The Changing Role Of Family In Ancient Mesopotamia To Egypt And Asia

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From ancient Mesopotamia to Egypt and Asia, family has always been the cornerstone of society, shaping the lives of those within its structure and impacting the culture of those outside of it. Family was seen as a key institution in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Asia, with children seen as a blessing and families adhering to strict norms of conduct. The role of family in early civilizations was essential for the development of the world’s most influential societies because it provided a stable environment for the growth of cultures and offered a sense of security and belonging. Family was seen in ancient Mesopotamia as the fundamental institution that guaranteed social stability for the present, upheld historical traditions, and preserved such traditions, customs, and stability …show more content…

When a lady was single, she was trained to obey her father and, later, her husband and her future in-laws. Amy Hackney Blackwell says: "Chinese couples were expected to produce children; a failure to have offspring was considered a betrayal of both living parents and dead ancestors. Sons were the most desired children because they were the ones who would care for their parents in their old age." This establishes that this civilization had exceptionally strict norms of conduct and that reproduction was crucial. They believed that boys had more value than girls and had more of a possibility of carrying on the family line and taking care of their guardians. In the Analects, Confucius states: "To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order; we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right." This indicates that to develop influential societies and put the world in order, they needed to follow rigorous rules of behavior and organize the