This article gives a list of individuals who have been romantically or maritally coupled with a sibling. This list does not include coupled siblings in fiction, although ones from mythology and religion are included.
There are many terms used to describe a romantic bond between siblings, including formal nomenclature such as adelphogamy , specific hyponyms such twincest , or slang terms like sibcest. [2] [3] In a heterosexual context, a female partner in such a relationship may be referred as a sister-wife. [4] A similar incestuous arrangement which is non-monogamous can be referred as sister-swapping or brother-swapping, [5] although this should not be confused with berdel , which describes the situation in which families exchange brides or bridegrooms. [6]
While cousin marriage is legal in most countries, and avunculate marriage is legal in several, sexual relations between siblings are considered incestuous[ ambiguous ] almost universally, regardless of legality. Still, sibling marriage is legally prohibited in most countries worldwide[ citation needed ], with exceptions being Sweden, where marriages between half-siblings are legally permitted. Sibling marriage was historically practiced in ancient Egypt and Inca tribes.
Innate sexual aversion between siblings forms due to close association in childhood, in what is known as the Westermarck effect. Children who grow up together do not normally develop sexual attraction, even if they are unrelated, and conversely, siblings who were separated at a young age may develop sexual attraction. Thus, many cases of sibling incest, including accidental incest, concern siblings who were separated at birth or at a very young age.
The Ptolemaic dynasty, also known as the Lagid dynasty, was a Macedonian Greek royal house which ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Ancient Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Reigning for 275 years, the Ptolemaic was the longest and last dynasty of ancient Egypt from 305 BC until its incorporation into the Roman Republic in 30 BC.
Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler. A member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great. After the death of Cleopatra, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, marking the end of the last Hellenistic-period state in the Mediterranean and of the age that had lasted since the reign of Alexander. Her first language was Koine Greek, and she was the only known Ptolemaic ruler to learn the Egyptian language.
Hatshepsut was the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Thutmose II and the fifth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, ruling first as regent, then as queen regnant from c. 1479 BC until c. 1458 BC. She was Egypt's second confirmed queen regnant, the first being Sobekneferu/Nefrusobek in the Twelfth Dynasty.
Ahmose I was a pharaoh and founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, classified as the first dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. He was a member of the Theban royal house, the son of pharaoh Seqenenre Tao and brother of the last pharaoh of the Seventeenth Dynasty, Kamose. During the reign of his father or grandfather, Thebes rebelled against the Hyksos, the rulers of Lower Egypt. When he was seven years old, his father was killed, and he was about ten when his brother died of unknown causes after reigning only three years. Ahmose I assumed the throne after the death of his brother, and upon coronation became known as Nebpehtyre, nb-pḥtj-rꜥ "The Lord of Strength is Ra".
Arsinoe III Philopator was Queen of Ptolemaic Egypt in 220 – 204 BC. She was a daughter of Ptolemy III and Berenice II and spouse of her brother Ptolemy IV. She was the first Ptolemaic queen to bear her brother's child.
Cleopatra II Philometor Soteira was a queen of Ptolemaic Egypt who ruled from 175 to 115 BC with two successive brother-husbands and her daughter—often in rivalry with her brother Ptolemy VIII.
Cleopatra I or Cleopatra Thea, surnamed Eueteria was a ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. She was queen consort of Syria from 150 to about 125 BC as the wife of three Syrian kings: Alexander Balas, Demetrius II Nicator, and Antiochus VII Sidetes. She ruled Syria from 125 BC after the death of Demetrius II Nicator, eventually in co-regency with her son Antiochus VIII Grypus until 121 or 120 BC.
Antiochus IX Eusebes Cyzicenus was a ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid kingdom. He was the son of Antiochus VII Sidetes and Cleopatra Thea. He left the kingdom in 129 BC and went to the city of Cyzicus, but he returned in 116 BC to challenge his half-brother Antiochus VIII for power.
Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysus was a king of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt who ruled from 80 to 58 BC and then again from 55 BC until his death in 51 BC. He was commonly known as Auletes, referring to his love of playing the flute in Dionysian festivals. A member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, he was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great.
Cleopatra VI Tryphaena or Cleopatra Tryphaena II was a queen of Ptolemaic Egypt who ruled alongside Berenice IV, who was either her sister or daughter.
Cleopatra V was a Ptolemaic Queen of Egypt. She is the only surely attested wife of Ptolemy XII. Her only known child is Berenice IV, but she was also probably the mother of Cleopatra VII. It is unclear if she died around the time of Cleopatra VII's birth in 69 BC, or if it was her or a daughter named Cleopatra VI who co-ruled Ptolemaic Egypt with Berenice IV in 58–57 BC during the political exile of Ptolemy XII to Rome. No written records about Cleopatra V exist after 57 BC and two years later Berenice IV was overthrown by Ptolemy XII, his throne restored with Roman military aid.
Amenhotep I or Amenophis I, was the second Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. His reign is generally dated from 1526 to 1506 BC.
Ahhotep II was an ancient Egyptian queen, and likely the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Kamose.
Mutnofret, also rendered as Mutneferet or Mutnefert, was a queen during the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. She was a secondary wife of Thutmose I and the mother of his successor Thutmose II; Thutmose I's chief wife, however, was his sister Queen Ahmose, the mother of Hatshepsut.
Ahmose-Nebetta was a princess during the late Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt. She was probably the daughter of Seqenenre Tao and Queen Ahhotep I. She was the sister of Pharaoh Ahmose I.
Neferubity was an ancient Egyptian princess of the 18th Dynasty. She was the daughter of Pharaoh Thutmose I and Ahmose, the sister of Hatshepsut and the half-sister of Thutmose II, Wadjmose and Amenmose.
Women in ancient Egypt had some special rights other women did not have in other comparable societies. They could own property and were, at court, legally equal to men. However, Ancient Egypt was a patriarchal society dominated by men. Only a few women are known to have important positions in administration, though there were female rulers and even female pharaohs. Women at the royal court gained their positions by relationship to male kings.
The early life of Cleopatra VII of Ptolemaic Egypt covers the period from her birth in early 69 BC to her accession to the throne during or before March 51 BC. Cleopatra was the daughter of reigning pharaoh Ptolemy XII Auletes; the identity of her mother is disputed and is presumed to have been Cleopatra V or Cleopatra VI, who may have been the same person. During her early childhood, Cleopatra was brought up in the palace of Alexandria in Egypt and received a primarily Hellenistic Greek education. By adulthood she was well-versed in many languages, including Egyptian, Ethiopian, Hebrew, Arabic, Median, Parthian, Latin, and her native Koine Greek.
The reign of Cleopatra VII of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt began with the death of her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes, by March 51 BC. It ended with her suicide in August 30 BC, which also marked the conclusion of the Hellenistic period and the annexation of Egypt into a Roman province. In the style of her Greek predecessors, Cleopatra reigned over Egypt and other territories as an absolute monarch, although the Roman Republic frequently interfered in its internal affairs. Her personal rule of Egypt was characterized by a continued reliance on agriculture, extensive trade and conflict with other states, the tackling of corruption, strategic management of the bureaucracy, and ambitious building projects.
Hecatomnus had several children, all of whom would rule at some point following his death. After his eldest son Mausolus, his other children were Artemisia, Idrieus, Ada, and Pixodarus. The children of Hecatomnus practiced monogamous sibling marriage, with Mausolus marrying Artemisia and Idrieus marrying Ada.
Kanmu's next consort was his half-sister Sakahito. She had been appointed high priestess of the Ise shrine in 772, but upon the death of her mother in 775, Sakahito returned to the capital and married Kanmu.
The number of people embarking on the canoes was 38: two cooks; the chief Pill and Hinaaukekele his wife, also known as Hinaauaku.