Breaking the Incest Taboo

Beginning last century, scholars developed a theory to explain the many royal brother-sister marriages in ancient Egypt. Since these marriages produced offspring, they were obviously consummated (not just ritual), and yet they broke what was considered a universal incest taboo. Clearly, a good explanation was needed.

The “heiress theory” seemed to provide one. According to this line of reasoning, the claim to the Egyptian throne passed down through the female line, from the king’s daughter to the man she married, who then became the next king. Every king, in other words, ascended the throne by marrying the daughter of a previous king. For the king’s son to succeed his father, he would therefore have to marry his own sister or half-sister. This seemed to explain the numerous brother-sister marriages in the Egyptian dynasties.