Amestris a niece out-of Darius is mentioned a few times about messages. She try hitched so you can one called Craterus but try soon given up because of the him and you can after her separation and divorce is actually remarried to help you Dionysius, a district leader. It put around three youngsters and you may just after this lady husbands’ demise inside 306 BC she acted since regent. She reigned as king for a while but is finally murdered of the this lady sons. We really do not has far factual statements about the marriage ceremonies. The actual only real head membership try Alexander’s relationship at the Susa into Iranian little princess Stateira a daughter of the outdone queen Darius III. As reported by this new Greek historians the wedding try achieved inside the Persian society. “Brand new bride inserted the room and you can sat next to the bridegroom. He grabbed their hands and you will kissed him or her. Both consumed about same loaf from cash chopped into the two fold by a blade and you will consumed particular wines. Following ceremony the lady partner took the fiance family”.
The look at this now latest deals have been sealed in front of multiple witnesses who had been and additionally named on the agreements
Contemporary present during the Babylonia or any other areas under Achaemenid shed certain white on courtroom section of the relationships alliances out-of normal lovers. I have zero proof the means discussed within these data could be identical to those in Persia yet not similarities stayed and everything is revealing. Forty-five such as relationships agreements try found in Babylonia. The fresh new agreements are always between the spouse and you may members of the fresh new bride’s loved ones. They start with new partner’s vow to be given the woman in-marriage and you will gift suggestions are presented to the fiance and you will the lady family unit members.
In case the partner chooses to need an additional wife he or she is to offer the original spouse a designated amount of cash, and you will she get return to this lady family. New ladies dowry can sometimes include belongings, household gadgets, precious jewelry, money and you can submissives. In the example of wife’s adultery the fresh abuse is sometimes passing.
Almost every other records in Babylonia (plus Elam and you may Egypt) show that female had properties, which they you will offer or book. Following the death of this lady husband, this new widowed girlfriend inherited from the inactive though she performed n’t have youngsters. A woman cannot act as a witness from the attracting up away from agreements, but she you may try to be a hiring group and just have the girl individual secure. In the event the there are students out-of a couple wives, the youngsters of your basic girlfriend passed on two-thirds together with others 1 / 3 just. This is simply not obvious what would function as the situation in the event that good son got over two wives. In the event the a lady passed away childless, the dowry try gone back to our home away from the lady dad.
The household have been monogamous however, under certain requirements husbands you will definitely wed almost every other spouses and you may were let sexual intercourse that have slaves and you will family servants ( a familiar routine 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.