Identifier: plainhometalkabo00foot (find matches)
Title: Plain home talk about the human system--the habits of men and women--the cause and prevention of disease--our sexual relations and social natures
Year: 1896 (1890s)
Authors: Foote. Edward B(liss), 1829-1906. (from old catalog)
Subjects: Medicine, Popular Marriage
Publisher: New York : Murray Hill publishing company (etc., etc.)
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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than this era. Menes is said tohave been the founder of marriage among the Egyptians three thousand fivehundred years before Christ. I have found it a little difficult to obtain anypositive information as to the character of this early Egyptian marriagesystem, but feel justified in placing it in the history of polygamy, because, ifa plurality of wives was not allowed, concubinage unquestionably was, andthis, of course, is practically polygamy. The fact that early historians speakof the wife of an Egyptian king, indicates the existence of ostensible monog-amy. That those kings at least were aUowed concubines, would inferen-tially appear, from several facts which might be quoted if necessary, butperhaps it is sufficient to state, that Mr. Samuel Birch, the distinguishedhierologist, speaks of one of the early Pharaohs as having married an Asiaticprincess, giving her the title of u Ra-neferu, the kings cMe/wife. Then,again, we may judge something of the habits of the Egyptians at a later
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THE POLYGAMIC FAMILY. HISTORY OF POLYGAMY. 649 date, say fifteen hundred years after Menes, from the Scriptural account ofAbraham, going down to Egypt to avoid famine, filled with terror, lest heshould be killed by them, on account of the personal attractions of his wifeSarai. To avoid this peril he passed her off for his sister. So soon as theyentered Egypt, sure enough, Pharaohs eyes fell upon Sarai, and she was atonce installed as a member of his household. But it so happened that everything went wrong with the king, from the moment he kidnapped this He-brew woman, and when, on investigation, he found she was the wife ofAbraham, and having been plagued sufficiently on her account, he seemedglad enough to restore her to her husband, and get rid of the whole familywithout further molesting them. There is reason to believe that concubinage gradually grew unpopularin Egyptian civilization; for, at the time Alexander the Great penetratedEgypt with his conquering army, about three hundre

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