Amestris a niece from Darius is said once or twice throughout the texts. She was married so you can a man named Craterus however, are in the near future quit of the him and you can immediately after the woman divorce case is remarried so you’re able to Dionysius, a district leader. It put around three youngsters and you can immediately following their husbands’ dying inside the 306 BC she acted because regent. She reigned just like the king for a time but is eventually killed of the the woman sons. We do not enjoys much details about the wedding ceremonies. Really the only head account is actually Alexander’s relationship during the Susa towards the Iranian princess Stateira a daughter of your own defeated queen Darius III. As outlined by the fresh new Greek historians the wedding is achieved within the Persian lifestyle. “The fiance entered the space and you can sat beside the groom. He got the woman hands and you will kissed them. The two ate regarding same loaf out-of money sliced during the two-fold because of the a sword and you will used certain wines. Adopting the ceremony the woman spouse took the newest fiance family”.
Brand new agreements had been close in front of numerous witnesses who have been including called from the plans
Modern supply for the Babylonia and other areas below Achaemenid destroyed particular light toward courtroom section of the wedding alliances off ordinary people. You will find zero evidence that strategies demonstrated throughout these data files might be same as those who work in Persia however parallels resided and what is actually revealing. Forty-four for example relationship contracts was receive from inside the Babylonia. This new agreements are often involving the spouse and you will members of the newest bride’s household members. They begin with the fresh partner’s vow to be considering the woman in-marriage and you will gifts are made available to the brand new bride and you can the girl loved ones.
If for example the husband decides to simply take one minute partner he or she is supply the initial wife a designated amount of cash, and you may she will get go back to their domestic. This new ladies dowry can include property, house devices, jewellery, currency and you may submissives. In the case of wife’s adultery new abuse is frequently demise.
Most other files for the Babylonia (also Elam and you will Egypt) demonstrate that females possessed features, that they you certainly will offer or lease. Pursuing the loss of her partner, the newest widowed partner passed on about lifeless even when she performed not have children. A woman couldn’t play the role of a witness about attracting upwards out of agreements, but she you can expect to act as a contracting team and have now their very own secure. When the there have been people out of one or two wives, the youngsters of one’s very first wife passed on two-thirds and anyone else 1 / 3 just. This is not obvious what can end up being the circumstances in the event that an excellent kid had over a couple of spouses. In the event the a female passed away childless, this new dowry jatka tГ¤tГ¤ linkkiГ¤ täällГ¤ nyt is returned to our house of her dad.
The family have been monogamous however, not as much as particular standards husbands could wed most other wives and you can was in fact allowed sexual intercourse having submissives and you can house servants ( a familiar habit in the area)
There were attempts by Darius to codify the legal system but no standard set of laws is discovered. The conquered territories used their own legal system with little interference from the central administration. For example Jewish colonies in Elephantine in Egypt followed their own legal code. Husbands remained monogamous and all property and family matters were settled in the special courts of the Jews. Of all the territories under Achaemenid administration Egyptian women enjoyed more rights and privileges. A husband did not have the right to pawn her wife as security for debts. This practice existed in various forms in Babylonia and even Sassanian Persia. Wives retained their own property in marriage and after divorce. They also had the right to transfer their property to their children as inheritance and could initiate divorce. If the husband initiated divorce he had to apportion a part of the property to his wife. If the woman asked for a divorce she had to return the money she had received from her husband as bride price and could not lay claim upon property acquired jointly with the husband. Sons and daughters inherited equal portions. However fathers’ power over children was substantial and he could pawn them as security for debt.
