A new José Stevens Article

Texts indicate that the groom often gave the bride's family a gift, and he also gave his wife presents. Ferguson, , p. However the monasteries with their vast land holdings and political power were gone; much of the land had been sold to urban entrepreneurs who lacked historic connections to the land and the peasants. Egyptian children who successfully completed their fifth year could generally look forward to a full life, which in peasant society was about thirty-three years for men and twenty-nine years for women, based on skeletal evidence. Lotteries were believed to reflect the will of the gods of fate, rather than mere random chance. Some scholars believe, however, that vestiges of the ancient music may be found in the music of the peoples now living in Western Desert oases, and these songs are being scrutinized for their possible origins.