法律上受到保護，不受丈夫的虐待，在第12王朝的訴訟文件中，男人必須 "發(fā)誓從此不再打他的妻子，否則就用藤條打一百下，并失去他與妻子共同獲得的一切"（Nardo，35）。

Women, too, were responsible for the happiness of the home, both in life and after death. Women's prestige was high enough that misfortune falling upon a widower was first attributed to some 'sin' he had hidden from his wife which she, now all-knowing in the Field of Reeds, was punishing him for. In a letter from a widower to his dead wife, found in a tomb from the New Kingdom, the man pleads with the spirit of his wife to leave him alone as he is innocent of any wrong-doing:

? ? ? ? ? What wicked thing have I done to thee that I should have come to this evil pass? What have I done to thee? But what thou hast done to me is to have laid hands on me although I had nothing wicked to thee. From the time I lived with thee as thy husband down to today, what have I done to thee that I need hide? When thou didst sicken of the illness which thou hadst, I caused a master-physician to be fetched…I spent eight months without eating and drinking like a man. I wept exceedingly together with my household in front of my street-quarter. I gave linen clothes to wrap thee and left no benefit undone that had to be performed for thee. And now, behold, I have spent three years alone without entering into a house, though it is not right that one like me should have to do it. This have I done for thy sake. But, behold, thou dost not know good from bad. (Nardo, 32)

? ? ? ? ? 婦女也要對家庭的幸福負責(zé)，無論是在生前還是死后。婦女的威望很高，以至于落在鰥夫身上的不幸首先被歸咎于他對妻子隱瞞的一些 "罪過"，而妻子現(xiàn)在在蘆葦?shù)兀ü虐＜叭苏J為，人死后會去的地方）里無所不知，正在懲罰他。在新王國的一座墳?zāi)怪?，考古學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)了一封鰥夫?qū)懡o亡妻的信中，該男子懇求妻子的靈魂放過他，因為他沒有任何過錯：

? ? ? ? ? 我對你做了什么壞事，以至于我走到這一步？我對你做了什么呢？你對我所做的，就是在我對你無惡不作的情況下對我下手。從我與你同居為夫，直到今日，我對你有什么事需要隱瞞呢？你患病的時候，我叫人去請大夫來......我花了八個月時間，不吃不喝，像人一樣。我和我的家人在我的街坊前大哭一場。我用亞麻布衣服包著你，沒有不為你做的事?，F(xiàn)在，我獨自過了三年，沒有進屋，雖然像我這樣的人不應(yīng)該這樣做。這是我為你的緣故。但你看，你不知道好壞。 (Nardo, 32)

Judgement, in these cases, would be made by a priest who would try to discern whether the spirit of the deceased wife was the cause of the man's misfortune or if there was some other cause. Interestingly, the ill-fortune a woman might suffer after the death of her husband was first attributed to the possibility she had neglected some important aspect of the funerary rites, then to a possible wrong she had committed against a god but, rarely, to any sin against her husband.

? ? ? ? ? ?這些情況下，將由牧師做出判斷，他將試圖辨別亡妻的精神是否是男人的不幸的原因，或者是否有其他原因。有趣的是，一個女人在丈夫死后可能遭受的不幸，首先被歸咎于她可能忽視了喪葬儀式的某些重要方面，然后是她可能對神靈犯下的錯誤，但很少是對丈夫犯下的任何罪行。

Tombs depict women at various occupations such as singers, musicians, dancers, servants, beer brewers, bakers, professional mourners, priestess and as dutiful wives, daughters and mothers. Women were always shown as youthful with an emphasis on the female form. In tomb paintings a man's wife, sisters and mother appear to be the same age because depictions of old age in a woman (past child-bearing years) was considered disrespectful to the individual who, after all, would be young and beautiful again after shedding the body and entering the afterlife of the Field of Reeds.

? ? ? ? ? 墓葬描繪了女性從事的各種職業(yè)，如歌手、音樂家、舞者、仆人、啤酒釀造者、面包師、專業(yè)送葬者、女祭司以及孝順的妻子、女兒和母親。女性總是以年輕的形象出現(xiàn)，人們總是強調(diào)女性的形態(tài)。在墓葬畫中，男人的妻子、姐妹和母親看起來都是同齡人，因為描寫女人的老年（已過生育年齡）被認為是對個人的不尊重，畢竟，在脫離身體，進入蘆葦?shù)氐膩硎篮?，女人會再次變得年輕美麗。

Women in ancient Egypt placed great value on personal appearance, hygiene and grooming. Egyptian women (and men) bathed a number of times a day in a soda-mix with water (the Egyptians had no knowledge of soap). Henna was used to dye the hair, nails and even the body. Unlike other cultures of the time (Greece, for example) women could cut their hair short if they liked and many women shaved their heads and wore wigs. Tomb paintings depict the deceased in the latest fashions in wigs, clothing, and makeup. Cosmetics were not considered a luxury but a necessity for daily life and many examples of makeup, perfume and toiletry items are found in tombs.

? ? ? ? ? 古埃及女性非常重視個人外表、衛(wèi)生和修飾。埃及婦女（和男子）每天用蘇打水混合沐浴若干次（埃及人沒有肥皂的知識）。指甲花被用來給頭發(fā)、指甲甚至是身體染色。與當(dāng)時的其他文化不同（例如希臘），婦女可以根據(jù)自己的喜好剪短頭發(fā)，許多婦女剃光頭并戴上假發(fā)。墓葬繪畫描繪了死者的假發(fā)、服裝和化妝等最新時尚?；瘖y品不是奢侈品，而是日常生活中的必需品，在墓葬中，考古學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)了許多化妝、香水和盥洗用品的遺跡。

Although women in all levels of Egypian society continued to depend largely on the males of the family for sustenance and status, Egyptian women enjoyed greater freedoms and responsibilities than women anywhere else in the known world at that time. The cosmopolitan and cultured manner of Egyptian women is often emphasized in tomb paintings and reliefs and it is worth noting that the famous pharaoh Cleopatra, though Greek, adopted Egyptian ways and was noted for her refinement and charm.

? ? ? ? ? 盡管埃及社會各階層的婦女在很大程度上仍然依賴家庭中的男性來維持生計和地位，但埃及婦女比當(dāng)時已知世界上其他地方的婦女享有更大的自由與責(zé)任。墓葬繪畫和浮雕中經(jīng)常強調(diào)埃及婦女的開闊眼光與有教養(yǎng)，值得注意的是，著名的法老克利奧帕特拉雖然是希臘人，但卻采用了埃及人的生活方式，并以其精致和魅力而聞名。

Women continued to be highly respected in Egypt and have equal rights with men until the coming of Christianity (which also brought a marked decline in personal hygiene since it was thought that Jesus Christ would return at any moment and so personal appearance was irrelevant and, further, attention to the body was considered vanity) which preached the inferiority of females to males and held up the example of Eve from the biblical Book of Genesis as the duplicitous standard by which all women should be judged. When Islam was brought to Egypt by the conquering Muslim forces, women enjoyed even less freedoms than they had under Christianity and the gifts of the goddess Isis, bestowed equally on men and women, were forgotten.

? ? ? ? ? 女性在古埃及受到高度尊重，并享有與男子平等的權(quán)利，直到基督教的到來（這也帶來了個人衛(wèi)生的明顯下降的問題，因為人們認為耶穌基督隨時都會回來，所以個人外表無關(guān)緊要，此外，對身體的關(guān)注被認為是虛榮），基督教宣揚女尊男卑，并將圣經(jīng)《創(chuàng)世紀》中夏娃的例子作為評判所有婦女的雙重標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。當(dāng)伊斯蘭教被征服的穆斯林軍隊帶到埃及時，婦女享有的自由甚至比她們在基督教統(tǒng)治下的自由還要少，而伊希斯女神賦予男女平等也被遺忘。