Start here
Women and Children in the Ancient World
How women and children lived in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome: legal status, household duties, childhood, schooling and the limits of our sources.
Cradle of Civilization
Women and Children in the Ancient World
Family life, education and the women who shaped ancient history.
Childhood, Toys and Games in Antiquity
Dolls, knucklebones, hoops, rattles and board games: what toys and playthings survive from ancient childhoods in Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Indus region.
Enheduanna, the First Named Author
Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon of Akkad and high priestess at Ur, composed hymns to Inanna and is widely regarded as the earliest author known by name.
Hatshepsut, Female Pharaoh
Hatshepsut ruled Egypt as king in the 15th century BCE: her rise from regent, the Deir el-Bahari temple, the Punt expedition and the later defacing of her image.
Roman Matrons and the Household
The duties, legal position and influence of upper-class Roman wives: marriage forms, dowry, guardianship, household management and women who shaped public life.
Schooling in Greece and Rome
How Greek and Roman children learned letters, numbers and public speaking from tutors and small schools, who was taught, and what happened to girls.
Spartan Women and Their Unusual Freedom
Spartan women could own land, exercise in public and marry later than Athenian women, but the evidence comes from outsiders and their freedom had limits.
Women in Pharaonic Egypt: Property and Power
What women in pharaonic Egypt could own, inherit and do: property and legal rights, work, religious office and queens, compared with women in Greece and Rome.
Related topics
More in cradle of civilization
Mesopotamia Overview The land between the rivers and how its civilization began. Sumerian Cities Uruk, Eridu, Ur and Nippur, the first great cities. Writing and Law Cuneiform and the earliest law codes. Myth and Art Gods, creation stories, the Gilgamesh epic and Mesopotamian art. Sumerian History The story of Sumer from early villages to the Ur III state and its rediscovery. Sumerian Innovations Farming, mathematics, technology and legal practice in Sumer. Ancient Crafts and Technology Metals, glass, cloth, concrete and the tools that built early civilizations. Archaeology Methods and Dating The scientific tools used to date and reconstruct the ancient past.