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Let's do a simple calculation that seeks to explain why Arabian men might have up to 4 wives. Assume: in ancient Arabia, life was very harsh; tribes survived b
by mikhailfranco 2y ago
Let's do a simple calculation that seeks to explain why Arabian men might have up to 4 wives.
Assume: in ancient Arabia, life was very harsh; tribes survived by raiding each other; 100% of adult men would go on a raid; women do not fight; fighting was brutal and merciless; casualties were high; no male prisoners were taken; wounded were killed; then ...
The first raid is inconclusive and 20% of men die on both sides. Now there are 100:80 women to men.
The second raid is also inconclusive, with the same casualties. The ratio is now 100:64.
The third raid is a rout, a total victory. The victors again lose 20%, but all the losing tribe's men are killed, and all their women are taken.
The victors now have more territory, more camels, more date palms and more wells.
The female to male ratio is 100+100:51
Of course, you can reduce the casualty rate and increase the number of raids, but something like that could be quite close to historical reality.
- naveen99 2y agoI would think if the men were willing surrender and change loyalty, they would also have been more useful alive.
- mikhailfranco 2y agoI think they would never be trusted. Clan loyalty was paramount. A man would never think of surrender or betrayal, and even if he did, he would not be trusted, because the victorious men could never imagine such a thing (like Japanese in WWII). Secondly, there was literally no work for men to do, except fight. Another man is another mouth to feed and water. In the small scattered settled urban locations, in the few major oases, there was work (farming, building, digging irrigation channels, etc), but they had E. African slaves to do this, because they could be trusted (no hope of escape; all were castrated).