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[[File: Pair_statue_of_Nefu_and_Khenetemsetju.jpg|300px250px|thumbnail|left|Statue of a Non-Royal Married Couple from the Fifth Dynasty]]
A cursory glance at ancient Egyptian art shows that they valued the idea of marriage. Couples are depicted together in tombs and among the most popular items found in tombs by modern archaeologists were pair statues, which were meant to portray the tomb owner and his wife. Modern scholars know that the Egyptians practiced a form of marriage, but was it like the modern concept? Much like modern marriage, ancient Egyptian couples lived together, formed households, and were eventually buried next to each other.
====Dating and Sex in Ancient Egypt====
[[File: Hatshepsut.jpg|300px250px|thumbnail|left|Sculpture of Queen/King Hatshepsut]]
Among the vast majority of Egyptians, marriages were arranged for economic and social reasons, but there is evidence that some Egyptians eschewed their familial help to find them a spouse and instead struck out on their own. This is not to say that there was a “dating” scene in ancient Egypt that was anything like what exists today, but there are a number of extant “love charms” that indicate some Egyptians preferred to choose their own mates. Most of the preserved love charms are dated to the Ptolemaic Period (332-30 BC), but one from the New Kingdom shows that some Egyptians loved the pursuit as much as some people do today. The follow text invoked the power of Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of love:
====Marriage among the Egyptian Royals====
[[File: AkhenatenNefertitiAndThreeOfTheirDaughters.png|300px250px|thumbnail|right|Relief of Akhenaten (reigned 1364-1347 BC), His Wife Nefertiti, and Three of Their Daughters]]
The theological reasons for royal marriage was much the same as it was for the non-royals and the process by which couples were matched was also similar. Marriage arrangements were done to keep wealth in a family, or bring more to it, and most importantly royal marriages were a way to cement political alliances. There is a common misconception that the ancient Egyptians were ardent practitioners of consanguineous marriage and that incestuous sex in general was quite common, but the evidence shows that is was almost unheard of among commoners and relatively rare among the nobility, with it happening the most during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties of the New Kingdom (ca. 1539-1306 BC). <ref> Middleton, Russell. “Brother-Sister and Father-Daughter Marriage in Ancient Egypt.” <i>American Sociological Review.</i> 27 (1962) p. 604</ref>
