The Ancient Egyptian Family: Kinship and Social Structure (African Studies)

128 Pages·2008·1.15 MB·English

by  Troy Duan Allen

The Ancient Egyptian Family
African Studies
History, Politics, Economics, and Culture
MOLEFI ASANTE, General Editor
Kwame Nkrumah’s Contribution to Non-Traditional Occupations,
Pan-Africanism Empowerment and Women
An Afrocentric Analysis A Case of Togolese Women
D. Zizwe Poe Ayélé Léa Adubra
Nyansapo (The Wisdom Knot) Contending Political Paradigms
Toward an African Philosophy of in Africa
Education Rationality and the Politics of
Kwadwo A. Okrah Democratization in Kenya and Zambia
Shadrack Wanjala Nasong’o
The Athens of West Africa
A History of International Education Law, Morality and International
at Fourah Bay College, Freetown, Armed Intervention
Sierra Leone The United Nations and ECOWAS
Daniel J. Paracka, Jr. in Liberia
Mourtada Déme
The Yorùbá Traditional Healers
of Nigeria The Hidden Debate
Mary Olufunmilayo Adekson The Truth Revealed about the Battle
over Affi rmative Action in South Africa
The ‘Civil Society’ Problematique and the United States
Deconstructing Civility and Southern Akil Kokayi Khalfani
Nigeria’s Ethnic Radicalization
Adedayo Oluwakayode Adekson Britain, Leftist Nationalists and
the Transfer of Power in Nigeria,
Maat, the Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt 1945–1965
A Study in Classical African Ethics Hakeem Ibikunle Tijani
Maulana Karenga
Western-Educated Elites in Kenya,
Igbo Women and Economic 1900–1963
Transformation in Southeastern The African American Factor
Nigeria, 1900–1960 Jim C. Harper, II
Gloria Chuku
Africa and IMF Conditionality
Kwame Nkrumah’s Politico-Cultural The Unevenness of Compliance,
Thought and Policies 1983-2000
An African-Centered Paradigm for the Kwame Akonor
Second Phase of the African Revolution
Kwame Botwe-Asamoah
African Cultural Values The Politics of Ethnic Nationalism
Igbo Political Leadership in Colonial Afrikaner Unity, the National Party,
Nigeria, 1900-1966 and the Radical Right in Stellenbosch,
Raphael Chijioke Njoku 1934–1948
Joanne L. Duffy
A Roadmap for Understanding
African Politics Mobutu’s Totalitarian Political System
Leadership and Political Integration in An Afrocentric Analysis
Nigeria Peta Ikambana
Victor Oguejiofor Okafor
Indigenous Medicine and Knowledge
Doing Justice Without the State in African Society
The Afi kpo (Ehugbo) Nigeria Model Kwasi Konadu
O. Oko Elechi
Africa in the 21st Century
Student Power in Africa’s Toward a New Future
Higher Education Edited by Ama Mazama
A Case of Makerere University
Frederick Kamuhanda Byaruhanga Missions, States, and European
Expansion in Africa
The NGO Factor in Africa Edited by Chima J. Korieh and
The Case of Arrested Development in Raphael Chijioke Njoku
Kenya
Maurice Nyamanga Amutabi The Human Cost of African
Migrations
Social Movements and Democracy Edited by Toyin Falola and Niyi Afolabi
in Africa
The Impact of Women’s Struggle for Trans-Atlantic Migration
Equal Rights in Botswana The Paradoxes of Exile
Agnes Ngoma Leslie Edited by Toyin Falola and Niyi Afolabi
Nefer African Minorities in the New World
The Aesthetic Ideal in Classical Egypt Edited by Toyin Falola and Niyi Afolabi
Willie Cannon-Brown
The Ancient Egyptian Family
The Experience of Economic Kinship and Social Structure
Redistribution Troy D. Allen
The Growth, Employment and
Redistribution Strategy in South Africa
Clarence Tshitereke
The Role of the Press and
Communication Technology in
Democratization
The Nigerian Story
Aje-Ori Agbese

The Ancient Egyptian Family
Kinship and Social Structure
Troy D. Allen
New York London
First published 2009
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Allen, Troy D.
The ancient Egyptian family : kinship and social structure / by Troy D. Allen.
p. cm. — (African studies : history, politics, economics, and culture)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-415-96156-1
1. Family—Egypt—History. 2. Egypt—Civilization—African influences. 3. Diop,
Cheikh Anta. I. Title.
HQ509.A44 2008
306.850932--dc22 2008014901
ISBN 0-203-89022-1 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0-415-96156-4 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0-203-89022-1 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-96156-1 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-203-89022-6 (ebk)
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my wife Lia, who has provided love, inspiration,
encouragement, advice and unwavering support, none of this would have
been possible without you, thanks for your many sacrifi ces and love. To
my children, Sa’iid, Khephren, Akosua, and Djoser, thanks for allowing
“daddy” to work and complete this project. Also all of my ancestors, but
especially Edith and Hiram Roberts; and to all the brothers and sisters
from my hometown, the city of McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Also this work
is dedicated to all the people of African descent who possessed the intel-
lectual ability to produce scholarly work but who were denied the opportu-
nity. And fi nally this work is dedicated to the memory, life and work of the
African savant Cheikh Anta Diop.

Contents
List of Diagrams xi
Acknowledgments xiii
1 The Egyptian Foundation 1
2 The Historical Context 5
3 The Family in Ancient Egyptian Society 28
4 Description of Ancient Egyptian Kinship Terms 34
5 Egypt and Other African Cultures 56
6 A Discussion of Cheikh Anta Diop’s Two Cradle Theory 68
Conclusion 82
Notes 87
Selected Bibliography 103
Index 111