Marriage traditions and the stem family in ancient Egypt: a study of marriage contracts, social structure and family life

Gompel, S.M.T. van (2025)

Doctoral Thesis

Research into the nature and use of ancient Egyptian marriage contracts written on papyus from a legal, social and socioeconomic view, as well as into the structure and ideology of the dominant ancient Egyptian family system and its marriage, inheritance and household formation practices, using the comparative ‘family system’ method pioneered in the field of Historical Demography.
Vol. 1. Tables 1-6. Formats and legal clauses of marriage documents. Chapter 1. Aims, method and state of research. Chapter 2. The Egyptian marriage documents. Excursus A: Matters of sanx. Chapter 3. Egyptian marriage and family system at the end of the first millennium BCE. Chapter 4. Marriage, family and households before and after: the Egyptian family system in earlier Pharaonic and Roman Egypt. Excursus B. Sibling marriages in the Roman census. Chapter 5. Conclusion.
Vol. 2. A database of Egyptian marriage contracts in transliteration and English translation, with limited notes.

• Demotic
• Marriage contracts
• Inheritance
• Ptolemaic
• Households
• Social life
• Family system
• Papyrology
• Egyptology
• Historical Demography

• All authors: Gompel, S.M.T. van
• Supervisor: Kaper, O.E.
• Co-supervisor: Donker van Heel, K.
• Committee: Johnson, J.H.; Waerzeggers, C.; Vandorpe, K.; Haring, B.J.J.; Müller, M.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Leiden University Institute for Area Studies (LIAS), Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University
• Date: 2025-06-11
• Sponsorship: The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), in the program Promoties in the Geesteswetenschappen