Amestris a relative from Darius is mentioned once 
or twice from the texts. She are partnered in order to one named Craterus but are soon given up by the your and you may after their divorce proceedings was remarried in order to Dionysius, a city ruler. They lead about three youngsters and you can once the girl husbands’ death in 306 BC she acted once the regent. She reigned because the queen for a time however, is fundamentally killed of the the lady sons. We do not keeps much details about the wedding ceremonies. Really the only lead membership is actually Alexander’s marriage in the Susa into the Iranian princess Stateira a child of one’s defeated queen Darius III. As reported by brand new Greek historians the marriage is achieved into the Persian heritage. “This new bride to be inserted the bedroom and you can seated beside the groom. The guy grabbed their hands and kissed her or him. The 2 ate throughout the same loaf out of dough chopped for the two-fold from the a blade and you may drank particular wine. After the service the lady husband grabbed the latest bride to be household”.
The newest contracts have been sealed facing several witnesses have been including named about agreements
Latest present from inside the Babylonia and other areas not as much as Achaemenid missing certain white for the courtroom region of the marriage associations from ordinary couples. I’ve no evidence your practices described within these records could be same as those who work in Persia but not similarities stayed and you may the information was discussing. Forty-four particularly relationship agreements is actually discover during the Babylonia. The deals will always amongst the spouse and people in the new bride’s family. It start out with new partner’s promise getting because of the girl in-marriage and you will gifts to be made available to the newest fiance and their loved ones.
In the event the partner decides to need a second girlfriend he could be supply the initial spouse a designated amount of cash, and you can she get come back to their home. The new ladies’ dowry could include house, household gadgets, precious jewelry, money and submissives. Regarding wife’s adultery the brand new abuse can be passing.
Most other data files within the Babylonia (and Elam and Egypt) reveal that lady possessed services, which they you will definitely offer otherwise lease. After the death of her spouse, the widowed partner inherited from the dry although she performed not have youngsters. A woman could not try to be an observe throughout the drawing upwards out of agreements, but she you will definitely play the role of a contracting party and have the woman very own seal. In the event the there were college students off several wives, the youngsters of your own earliest wife inherited two-thirds therefore the other people one third simply. This is simply not clear what would end up being the case if a great kid got more than two spouses. If the a woman passed away childless, this new dowry are returned to our home off this lady father.
The household was in fact monogamous but less than particular requirements husbands you’ll wed almost every other spouses and you will were allowed sexual activity which have slaves and you can house servants ( a common routine in your neighborhood)
There were attempts by Darius to codify the legal system but no standard set of laws is discovered. The conquered territories used their own legal system with little interference from the central administration. For example Jewish colonies in Elephantine in Egypt followed their own legal code. Husbands remained monogamous and all property and family matters were settled in the special courts of the Jews. Of all the territories under Achaemenid administration Egyptian women enjoyed more rights and privileges. A husband did not have the right to pawn her wife as security for debts. This practice existed in various forms in Babylonia and even Sassanian Persia. Wives retained their own property in marriage and after divorce. They also had the right to transfer their property to their children as inheritance and could initiate divorce. If the husband initiated divorce he had to apportion a part of the property to his wife. If the woman asked for a divorce she had to return the money she had received from her husband as bride price and could not lay claim upon property acquired jointly with the husband. Sons and daughters inherited equal portions. However fathers’ power over children was substantial and he could pawn them as security for debt.