Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Nicholas Stenslie
Engl 250
March 2, 2017
The West is commonly known for being the roots of its own modern day values, yet
many people dont know about the progressive roots in ancient Egypt. Khaled Diab informs his
audience about how progressive Ancient Egyptians were compared to ancient Western
civilizations in the article The Egyptian Roots of Feminism through the use of historical facts,
his own reputation, and choosing specific words that have a connotation to fit the narrative. By
using multiple techniques to persuade the reader, Khaled Diab is able to inform his audience
One of the most blunt ways of persuading people is with facts. Khaled Diab uses
historical facts to rationally prove that ancient Egypt was more progressive than the ancient
Western civilizations. In the section Cradle of Gender Equality Diab notes that women in the
ancient West were not allowed to own property, yet women in modern Middle Eastern countries
are allowed to own the lion shares of the kingdoms wealth. This is a notable comparison due
to the fact that women in Middle Eastern countries have more freedoms compared to the
women of ancient Greece. In ancient western civilization women were considered objects.
They are in the care of their fathers until they are married off and then become under the care
of their husbands Diab writes. The fact that the women were always considered under the care
of a man shows how women in the ancient West had no rights. The section labeled the Sparta
Exception talks about how Sparta was the only western civilization that allowed women to own
property, yet the women of Sparta were blamed for the downfall of Sparta. This proves that
Stenslie 2
women can handle the task that a man would normally take care in Western civilization. The
women of Sparta were blamed for the downfall Sparta, even though there was no direct
causation. This proves the intolerance that women faced in western civilization. ancient Egypts
culture allowed women to pursue a career path that they choose, this is stated in the third
paragraph in the section Reversing the Common Practice. This is very progressive for an
ancient civilization, because women werent allowed to pursue the career that they choose until
very recently in western history. The situation of Agnodice was referenced in the second
paragraph of the section Reversing the Common Practice. It talked about how Agnodice had to
flee to Alexandria to study medicine, showing that it was against norms and essentially outlawed
for women to better themselves in order to serve the people, yet during the same time female
doctors were well respected in ancient Egypt. Throughout history, women in ancient Egypt have
The best way to learn about a topic is to listen to someone who knows what they are
talking about. By restating his accolades, quoting official sources, and providing links to other
articles, Khaled Diab proves that his word is trustworthy and carries weight. Diab presents a
professional photo of himself at the beginning of his article. The black and white photo gives the
impression that he is very educated and professional in what he talks about. His picture also
gives a face to the words in the article, providing a more accountable, hence trustworthy feeling
to the entry. By restating at the beginning and the end of this article that he is an award-winning
Egyptian-Belgian journalist, he gives his voice weight, saying that he has already been
acknowledged and given an accolade by an organization, so you dont have any reason to
doubt what he is saying. Khaled Diab also links other articles such as Intimate Enemies: Living
with Israelis and Palestinians in the Holy Land that he is well known for. He links this article to
show that he is an experienced journalist that is well versed in the area of the Middle East.
Throughout the article Khaled Diab references other professionals, such as Professor of
Stenslie 3
Egyptology Janet Johnson. She is a professor with special interests include ancient Egyptian
women, she is referenced in the section Spartan Exception in the sixth paragraph. By
referencing other established people Diab shows that he has done extensive research, and that
even if you dont trust his word, listen to the other professionals who do this for a living. By
having multiple sources and many reasons to believe Khaled Diab he successfully proves that
Word choice is a persuasive tool when trying to persuade people in that you can
subconsciously influence a reader with words with specific words with connotation. Through the
use of words with negative connotation when regarding the ancient West but using words with a
positive connotation when referring ancient Egypt, Diab presents an good vs evil narrative to
promote ancient egyptian progressivism. In the first paragraph of Reversing the Common
Practice of Mankind he references a time when a Greek traveler came to ancient Egypt and
was in a state of dismay when he saw the rights that women had. By using the word dismay
which is a negative connotation for disbelief when describing the attitude of the Greek traveler,
Diab enforces the concept that the ancient West was not pro feminism. Diab says that gender
equality is some alien Western import in the section Reversing the Common Practice of
Mankind. Choosing to refer to the ancient West as alien he is giving an illegal, foreign, and
dangerous aura to the civilization. In doing this Diab is giving the title of them in the us vs
them mentality to the West. In the last paragraph he uses post-colonial societies when
referring to some eastern civilization. By using this term he is giving the implied meaning that
these civilizations were abused, which some countries did do, by Western expansion. By doing
this Diab is promoting eastern culture over Western culture. In the fourth paragraph of the
section Spartan Exception, he uses the word entitled when referring to the civil duties of
women. By doing this he is giving the image that in ancient Egypt women had a right that they
should alway have, but is not always present, promoting the idea that Egypt was good
Stenslie 4
because of its progressive policies. When talking about marriage Diab says In their private
lives, they had the right to choose their partner freely. By choosing to use the word right, he
gives a connotative meaning that women were born with this and should be allowed to have
this, the right to choose who to marry. Since he is implying that this is possible in ancient Egypt
but not in the ancient West he is promoting that the east is better than the west because of the
rights that the women had. In the third paragraph of Reversing the Common Practice of
Mankind Diab says this, The top job of all, that of pharaoh, who was regarded as both human
and divine, was mostly off bounds to women, with some notable exceptions, such as the
amazingly accomplished Hatshepsut, Nefertiti and Cleopatra. by using the words amazingly
accomplished when referring to these people he is painting them as heros that should be
admired and looked up to, they are the champions of gender equality because they were
pharaohs. By painting these women as heroic idols Diab is promoting the progressivism of
ancient Egypt. Diab successfully plants the sub conscious seeds of the idea the ancient West is
to be seen in a negative way while the ancient Eygpt is viewed in a positive way in order to
Diab informs his audience about how pro female rights that the ancient egyptians had
compared to ancient Western civilizations through the article The Egyptian Roots of Feminism
by using historical facts, Diabs reputation as being an expert on the topic on women's rights in
ancient Egypt, and choosing specific words that have a connotation to fit the narrative. Diab
does a good job explaining why ancient Egypt was more progressive civilization than ancient
Western civilization, but I think the only practical use for this information would be a true or false
question on a fifth grade geography test to see if the students have been paying attention in
class. Even though I thought that this article was like a circle, in that it has no point, he did use
certain tools to successfully to try to persuade the reader why ancient Egypt was more
Work Cited
Diab, Khaled. "The Egyptian Roots of Feminism." Egypt | Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera, 03 Feb. 2017.