was the couple’s failure to have children, specifi cally a male
heir to continue the family line. In most such cases, however,
the couple did not seek a divorce. Divorce was costly because
of the need to return the bride’s dowry and oft en to provide ad-
ditional compensation. It was also an inconvenience because
it disrupted the amicable connection between the groom’s
and the bride’s families. Th us, couples oft en found other ways
to produce an heir. One alternative was for the husband to
take a second wife, a decision that required the consent of his
fi rst wife. Another was to fi nd a surrogate mother, to be cho-
sen by the wife, who was considered the mother of the child.
Th e most common and easiest option was to adopt.
In the Akkadian language, the word for family literally
means “nest,” illustrating the ancient Near Eastern concept
of marriage and family life: Above all, the family centered on
creating and bringing up off spring, since children were the
focal point of the family and guaranteed its survival into the
future. Th e mortality rate of babies and young children was
very high, and children were considered gift s from the gods,
their conception and well-being the subject of many prayers.
A typical family setup consisted of the head of the house-
hold, his wife, the husband’s widowed mother, the husband’s
younger unmarried brothers and sisters, the couple’s children,
and a number of slaves, mostly women and some of them with
children, usually fathered by the husband. Th ese children,
too, were slaves but could be made legitimate by adoption,
oft en providing a solution to the lack of an heir when the wife
could not conceive or carry a pregnancy to term or bore only
girls. Otherwise legitimizing the children born by a slave to
her master was unusual, though possible.
All members of the extended family were dependent on
the head of the household, and this dependency implied that
he was entitled to sell or pledge not only the slaves but also
any other member of his family whenever he wished to do
so. Th is right, however, was exercised only in extreme situ-
ations, typically bankruptcy. Slaves born into a household
usually spent their entire lives there, and selling one of them
oft en implied that the family was in dire straits. Th e manner
of treatment of members of his extended family was at the
discretion of the head of household. Certain slaves were not
treated much diff erently from legitimate relatives, and some
masters arranged marriages for male slaves, who were very
likely their natural sons.
Polygyny, having two or more wives, was practiced in
the ancient Near East. While the kings of Mesopotamia and
Persia commonly had more than one wife as a way to guar-
antee the succession to the crown, evidence suggests that the
practice of polygyny was limited, certainly because of the ex-
pense involved. Meanwhile, cohabitation with slave women
who were not considered legitimate wives was common and
probably standard practice for the average head of household
of an urban family.
Many women died during a pregnancy or in childbirth,
and widowers were normally quick to marry again. Wid-
ows, on the other hand, typically stayed single if there was
a male heir. If that boy was too young to succeed his father
immediately, his mother could act as his legal guardian. Ac-
cording to surviving testaments, the wife’s position in these
circumstances was elevated to that of “father and mother.”
A widow without children, however—most likely a young,
only recently married woman—could also return to her birth
family’s house or else remain in her husband’s home under
the authority of his brother(s).
Historians know far less about conditions in the coun-
tryside. Many families living on rural estates as farmers
were slaves. Th ey belonged either to wealthy households in
the cities or to institutions such as temples and palaces. Th e
available information comes largely from institutional ar-
chives, and from these rosters of personnel historians learn
little more then the basic family setup, which corresponds to
that of the urban elites but without slaves: a couple with their
children living with the husband’s widowed mother and his
unmarried siblings.ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
BY MICHAEL ALLEN HOLMES
Family life in ancient Asia has been diffi cult to reconstruct
based on archaeological records, for customs governing re-
lationships can rarely be determined by the inspection of
artifacts and objects. Written records, meanwhile, generally
address the activities of royalty or of gods and goddesses,
likewise revealing little of life among common people. As
a result, much of what is known about ancient familial at-
titudes comes from knowledge about the spread and rise of
religious philosophies.
Confucius (551–479 b.c.e.), whose Chinese name is K’ung
Futzu, meaning “Master Kong,” exerted extraordinary infl u-
ence over the cultures of the East. In his philosophy Confu-Scarab stamp seal and impressions, in lapis lazuli, depicting
Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of love, fertility, marriage, and
childbirth. (Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago)
family: Asia and the Pacific 451