Women's Access to Political Power in Ancient Egypt And
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WOMEN’S ACCESS TO POLITICAL POWER IN ANCIENT EGYPT AND IGBOLAND: A CRITICAL STUDY A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by Antwanisha V. Alameen January 2013 Examining Committee Members: Dr. Molefi Kete Asante, Advisory Chair, African American Studies Dr. Ama Mazama, African American Studies Dr. Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon, Theater Dr. Adisa Alkebulan, External Member, San Diego State University i Copyright By Antwanisha Alameen 2012 All Rights Reserved ii ABSTRACT This is an Afrocentric examination of women’s use of agency in Ancient Egypt and Igboland. Most histories written on Kemetic women not only disconnect them from Africa but also fail to fully address the significance of their position within the political spiritual structure of the state. Additionally, the presence of matriarchy in Ancient Egypt is dismissed on the basis that patriarchy is the most visible and seemingly the most dominant form of governance. Diop contended that matriarchy was one of the key factors that connected Ancient Egypt with other parts of Africa which is best understood as the Africa’s cultural continuity theory. My research analyzes the validity of his theory by comparing how Kemetic women exercised agency in their political structure to how Igbo women exercised political agency. I identified Igbo women as a cultural group to be compared to Kemet because of their historical political resistance in their state during the colonial period. However, it is their traditional roles prior to British invasion that is most relevant to my study. I define matriarchy as the central role of the mother in the social and political function of societal structures, the political positions occupied by women that inform the decisions of the state and the inclusion of female principles within the religious-political order of the nation. Matriarchy as a critical framework was used to identify how Kemetic women and Igbo women accessed political power by means of motherhood, political leadership, and spiritual authority. The findings of this study show that Igbo women and Ancient Egyptian women were integral to the political operation of their states. Furthermore, the results indicate that Ancient Egypt and Igboland shared cultural commonalities as it relates to the roles that women occupied as spiritual specialists, political leaders and mothers. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to first thank the Creator, the most High, the Architect of all things for giving me the strength to get through this entire process which began prior to me writing this dissertation. This dissertation only marks a milestone in a long journey that still awaits me. Thank you for giving me purpose and providing me with the tools to be of service to others. Without your guidance and blessings in my life, I could not have accomplished this great feat. I put you above all and I love you above all! I would like to thank my ancestors for your resilience and strength, particularly my ancestors that survived the torturous duration of enslavement in the United States of America. I will never forget. I also want to thank my great-great grandmother Minnie Boyd that sacrificed so much for her family by cleaning the homes of wealthy white people so that her unborn great-great granddaughter could have a chance to be born and eventually continue the struggle for African liberation. Your strength is now a part of me! I would like to thank my parents, Assadiq Alameen and Monique Raymond, for all the sacrifices that you made to ensure that my brothers and I had what we needed to become healthy, strong willed adults. Your love is what has pushed me through for all of these years. I want to thank my brother Antwan Alameen for being one of my best friends and being a listening ear. I would like to thank Musiyua Alameen for being a loving little brother and being one of my motivations to keep pushing forward. I would like to thank all my family members for all your prayers, love and support throughout my life and my academic career particularly my grandmother Joyce Ann and my great aunt Nana. I would like to thank all the women whom I consider my best friends for being my line of iv support. I am truly blessed to be surrounded by such loving and supportive people; I love you all so dearly. I am very grateful to my mentors that molded me very early on, Dr. Shirley Weber and Dr. Adisa Alkebulan. Dr. Alkebulan, thank you for serving on my dissertation committee. I am so appreciative of all that you have been to me ever since I was an undergraduate student; your guidance has been invaluable. Dr. Molefi Asante, thank you for serving as my advisor and showing me that you believed in my work. Thank you for your scholarship and contribution to the discipline of Africology; it has truly helped me to become a better person. I would further like to thank Dr. Ama Mazama and Dr. Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon for serving as my committee members and giving me so much intellectual insight which has contributed to my work in many ways. Last but not least, to my husband and my best friend Dwayne Shavers, thank you so much for walking with me every step of the way during this doctoral process. You have been my rock since day one and I am truly grateful for all that you have done to help me get to this point. When I was down and felt like quitting, it was you that made me believe that I was capable of achieving my dreams. I do not know how I would have done this thing without your support. I love you with all me, always and forever! Ashe v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………...iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………v CHAPTERS 1. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………..1 Statement of Problem …………………………………………......1 Rational ……………………………………………………...........2 Propose of Study…………………………………………………..4 Research Questions………………………………………………..6 2. LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………….....7 Comparative Studies on African Societies………………………….7 Women in African history…………………………………………11 Women in Ancient Egypt history……………………….................23 Women in Igbo history…………………………………………….29 3. METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS………………………...39 Afrocentricity………………………………………………………39 Concepts of Powers from the African Worldview…………………44 Definition of Terms…………………………………………...........48 Specific Procedures………………………………………………...49 4. WOMEN’S ACCESS TO POLITICAL POWER IN ANCIENT EGYPT…………………………………………………….50 Historical Background……………………………………………51 Spiritual Authority………………………………………………..68 Political Leadership ………………………………………...........88 Motherhood……………………………………………………..114 Conclusion ………………………………………………...........126 vi 5. WOMEN’S ACCESS TO POLITICAL POWER IN IGBOLAND………………………………………………………………130 Historical Background……………………………………………..133 Spiritual Authority…………………………………………………145 Political Leadership ……………………………………………….160 Motherhood………………………………………………………..175 Conclusion ………………………………………………...............199 6. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF WOMEN’S POLITICAL POWER IN ANCIENT EGYPT AND IGBOLAND………………………………202 The Function of the Female Principle in Kemetic and Igbo Spiritual Systems …………………………………………….........203 The Role of Women in the Political Process of Kemet and Igboland……………………………………………………………209 The Significance of ‘The Mother’ within Kemet and Igbo Society……………………………………………………………..216 Diop’s Theory on Africa’s Cultural Continuity and Matriarchy…………………………………………………………223 The Woman’s Place in African Historiography…………...............230 Conclusion………………………………………………................233 7. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………….......235 REFERENCES CITED…………………………………………………….244 vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Statement of the Problem Scholarship written on the history of ancient African societies tends to focus primarily on male contributions as the main influence to the development of civilizations while minimizing the role of women. Since the lack of research on women also impacts the lack of knowledge about the roles of women in African societies- one is presented with a double-edged sword. It means that we have to uncover the information about African women that represents their experience historically and contemporarily. The assumption is that African women were more fundamental to the operation of African societies than the literature in African studies suggest. One can surmise that utilizing a Eurocentric framework of African history helped scholars produce male-centered works, that is, working out of a context where men are valued over women meant that the scholars regardless of gender would produce male- centered works. One could say, however, that among the most liberal and progressive academic fields when it comes to works on or about women has been Africana Studies. That is not saying very much when it comes to the prevailing conditions and attitudes but it does represent an attempt on the part of the discipline of Africology to address this serious problem. The lack of information about women as key contributors to their communities seems to fly into the face of the work that was done by the pioneering African male scholar, Cheikh Anta Diop. Although Diop was from a male dominated society he was quick to recognize the value of presenting the true anthropology of the African people. 1 As a result, he posited the Two Cradle Theory. Diop theorized that Africa, located in the southern cradle consisted of matriarchal societies while Europe, located in the northern cradle, consisted of patriarchal societies (Diop, 1989). However, one will find that Africa also