of Egypt or establishing unions within the royal families
of Greek states.
There were ideals concerning marriage and the fam-
ily, and many Egyptian sages, including one of the sons of
KHUFU(r. 2551–2528 B.C.E.), counseled the people to
marry and to raise up a patriotic and noble generation. In
the case of Khufu’s family, however, the presence of too
many wives and offspring led to the probable murder of
an heir and to division among the royal family. The vari-
ous harems could be sources of intrigue and rivalry in
some eras, as reported conspiracies and plots indicate.
Polygamy was not practiced by nonroyal Egyptians,
including the noble classes, but marriages were arranged
for political reasons among aristocrats, as evidenced by
nome records. Family members, such as uncles, aunts,
and cousins, did intermarry, and the extended nome fam-
ilies took care to keep their holdings secure by regulating
unions among their offspring.
Not all of the marriages of ancient Egypt were suc-
cessful, however, and in such cases divorce was an
accepted remedy. Such dissolution of marriage required a
certain open-mindedness concerning property rights and
the economic survival of the ex-wife. In the dynasties fol-
lowing the fall of the New Kingdom, contracts become
evident. These were possibly no more than mutually
accepted guidelines for the division of property in the
event of a divorce, but they could also have been legal
expressions of the marriage union.
Many documents from the late periods appear to be
true marriage contracts. In the case of divorce, the dowry
provided by the groom at the time of marriage reverted to
the wife for her support, or a single payment was given to
her. In some instances the husband had to give one-third
of the property acquired during the marriage, and in oth-
ers the husband was obliged to provide alimony pay-
ments. The charge of adultery, if carried successfully
against a wife, eliminated all legal obligations on the part
of a husband.
See also WOMEN’S ROLE.
Masaharta(fl. 11th century B.C.E.)Temple official of the
Twenty-first Dynasty (1070–945 B.C.E.)
He was the son of PINUDJEM(1) and followed his father as
high priest of AMUNin Thebes, when Pinudjem took on
the status of a second ruler on the Nile. He predeceased
his father and was buried with his wife, Tajuheret, after
years of controlling Upper Egypt from el-HIBA. Masaharta
installed a set of SPHINXESat KARNAKand usurped a statue
of AMENHOTEP II(r. 1427–1401 B.C.E.).
Both Masaharta and Tajuheret were buried in THEBES,
and their mummified remains were discovered in the
cache at DEIR EL-BAHRIin 1881. Masaharta’s body was
heavily packed and he also had a peculiar BEARD. He was
buried in a cedar coffin. Tajuheret’s face was heavily
packed with linen, a piece of which protrudes from her
mouth. Her mummified skin appears to have been dam-
aged by insects.Masara A valuable quarry site, the modern el-Masara,
opposite ZAWIET EL-ARYAN, Masara was quarried exten-
sively by AMENHOTEP I(r. 1525–1504 B.C.E.), who used
the stone for his massive building programs, conducted
early in the Eighteenth Dynasty. Limestone from Masara
was transported to THEBESfor the temple of PTAHand
AMUNat OPET. The limestone from this quarry was partic-
ularly popular as a facing for monuments because of its
lustrous beauty.
See also EGYPTIAN NATURAL RESOURCES.Masara Stela This is a memorial dating to the reign of
’AHMOSE (1550–1525 B.C.E.), the founder of the New
Kingdom. A QUARRYwas opened at Masara on the eastern
bank of the Nile by ’Ahmose, and the limestone quarried
there was used for temples and shrines in Luxor and
Heliopolis. An official named Neferperet erected a STELA
that commemorated this quarrying activity. The monu-
ment states that captured oxen, taken from the HYKSOS,
were used to drag the quarried stone from Masara to the
banks of the Nile.mastabas Low mud-brick structures with sloping walls
used as tombs in the Late Predynastic Period (before
3000 B.C.E.) and in later eras. The name is from the Ara-
bic word for mud benches. In the Early Dynastic Period
(2920–2575 B.C.E.), mastabas were used for royal and pri-
vate burials. The use of mastabas became necessary at
that time because the simple trenches and shallow pits
once used as grave sites no longer functioned adequately
as receptacles for human remains that had been treated
by the recently introduced mortuary processes. The
increased use of mortuary regalia also complicated the
burial requirements. These religious practices, along with
the custom of celebrating commemorative services at the
tomb, demanded a certain spaciousness of burial sites.
In the Old Kingdom (2575–2134 B.C.E.), mastabas
served private individuals, and the walls of these tombs
were extended and reinforced to meet the demands of
more elaborate funerary rites. The Old Kingdom
mastabas had burial chambers, storerooms, and chapels.
Surviving mastabas from that historical period have been
found in ABUSIR, ABYDOS, GIZA, MEIDUM, and SAQQARA.
When separate burial chambers and chapels were incor-
porated into the designs, unbaked bricks were used for
interior walls. These chambers were decorated at times
and roofed with timber. The mastabas had embankments,
faced with limestone.
FALSE DOORSwere designed to serve as stelae on
which the achievements, honors, and aspirations of the
deceased could be proclaimed for future generations. The
false doors, however, were sometimes actual entrances setmastabas 227