The Theme of Incest

Incest was forbidden in ancient Egypt -- for non-royal personages. The frequent occurences of incest within royal circles was occasioned by the Osiris/Isis myth. The throne of Egypt was passed on through the female line. To become Pharoah, the aspirant had to marry the proper woman, so to speak, to make his ownership of the crown acceptable to the people and to the priesthood(s). Thus, there were many brother/sister and mother/son unions. In the myth, Osiris married his sister Isis and produced a son -- Horus, who avenged his father's death at the hand of Seth.

You find this disconcerting fact of Egyptian royal life depicted as occuring between Rameses II and Nefretiri in DeMille's "The Ten Commandments" (1956), as well. Though a vaguely discernable relationship in the film, it's only implied (and well under the radar screen), without comment by any of the story's characters. I should add that a sibling relationship between the real Rameses II and his favorite queen is still not certain but, if it were so, it would have been considered standard operating procedure at the time.

TCM showed this amazing movie in letterbox and stereo sound a week or so ago. I remember it fondly from its TV premiere on "NBC's Saturday Night at the Movie" in the 1960s. The films doesn't pull any punches when it comes to the concept of a brother marrying his sister. I was about sixteen when I saw this movie -- and the year was 1965.

I can't decide whether to make a DVD copy from my DVR recording or to order it from Amazon. Great movie. Anybody else think so?

Bud
___________________
It wasn't a jet! It wasn't anything like a jet!

If anyone is interested, the subject of Egypt and all of the people is always played on the A&E Channels as well as the History channels.

Getting back to this movie, it's quite confusing to me that this bloop wasn't cleared up when Gene Tierney(Baketamon) was "sister" to Michael Wilding (Akhnaton)
and Edmond Purdom (Sinuhe).

All three had the same Mother and Father. When Gene Teirney told Edmond Purdom that they share the same father, she said that he was a half brother.

You only have a half of whatever when you come from different mothers and fathers.

All three had the same parents.

Back in the bible, these marriages of incest were cursed because of the implications and the blood lines. Many of these royals had children who were,
deformed,(birth-defects) or low IQ idiots.

It kept the wealth and blood line so royal.

HijodelCid:
"Why was Baketamon so eager to marry her half-brother? Why was incest so frequent in Ancient Egypt's royalty?"

Baketamon (in the movie) was the heiress; She was depicted as the daughter of Amunhotep III and the Queen. A claimant to the throne consolidated his legitimacy by marrying the royal heiress. The heiress had royal parentage on both sides of her family. In Ancient Egypt, descent was matrilineal; It was reckoned through the female line. Non-royal incest was not uncommon. In cemetaries before the Christian era, brother and sister unions have been well documented.

In the movie, Horemheb (the son of a cheese maker) winds up marrying Baketamon.

In the history of that period, Sitamun was the heiress. Amunhotep III married her in his 30th reignal year. There is some dispute as to her identity. Some scholars insist that she was Amunhotep III's daughter. Other's that she was his half-sister from the union of his father Thutmosis IV and his step-mother Iaret (King's Great Wife). The latter scenario makes more sense (than the former); Sitamun could have only been royal on both sides had Amunhotep III's father and step-mother been her parents. Amunhotep III would not legitimized his claim to the throne by marrying his own daughter; She would have been royal on one side, not the heiress.

This film is replete with anachronisms. In the movie, Horemheb ascends to power after Sinuhe prescribes Akhenaton a poison - sort of a physician assisted suicide. In history, there were three kings who preceded Horemheb: Smenkhare, Tutankhamun and Ay. How Akhenaton died is unknown, but it is speculated that he died as a result of a plague which decimated most of the royal family.