Did ancient Egyptian royals sometimes marry their siblings?

Question

I heard that Cleopatra at one time was married to her brother. Did she have s*x with him?

Is it true that this was the royal practice during a period of ancient Egypt? When the brother and sister married, they they actually have s*x?

Was it just the royals or did average people in Egypt do this to?

What do you think the risk of birth defects was for these couples?

Answer 1

In many societies, royals have married within their own family.  As the representation of their god on earth, who else would be suitable was the thought in many cases.  It's found around the world, but in most of those cultures it was NOT OK for anyone else to intermarry.  Even then they knew that led to birth defects.

Answer 2

To keep their blood lines pure and outsiders out.

Also, so many babies died at birth or early in life, so I guess those with defects did not last that long.

Answer 3

Yes, it was traditional in ancient Egypt and other ancient societies for siblings or other family members to marry.  Sometimes this marriage was symbolic or religious; sometimes it was physical.  Sometimes concubines or maids could "stand-in" for the wife and bear children; some royalty were the result of incest.

It's impossible to say for sure, or to accurately judge the birth defects of the children in general, without taking a look at a specific individual.

Answer 4

The intermarriage of royals into their own family is and always has been extremely popular. Even today many of the family members are distantly related to one another.

Some Egyptian Pharaohs married their sisters; in such cases we find a special combination between endogamy and polygamy. Normally the son of the old ruler and the old ruler's oldest (half-)sister became the new ruler. Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XIII, married and named co-rulers of ancient Egypt following their father's death, were brother and sister. Not only this, but all rulers of the Ptolemaic dynasty from Ptolemy II on engaged in inbreeding among brothers and sisters, so as to keep the Ptolemaic blood "pure".

The royal and noble families of Europe have inbred considerably as a result of royal intermarriage; the most discussed instances of inbreeding relate to European monarchies. Examples abound in every royal family; in particular, the ruling dynasties of Spain and Portugal were in the past very inbred. Several Habsburgs, Bourbons and Wittelsbachs married aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. Even in the British royal family, which is very moderate in comparison, there has scarcely been a monarch in 300 years who has not married a (near or distant) relative. Indeed, Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh are second cousins once removed, both being descended from King Christian IX of Denmark. They are also third cousins as great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. European monarchies tried to avoid brother-sister marriages, though Jean V of Armagnac is a notable exception.

Answer 5

Apparently, it was quite common among the Egyptian royal family, but not the general population. It did lead to defects in the family, hence, for instance, Tutankhamen's apparently deformed spine. And yes, Cleopatra was at least promised to her brother. I don't know if she had s*x with him - they forgot to record it in their diaries if they did!

Answer 6

Some controversy on this, as 'my sister' could also mean 'my love.'  (Did Reagan really marry his mother, though he called Nancy 'Mommy?')