peoples who met and mingled on the southern plains of the Tigris and
Euphrates, and especially the position occupied by women, which is
engaging so much attention at the present day.

It would appear that among the Semites and other nomadic peoples woman
was regarded as the helpmate rather than the companion and equal of
man. The birth of a son was hailed with joy; it was "miserable to have
a daughter", as a Hindu sage reflected; in various countries it was
the custom to expose female children after birth and leave them to
die. A wife had no rights other than those accorded to her by her
husband, who exercised over her the power of life and death. Sons
inherited family possessions; the daughters had no share allotted to
them, and could be sold by fathers and brothers. Among the peoples who
observed "male right", social life was reflected in the conception of
controlling male deities, accompanied by shadowy goddesses who were
often little else than figures of speech.

The Ancient Sumerians, on the other hand, like the Mediterranean
peoples of Egypt and Crete, reverenced and exalted motherhood in
social and religious life. Women were accorded a legal status and
marriage laws were promulgated by the State. Wives could possess
private property in their own right, as did the Babylonian Sarah, wife
of Abraham, who owned the Egyptian slave Hagar.[26] A woman received
from her parents a marriage dowry, and in the event of separation from
her husband she could claim its full value. Some spinsters, or wives,
were accustomed to enter into business partnerships with men or
members of their own sex, and could sue and be sued in courts of law.
Brothers and sisters were joint heirs of the family estate. Daughters
might possess property over which their fathers exercised no control:
they could also enter into legal agreements with their parents in