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Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame 83:5.1 In the early history of marriage the unmarried women belonged to the men of the [[tribe]...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:The_eye_of_all_ur60.jpg|right|frame]]
83:5.1 In the early [[history]] of marriage the unmarried [[women]] belonged to the [[men]] of the [[tribe]]. Later on, a woman had only one [[husband]] at a time. This [[practice]] of one-man-at-a-time was the first step away from the [[promiscuity]] of the herd. While a woman was allowed but one man, her husband could sever such temporary [[relationships]] at will. But these loosely regulated [[associations]] were the first step toward living pairwise in distinction to living herdwise. In this [[stage]] of marriage [[development]] [[children]] usually belonged to the [[mother]].
83:5.2 The next step in [[mating]] [[evolution]] was the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_marriage group marriage]. This [[communal]] [[phase]] of marriage had to [[intervene]] in the unfolding of [[family]] life because the marriage [[mores]] were not yet strong enough to make pair associations permanent. The brother and sister marriages belonged to this group; five brothers of one family would marry five sisters of another. All over the world the looser forms of [[communal]] marriage gradually evolved into various [[types]] of group marriage. And these [[group]] [[associations]] were largely regulated by the [[totem]] [[mores]]. [[Family]] life slowly and surely [[developed]] because [[sex]] and marriage regulation [[favored]] the [[survival]] of the [[tribe]] itself by insuring the [[survival]] of larger numbers of [[children]].
83:5.3 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_marriage Group marriages] [[gradually]] gave way before the emerging [[practices]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygamy polygamy]—[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny polygyny] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyandry polyandry]—among the more advanced [[tribes]]. But [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyandry polyandry] was never general, being usually [[limited]] to queens and [[Wealth|rich]] [[women]]; furthermore, it was customarily a [[family]] affair, one wife for several brothers. [[Caste]] and [[economic]] restrictions sometimes made it [[necessary]] for several men to content themselves with one [[wife]]. Even then, the woman would marry only one, the others being loosely tolerated as "uncles" of the joint [[progeny]].
83:5.4 The [[Jewish]] [[custom]] requiring that a man consort with his deceased [[brother]]'s [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widow widow] for the [[purpose]] of "raising up seed for his brother,"[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_matthew#Chapter_22] was the [[custom]] of more than half the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_World ancient world]. This was a [[relic]] of the [[time]] when marriage was a [[family]] affair rather than an [[individual]] [[association]].
83:5.5 The [[institution]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny polygyny] recognized, at various times, four sorts of wives:
*1. The [[ceremonial]] or [[legal]] wives.
*2. Wives of [[affection]] and permission.
*3. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concubines Concubines], contractual wives.
*4. [[Slave]] wives.
83:5.6 True [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny polygyny], where all the wives are of [[equal]] [[status]] and all the [[children]] [[equal]], has been very rare. Usually, even with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_marriage plural marriages], the [[home]] was dominated by the head wife, the [[status]] companion. She alone had the [[ritual]] [[wedding]] [[ceremony]], and only the [[children]] of such a purchased or dowered spouse could inherit unless by special arrangement with the [[status]] wife.
83:5.7 The [[status]] [[wife]] was not necessarily the [[love]] wife; in early times she usually was not. The love wife, or sweetheart, did not appear until the races were considerably advanced, more particularly after the blending of the evolutionary [[tribes]] with the [[Nodites]] and [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_76#76:4._THE_VIOLET_RACE Adamites].
83:5.8 The [[taboo]] wife—one wife of [[legal]] [[status]]—created the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concubine concubine] [[mores]]. Under these mores a man might have only one wife, but he could maintain [[sex]] [[relations]] with any number of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concubine concubines]. Concubinage was the steppingstone to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monogamy monogamy], the first move away from frank [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny polygyny]. The concubines of the [[Jews]], [[Romans]], and [[Chinese]] were very frequently the handmaidens of the [[wife]]. Later on, as among the [[Jews]], the [[legal]] [[wife]] was looked upon as the [[mother]] of all children born to the [[husband]].
83:5.9 The olden [[taboos]] on [[sex]] [[relations]] with a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregnant pregnant] or nursing wife tended greatly to foster [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny polygyny]. [[Primitive]] [[women]] aged very early because of frequent childbearing coupled with hard [[work]]. (Such overburdened wives only managed to exist by [[virtue]] of the [[fact]] that they were put in [[isolation]] one week out of each month when they were not heavy with child.) Such a [[wife]] often grew tired of bearing [[children]] and would request her husband to take a second and younger wife, one able to help with both childbearing and the [[domestic]] [[work]]. The new wives were therefore usually hailed with delight by the older spouses; there existed nothing on the order of [[sex]] [[jealousy]].
83:5.10 The number of wives was only [[limited]] by the [[ability]] of the man to [[provide]] for them. [[Wealthy]] and able men wanted large numbers of [[children]], and since the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_mortality infant mortality] was very high, it required an assembly of wives to recruit a large [[family]]. Many of these plural wives were mere laborers, [[slave]] wives.
83:5.11 [[Human]] [[customs]] evolve, but very slowly. The [[purpose]] of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harem harem] was to build up a strong and numerous body of blood [[kin]] for the [[support]] of the throne. A certain chief was once convinced that he should not have a harem, that he should be contented with one wife; so he promptly dismissed his harem. The dissatisfied wives went to their [[homes]], and their offended [[relatives]] swept down on the chief in [[Anger|wrath]] and did away with him then and there.
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_83 Go to Paper 83]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 83 - The Marriage Institution]]
83:5.1 In the early [[history]] of marriage the unmarried [[women]] belonged to the [[men]] of the [[tribe]]. Later on, a woman had only one [[husband]] at a time. This [[practice]] of one-man-at-a-time was the first step away from the [[promiscuity]] of the herd. While a woman was allowed but one man, her husband could sever such temporary [[relationships]] at will. But these loosely regulated [[associations]] were the first step toward living pairwise in distinction to living herdwise. In this [[stage]] of marriage [[development]] [[children]] usually belonged to the [[mother]].
83:5.2 The next step in [[mating]] [[evolution]] was the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_marriage group marriage]. This [[communal]] [[phase]] of marriage had to [[intervene]] in the unfolding of [[family]] life because the marriage [[mores]] were not yet strong enough to make pair associations permanent. The brother and sister marriages belonged to this group; five brothers of one family would marry five sisters of another. All over the world the looser forms of [[communal]] marriage gradually evolved into various [[types]] of group marriage. And these [[group]] [[associations]] were largely regulated by the [[totem]] [[mores]]. [[Family]] life slowly and surely [[developed]] because [[sex]] and marriage regulation [[favored]] the [[survival]] of the [[tribe]] itself by insuring the [[survival]] of larger numbers of [[children]].
83:5.3 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_marriage Group marriages] [[gradually]] gave way before the emerging [[practices]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygamy polygamy]—[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny polygyny] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyandry polyandry]—among the more advanced [[tribes]]. But [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyandry polyandry] was never general, being usually [[limited]] to queens and [[Wealth|rich]] [[women]]; furthermore, it was customarily a [[family]] affair, one wife for several brothers. [[Caste]] and [[economic]] restrictions sometimes made it [[necessary]] for several men to content themselves with one [[wife]]. Even then, the woman would marry only one, the others being loosely tolerated as "uncles" of the joint [[progeny]].
83:5.4 The [[Jewish]] [[custom]] requiring that a man consort with his deceased [[brother]]'s [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widow widow] for the [[purpose]] of "raising up seed for his brother,"[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_matthew#Chapter_22] was the [[custom]] of more than half the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_World ancient world]. This was a [[relic]] of the [[time]] when marriage was a [[family]] affair rather than an [[individual]] [[association]].
83:5.5 The [[institution]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny polygyny] recognized, at various times, four sorts of wives:
*1. The [[ceremonial]] or [[legal]] wives.
*2. Wives of [[affection]] and permission.
*3. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concubines Concubines], contractual wives.
*4. [[Slave]] wives.
83:5.6 True [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny polygyny], where all the wives are of [[equal]] [[status]] and all the [[children]] [[equal]], has been very rare. Usually, even with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plural_marriage plural marriages], the [[home]] was dominated by the head wife, the [[status]] companion. She alone had the [[ritual]] [[wedding]] [[ceremony]], and only the [[children]] of such a purchased or dowered spouse could inherit unless by special arrangement with the [[status]] wife.
83:5.7 The [[status]] [[wife]] was not necessarily the [[love]] wife; in early times she usually was not. The love wife, or sweetheart, did not appear until the races were considerably advanced, more particularly after the blending of the evolutionary [[tribes]] with the [[Nodites]] and [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_76#76:4._THE_VIOLET_RACE Adamites].
83:5.8 The [[taboo]] wife—one wife of [[legal]] [[status]]—created the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concubine concubine] [[mores]]. Under these mores a man might have only one wife, but he could maintain [[sex]] [[relations]] with any number of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concubine concubines]. Concubinage was the steppingstone to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monogamy monogamy], the first move away from frank [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny polygyny]. The concubines of the [[Jews]], [[Romans]], and [[Chinese]] were very frequently the handmaidens of the [[wife]]. Later on, as among the [[Jews]], the [[legal]] [[wife]] was looked upon as the [[mother]] of all children born to the [[husband]].
83:5.9 The olden [[taboos]] on [[sex]] [[relations]] with a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregnant pregnant] or nursing wife tended greatly to foster [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygyny polygyny]. [[Primitive]] [[women]] aged very early because of frequent childbearing coupled with hard [[work]]. (Such overburdened wives only managed to exist by [[virtue]] of the [[fact]] that they were put in [[isolation]] one week out of each month when they were not heavy with child.) Such a [[wife]] often grew tired of bearing [[children]] and would request her husband to take a second and younger wife, one able to help with both childbearing and the [[domestic]] [[work]]. The new wives were therefore usually hailed with delight by the older spouses; there existed nothing on the order of [[sex]] [[jealousy]].
83:5.10 The number of wives was only [[limited]] by the [[ability]] of the man to [[provide]] for them. [[Wealthy]] and able men wanted large numbers of [[children]], and since the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_mortality infant mortality] was very high, it required an assembly of wives to recruit a large [[family]]. Many of these plural wives were mere laborers, [[slave]] wives.
83:5.11 [[Human]] [[customs]] evolve, but very slowly. The [[purpose]] of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harem harem] was to build up a strong and numerous body of blood [[kin]] for the [[support]] of the throne. A certain chief was once convinced that he should not have a harem, that he should be contented with one wife; so he promptly dismissed his harem. The dissatisfied wives went to their [[homes]], and their offended [[relatives]] swept down on the chief in [[Anger|wrath]] and did away with him then and there.
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_83 Go to Paper 83]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 83 - The Marriage Institution]]