Name one ancient civilization that had women as equals to men?

Question

Only reference I can even find to something like this is the myth about the Amazons in Greece. There is no scientific evidence to reinforce the myth of a warrior-woman dominated society, to date.

Excuse me, I misworded the question; Name one ancient civilization that had women as equals and has survived to the present?

Ah, much better, yes?

Answer 1

All of them. Humans were hunter-gatherers for 99% of human history. Hunter-gatherer society was incredibly egalitarian. Men and women both contributed to providing food for the family and taking care of children. The best evidence we have suggests that they practiced serial monogamy, much as many modern societies do now.

Of course, you're welcome to argue that without a formal writing system, we can't refer to any of these ancient peoples as a "civilization", but I would beg to differ on that point. People tend to arbitrarily define "civilization" as the birth of agricultural societies, but I find this to be somewhat biased.

Many ancient agrarian societies, however, were very pro-woman, particularly before the advent of Christianity. I'll need you to define having women "as equals to men", however. Does this mean that they had equal status? That they had similar rights to property? That women were celebrated in religious traditions? A lot goes into "equal".

The ancient Egyptians would be one good example. Women held a variety of roles in public life. Heck, they were even pro-choice.

Answer 2

The Amazon legend was based, I believe, on the Sarmatioan warriors (male and female) that the Greeks encountered at Troy.

The Sarmatians were a horse culture of the easter steppes of southern Russia. According to wehat we know, which is sketchy, the women were trained as horse archers and were repoted to be fierce warrios.

But I would hesitate to say the culture was dominated by women.

Answer 3

The Etruscans:
""Behind a famous man there's got to be an industrious and ingenious woman."
Nothing could be said more wrong about Etruscan women than the quotation above. Etruscan women did not stand or live behind their men, but next to them!
Examples that have led to this conclusion can be found in the art of the Etruscans, the place Etruscan women had on burial and other inscriptions, the fact that Etruscans were officially described with the names of BOTH parents behind their first name, the description of the lifestyle and position of Etruscan women by historians such as Herodotus and Livius."

The Celts:
"Even though Celtic society centered around a warrior aristocracy, the position of women was fairly high in Celtic society. In the earliest periods, women participated both in warfare and in kingship. While the later Celts would adopt a strict patriarchal model, they still have a memory of women leaders and warriors. "

Answer 4

Wow, Juniper really put you in your place. Too bad you'll somehow manage not to learn a damn thing though, that seems to be what you take the most pride in. Oh well. In the future, honey, do yourself a favor. Don't try to tackle subjects like anthropology, you just embarrass yourself. Intellectualism isn't your strong suit. Crazy, angry nonsensical ranting, that's really what you do best.

And I think by "I misworded the question" what you actually meant was "holy crap, it's been exposed that I actually don't know a damn thing about history and anthropology, but since I'm nowhere near mature enough to admit to being wrong, I'll just backpedal and pretend I didn't mean it."

Answer 5

Of course there was no " warrior women " dominated society, but equal before the law is another matter. Many societies were quite egalitarian, though perhaps not fully equal. No two things on earth are fully equal.

PS To you people who make things up to win arguments; you hurt your cause.

Now Richard did his homework. I remember reading about an archaeological dig is this area in support of the premise of women horse archers. Small, re-curved bows, would be right for women on horseback.

Answer 6

There's no such thing as an 'equal' society, because you'll always have a tilt one way or the other from simple preference. But if you mean equal opportunities/protections, Athenian and Saxon laws would probably be the closest. Still, that's only along man-woman lines, not foreign nationalities and immigrants. Aelfred had a class divide instead, but it was more fluid than, say, continental Europe or Hindu society. Too bad the Normans had to come and eff it up.
"Women enjoyed legal rights under Anglo-Saxon law that they were to lose after the Battle of Hastings (1066) and for many hundreds of years afterwards. Among them were the right to own land in her own name, and to sell such land or give it away without her father's or husband's consent; the right to defend herself in court; the right to act as compurgator in law suits; that is, to testify to another's truthfulness. She could freely manumit her slaves. She could not be forced into an unwanted union:"
Thanks, you folks above me, didn't know there was more! I'll check those out too.

Answer 7

Egypt!

http://www.fathom.com/course/21701778/session1.html

Answer 8

I find it interesting that there has been little mention of American Indian cultures. There are still many tribes that feel the women are the matriarchs and should be revered, respected and seen as on a higher level than men. They are often the ones who make the family decisions, conduct all medical issues and serve as the heads of their clans. There are also indigineous peoples all over the world were this holds true.

Answer 9

Amazons
Queen Tomyris
Queen Artemisia
Queen Boudicca
Queen Zenobia
Queen Samsi
Trung Sisters
not only equals but superiors and there civilizations.

Answer 10

I can't think of any ancient civilization that has given women equal rights to a man that has survived.