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 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. / African American Studies

L’image que la littérature grecque donne des femmes est souvent négative et l’idéal féminin qui s’en dégage est celui d’une femme silencieuse et peu visible. Or, s’il est vrai que la femme a une place assez réduite dans la cité, elle joue néanmoins un rôle important par ses activités religieuses. L’étude, en s’attachant au facteur socialisant qu’est la pratique rituelle pour les femmes, a alors pour but de montrer le contrôle des rituels féminins par les hommes en confrontant la réglementation qui encadre les femmes à leur représentation littéraire. La recherche vise ainsi à délimiter la place des femmes dans l’espace sacré, en tentant de dégager leur rôle et les règles qu’elles doivent suivre (accès aux sanctuaires, funérailles, participation aux rituels) ; mais elle s’attache aussi aux magistratures religieuses féminines. C’est donc aussi la question de l’implication des femmes dans la cité, par leurs activités rituelles, les magistratures et l’évergétisme, et celle de la « citoyenneté » des femmes qui sont abordées. Un volume d’annexes regroupe le corpus des documents épigraphiques –textes et traductions– utilisés dans ce travail. / Greek literature often gives a pejorative image of women and presents an idealised woman whose qualities are silence and invisibility. If it is true that women had quite a reduced place in Greek city, nevertheless they played an important role through their religious activities. This study, which pays particular attention to the social implications of ritual practices, aims to examin the masculine control over feminine rituals by comparing the rules supervising women with their literary representation.The research intends to establish the woman's place in sacred locations and tries to outline their role and the rules they had to follow (access to sanctuaries, funerals, participation in rituals). It also focuses on religious feminine magistrates. It therefore also deals with the implication of women in cities through their citizenship, ritual activity, office and evergetism. A supplementary volume collects the corpus of epigraphic inscriptions, texts and translations used in this work.

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In this thesis I have endeavoured to throw light on both the private and public aspect of the lives of women living in the Roman African provinces from the first century BC to the seventh century AD. Funerary inscriptions reveal that the role of women in private life was projected in a manner which reflected the ideals for Roman womanhood (pudicitia, castitas,fides and fecunditas), even when they clearly came of Afro-Punic stock. In terms of the quality of their lives Roman African women of the propertied status groups (about whom we know the most) had a good standard of living compared to other parts of the Roman Empire, and for example were well-educated in the urbanized areas compared to provinces such as Gaul. Roman African women of the elite also enjoyed a degree of autonomy enhanced by the increased financial independence granted to them in terms of Roman law, which enabled them to function as benefactors in their communities in the same way as their male counterparts, donating money for temples, baths and markets. In return for this they were duly recognized in honorary inscriptions by their communities. Although this public role may appear to be in conflict with the 'ideal' domestic or private role of the Roman matron, this activity was sanctioned by the fact that they were acting in the interests of male family members who were engaged in municipal careers. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries there are a few signs that women were beginning to act more in their own interests, but much of their public role faded with the increasing dominance of the Christian Church which prescribed a more limited role for women. The only exceptions occurred in the times of persecution through the temporary prominence gained by women as martyrs and confessors, although this prominence cannot be said to have advantaged women in general. During the Vandal and Byzantine period we know of only a few women, primarily those with connections to the elite at Rome and Constantinople, who acted with the independence and authority of their class. / D.Litt. et Phil. (Ancient History / Ancient and Near Eastern Studies

In this thesis I have endeavoured to throw light on both the private and public aspect of the lives of women living in the Roman African provinces from the first century BC to the seventh century AD. Funerary inscriptions reveal that the role of women in private life was projected in a manner which reflected the ideals for Roman womanhood (pudicitia, castitas,fides and fecunditas), even when they clearly came of Afro-Punic stock. In terms of the quality of their lives Roman African women of the propertied status groups (about whom we know the most) had a good standard of living compared to other parts of the Roman Empire, and for example were well-educated in the urbanized areas compared to provinces such as Gaul. Roman African women of the elite also enjoyed a degree of autonomy enhanced by the increased financial independence granted to them in terms of Roman law, which enabled them to function as benefactors in their communities in the same way as their male counterparts, donating money for temples, baths and markets. In return for this they were duly recognized in honorary inscriptions by their communities. Although this public role may appear to be in conflict with the 'ideal' domestic or private role of the Roman matron, this activity was sanctioned by the fact that they were acting in the interests of male family members who were engaged in municipal careers. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries there are a few signs that women were beginning to act more in their own interests, but much of their public role faded with the increasing dominance of the Christian Church which prescribed a more limited role for women. The only exceptions occurred in the times of persecution through the temporary prominence gained by women as martyrs and confessors, although this prominence cannot be said to have advantaged women in general. During the Vandal and Byzantine period we know of only a few women, primarily those with connections to the elite at Rome and Constantinople, who acted with the independence and authority of their class. / D.Litt. et Phil. (Ancient History / Ancient and Near Eastern Studies

In this thesis I have endeavoured to throw light on both the private and public aspect of the lives of women living in the Roman African provinces from the first century BC to the seventh century AD. Funerary inscriptions reveal that the role of women in private life was projected in a manner which reflected the ideals for Roman womanhood (pudicitia, castilas,fides and fecunditas), even when they clearly came of Afro~Punic stock. In terms of the quality of their lives Roman African women of the propertied status groups (about whom we know the most) had a good standard of living compared to other parts of the Roman Empire, and for example were well~educated in the urbanized areas compared to provinces such as Gaul. Roman African women of the elite also enjoyed a degree of autonomy enhanced by the increased financial independence granted to them in terms of Roman law, which enabled them to function as benefactors in their communities in the same way as their male counterparts, donating money for temples, baths and markets. In return for this they were duly recognized in honorary inscriptions by their communities. Although this public role may appear to be in conflict with the 'ideal' domestic or private role of the Roman matron, this activity was sanctioned by the fact that they were acting in the interests of male family members who were engaged in municipal careers. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries there are a few signs that women were beginning to act more in their own interests, but much of their public role faded with the increasing dominance of the Christian Church which prescribed a more limited role for women. The only exceptions occurred in the times of persecution through the temporary prominence gained by women as martyrs and confessors, although this prominence cannot be said to have advantaged women in general. During the Vandal and Byzantine period we know of only a few women, primarily those with connections to the elite at Rome and Constantinople, who acted with the independence and authority of their class. / History / D.Litt. et Phil. (Ancient History)

In this thesis I have endeavoured to throw light on both the private and public aspect of the lives of women living in the Roman African provinces from the first century BC to the seventh century AD. Funerary inscriptions reveal that the role of women in private life was projected in a manner which reflected the ideals for Roman womanhood (pudicitia, castilas,fides and fecunditas), even when they clearly came of Afro~Punic stock. In terms of the quality of their lives Roman African women of the propertied status groups (about whom we know the most) had a good standard of living compared to other parts of the Roman Empire, and for example were well~educated in the urbanized areas compared to provinces such as Gaul. Roman African women of the elite also enjoyed a degree of autonomy enhanced by the increased financial independence granted to them in terms of Roman law, which enabled them to function as benefactors in their communities in the same way as their male counterparts, donating money for temples, baths and markets. In return for this they were duly recognized in honorary inscriptions by their communities. Although this public role may appear to be in conflict with the 'ideal' domestic or private role of the Roman matron, this activity was sanctioned by the fact that they were acting in the interests of male family members who were engaged in municipal careers. In the 2nd and 3rd centuries there are a few signs that women were beginning to act more in their own interests, but much of their public role faded with the increasing dominance of the Christian Church which prescribed a more limited role for women. The only exceptions occurred in the times of persecution through the temporary prominence gained by women as martyrs and confessors, although this prominence cannot be said to have advantaged women in general. During the Vandal and Byzantine period we know of only a few women, primarily those with connections to the elite at Rome and Constantinople, who acted with the independence and authority of their class. / History / D.Litt. et Phil. (Ancient History)

Les rituels d’appel à la pluie, du nettoyage des canaux d’irrigation et du marquage du bétail sont analysés et reconstitués à l’aide d’un modèle qui utilise les sources ethnographiques, ethnohistoriques et archéologiques disponibles. Ce modèle permet une approche interdisciplinaire diachronique et dynamique des pratiques des populations actuelles et anciennes et des modes de pensée qui les sous-tendent. Les artéfacts découverts en fouilles sur le site de Huacosmarca sont confrontés aux chroniques et documents de l’époque coloniale et ceux-ci éclairent les données ethnographiques recueillies lors d’observations participantes des rituels actuels de la même zone géographique: le haut Chillón. Selon le rituel étudié, la porte d’entrée pour l’application du modèle peut varier mais l’analyse et la reconstruction s’effectuent toujours à travers les étapes bien identifiées du même processus. La démarche se veut résolument critique de la vision structuraliste et du postulat de la continuité des pratiques rituelles préhispaniques à travers les siècles. Elle est ancrée<p>dans la recherche et la mise en évidence des contingences historiques et géographiques locales, celles d'une zone des Andes Centrales.<p><p>The rituals related to the appeal for rain, to the cleaning of irrigation channels and to the cattle branding are analyzed and reconstituted with a pattern using the ethnographic, ethnohistorical and archaeological sources available. This pattern allows an interdisciplinary, diachronic and dynamic approach to the current and ancient population’s practices and to the patterns of thought that underlie them. The artefacts found in<p>excavations on the site of Huacosmarca are confronted with chronicles and documents of the colonial era and these throw light on ethnographic data collected from participant observation of those current rituals from the same geographic area: the high Chillon’s valley.<p>According to the ritual studied in this research, the gateway to the pattern’s application may vary but the analysis and reconstruction is always done through identified stages of<p>the same process. This approach criticizes the structuralist vision and the assumption of the continuity of prehispanic ritual practices through the centuries. It takes root in the research into the historical and geographical contingencies of the local area, those of the Central Andes. / Doctorat en Histoire, art et archéologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished