Women and Religion in the Ancient Mediterranean

For centuries historians have delved into the past with only the lives of men as their compass, but what about the women? What role did women have in society, religion, and religious practices? These questions remain crucial till this day, and they demand to be answered.

First things first, the ancient Egyptians’ religious beliefs were polytheistic, acknowledging the existence of thousands of Gods. Their gods were represented on earth by monuments, statues, symbols, animals, and plants, as well as by social concepts. For them, the universe ran smoothly if there was respect and cooperation between the Gods and the humans, and this belief of theirs resulted to the creation of an ideological, social, and economic cohesion in Egypt. Many Gods were represented in human form, in zoomorphic form, or in a mixed animal-human form. The animal forms were probably used metaphorically. The Pharaoh was the messenger and connection between the world of the Gods and the humans. He was responsible for organizing the life and welfare of humans, and for keeping order, called Maat. The Gods were responsible for the creation of the world and abundance. On their part, the people were responsible for living and working. In addition, the Gods were inspired by humans, and they fought amongst themselves. Yet as much as the gods' behaviour resembled that of humans, they were immortal and in every sense superior to humans. The ancient Egyptians in daily rituals washed, dressed, and adorned the statues of the Gods and gave offerings of food, drinks, and gifts, from beer, to bread, to vegetables and so on. Such a meal service was performed three times a day. Moreover, many festivals took place through the year to honour the Gods, mainly in the form of processions. Ultimately, the ideas and images created for the Egyptian gods and religion had an impact on many contemporaneous cultures, as well as on later religions, such as in ancient Greece and Rome.

Women played an important role in religious cults, ever since the Early Dynastic Period and until the rise of Christianity, especially in that of the Goddess Hathor, who responsible for love, beauty, music, dancing, fertility, and pleasure. Goddess Hathor was also a protector of the Egyptian women. Women primarily served as priestesses, the most prominent priestess role was the God's Wife of Amun, namely serving in the temple of Amun in Karnak as the highest-ranking priestess in the cult. Women, additionally, served as singers, dancers, and musicians entertaining the deities. Lastly, many women served as Pharaoh’s like Pharaoh Merneith, Neferusobek, Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, Tawosret, and Cleopatra, and they had the key role in religious practices until the death of Pharaoh Cleopatra and the rise of the Roman Empire.

Figure 1: Banquet scene from the tomb chapel of Nebamun, 14th century BC. It's imagery of music and dancing alludes to Goddess Hathor.

Women played an important role in religious cults, ever since the Early Dynastic Period and until the rise of Christianity, especially in that of the Goddess Hathor, who responsible for love, beauty, music, dancing, fertility, and pleasure. Goddess Hathor was also a protector of the Egyptian women. Women primarily served as priestesses, the most prominent priestess role was the God's Wife of Amun, namely serving in the temple of Amun in Karnak as the highest-ranking priestess in the cult. Women, additionally, served as singers, dancers, and musicians entertaining the deities. Lastly, many women served as Pharaoh’s like Pharaoh Merneith, Neferusobek, Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, Tawosret, and Cleopatra, and they had the key role in religious practices until the death of Pharaoh Cleopatra and the rise of the Roman Empire.

Moving on to religious practices in ancient Greece, the ancient Greeks worshipped many gods, each with a distinct personality and domain of power. Greek myths explained the origins of the Gods and their individual relations with mankind. The ancient Greeks believed that Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in mainland Greece, was the home of the Gods. What is more, the relationship between human beings and deities was based on the concept of exchange: Gods and Goddesses were expected to give gifts and humans thanked the Gods through votive offerings, sacrifices, and festivals. The Greeks worshipped the Gods in sanctuaries located either within the city or in the countryside and the basic rituals were animal sacrifices, especially of oxen, goats, and sheep, liquid offerings, or libations were also commonly made and religious festivals filled the year.

Figure 2: Marble statuette of Goddess Kybele

Mystery cults were a significant part of the ancient Greek religious beliefs, they served more personal beliefs towards death and the afterlife. More specifically, the earliest and most celebrated mysteries were the Eleusinian based on the growth cycles of nature. Secondly, the Bacchic mysteries with basic characteristics the ecstatic dancing, singing, revelry, and even eating raw meat. Thirdly, the ecstatic cult of the Mother, Kybele, or Great Mother of the Gods, the followers worshipped her with wild, loud music produced by cymbals and frenzied dancing. And lastly, the cult of the Isis, more closely linked to the political and military activities of the Ptolemies.

As for the ancient Greek women, religious rituals had the most significant impact on the young and unmarried ones. Specifically, young girls between the ages of five and puberty were selected to serve the goddess Artemis in her sanctuary at Brauron, they acted as untamed animals that eventually would be domesticated through marriage which usually took place at the age of fourteen or fifteen. However, marriage did not require consent, women simply passed from the protection of their father to that of their husband. Women lacked any rights of citizenship and could only be described as the wife of an Athenian citizen. However, a bride brought to her marriage a dowry that was not available for the husband to spend, on the rare occasion that the marriage failed, the dowry was returned to the wife’s father. In regards to religious festivals, young women also had a key role in Panathenaea, a celebration for the Goddess Athena, young girls known as arrephoroi would carry a specially woven peplos robe to place on the wooden cult image of Athena located in the Erechtheum, a temple on the north side of the Acropolis that was dedicated to Athena. Moreover, women were traditionally associated with fertility, and so they were indispensable performers of rites connected with the agricultural year. What is more, the female religious activity was considered highly critical to the welfare of the community since the key role of women was mainly to became mothers and assist their husbands and so they had to be blessed by the Gods.

Figure 3: Terracotta statuette of a standing woman, late 4th-early 3rd century BC

Interestingly enough, despite the extreme social restraint on women in classical antiquity they had a number of powerful female goddesses of the type that was never made possible to Christian women. Demeter was able to retrieve her daughter Persephone, Artemis was a hunter, and Athena had the ability to resist marriage and motherhood, and to provide advice to respected Greek heroes. Aphrodite, Hera, Hestia, and Hekate were also powerful goddesses, fervently honoured and greatly admired by women and men alike.

On the other hand, Roman religion was widely inclusive, comprised of different gods, rituals, practices, traditions, and cults. Romans not only worshipped their own traditional Latin Gods, but often acknowledged Gods from other civilizations and cultures. As mentioned previously, the cult of Isis and Cybele were popular in ancient Rome, principally attracted women, and annual spring and autumn festivals held in their honour.

The role of women in the worship of Roman Goddesses and festivals was a significant part of Rome’s interests and was associated with domestic harmony, virtue, and marital fidelity. Moreover, only virgin women were allowed to enter the temples such as the Vestal Virgins. The Vestal Virgins or Vestals were priestesses of Vesta, the virgin Goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame that indicated the eternity of Rome. The main duty of the priestesses was to guard the fire of Vesta, with this they would be endowed with many honours and rights that a normal female would not have at that time. The Vestal Virgins were highly respected and were free from arranged marriages.

Figure 4: Seated Vestal Virgin, 1st century BC

The Egyptian Gods and religious practices ultimately inspired the Greek and Roman Gods. The three religions were polytheistic, the Gods were mainly anthropomorphic, but eternal, and powerful. The relationship between the Gods and the humans was mainly based on exchange, the Gods helped the humans but required offerings.

The impact that religious practices had on women’s lives was significant. During religious festivals women were allowed widespread movement throughout the city as they left their homes to participate in processions and festivals, visit shrines, sanctuaries, and cemeteries, something that was not allowed in their everyday lives. Moreover, women were free to express themselves during religious rituals, such as sing, dance, and engage in ecstatic behavior, like in the cult of Mother, or Isis. Behavior that was deemed unthinkable for a woman in everyday life. In ancient Rome, the women were the most important priestesses, the Vestal Virgins were the ones that ensured the continuity of the Empire. While in ancient Egypt, priestesses had the honor to become the consort of the powerful God Amun. Women in ancient Egypt, Greece and Roman were deemed partial members of the society, their vital task was to become mothers and assists their husband but, in religion and religious practices men and women were the same, they both engaged in religious practices and festivals, only in religion they were equal members of the society.

In the end, women had key roles in religion and religious practices in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, from Goddesses to Pharaohs and messengers of Gods, to priestesses, to protectors of a powerful flame that displayed eternity, prosperity, and peace.

Further Reading

Dillon, Matt. “Gods in Ancient Greece and Rome.” Department of Classics and Ancient History, University of New England, Australia, Oxford Research Encyclopaedia, 2019, https://oxfordre.com/religion/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-104?print=pdf

Hemingway, Colette. “Women in Classical Greece.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/wmna/hd_wmna.htm (October 2004)

Karoglou, Kiki. “Mystery Cults in the Greek and Roman World.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/myst/hd_myst.htm (October 2013)

Kaelin, Oskar. “Gods in Ancient Egypt.”, Department of Theology, University of Basel, Oxford research encyclopedia of Religion, 2016, https://oxfordre.com/religion/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-244?print=pdf.

Teeter, Emily, Brewer, Douglas. "Egypt and the Egyptians", chapter 6 “Religion in the Lives of the Ancient Egyptians.”, The University of Chicago Library Digital Collections, Cambridge University Press, https://fathom.lib.uchicago.edu/1/777777190168/.

Tridimas, George. “Religion without doctrine or clergy: the case of Ancient Greece.” Cambridge University Press, July 2021, https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/901613496165E373719D3B343E945156/S1744137421000461a.pdf/religion-without-doctrine-or-clergy-the-case-of-ancient-greece.pdfoxfordre.com