In ancient Mesopotamia, women had limited authority over their personal affairs, because they were

constrained by patriarchal social norms and legal structures. Women depended on their social status from the
family and were under the authority of men. The legal codes of Ur-Nammu and Hammurabi, prominent legal
texts in Mesopotamia, reflected the prevailing gender hierarchy (ціле списане women, although having played
such an essential role in ancient societies, were treated as mere property while men held all the power) It
should be noted that, throughout Mesopotamian history women had the right to conduct legal transactions.
They engaged in trade, lending and borrowing, and acquired property.1

Regarding women's rights in ancient Egypt, they were ahead of their time in many ways primarily because
they had equal rights with men. Women had many legal and economics rights, special social status in marriage
and family life and they could even attain the high rank of supreme ruler of Egypt.
All landed property descended in the female line, from mother to daughter, on the assumption, perhaps, that
maternity is a matter of fact, paternity a matter of opinion. A woman was entitled to administer her own
property and dispose of it as she wished. She could buy, sell, be a partner in legal contracts, be executor in
wills and witness to legal documents, bring an action at court, and adopt children in her own name. An ancient
Egyptian woman was legally capax [competent, capable

The position of women and their rights in ancient Greece is interesting, as their rights were different depending
on the territory in which they lived. In Athens, women could not vote in public affairs and participate in
public life, inherit or own land. In society, there was a prevailing belief that a woman's primary
role and purpose should be centered around the home. Her crucial responsibilities
included nurturing and educating children, aligning with the accepted societal values of
that time. Men held all positions of power and authority, and women were often treated
as property or objects to be controlled. Unlike women in other parts of ancient Greece,
Spartan women had more rights. They had to do physical training like men, were permitted to
own land, and could drink wine.2 Indeed Gorgo Queen of Sparta and wife of Leonindas is quoted
to have said when asked “Why are you Spartan women the only ones who can rule men?”
“Because we are also the only ones who give birth to men.”
3

4. Ancient Rome:

Ancient Rome was a patriarchal society in which men played the main role instead, women were not
considered equal citizens whose legal rights were limited. The law prohibited women from voting,
standing for public office, serving in most civic priesthoods or serving in any capacity in the Roman military.
4
In the Early Republic, women were always under the legal control of some man; her father, her husband, or
1
Mesopotamian Women (Chapter 2) - Women's Writing of Ancient Mesopotamia. Cambridge
Core. 2017.

2
Cartwright, M. (2016). Women in ancient Greece. Retrieved 10 July 2019, from
https://www.ancient.eu/article/927/women-in-ancient-greece/.

3
DiPrimio P. Ancient Sparta. Hockessin, Del : Mitchell Lane Publishers, 2013, p. 25
4
A. N. Sherwin-White, Roman Citizenship (Oxford University Press, 1979), pp. 211 and 268
Frier, pp. 31–32, 457.
her legal guardian (the tutela mulierum perpetua, usually a relative) who was required to provide his formal
approval for certain of her legal acts, usually involving transfers of property.5

5
Smith, Bonnie G (2008). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History: 4 Volume Se. London,
UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 422–425. ISBN 978-0-19-514890-9.