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The matrilineal system was the basis of the social/political organization in Ancient Egypt. As a result, Ancient (and Baladi) Egyptians, married couples live with the wife’s family. Consequently, there is a distinct tendency toward matrilocal residence among extended families. The very same system is to be found in the pueblo communities of Spain.

Living with the bride’s parents is the preferred rule. Even when the young woman leaves the maternal hearth, she settles nearby in a pattern that might be called matrivicinal. That is, the newlyweds try to move into a house next to or nearby the mother of the bride, so the women are rarely separated. Additionally, the children of the family are brought up close to their maternal uncles. A common Egyptian proverb affirms this special relationship between the children and their maternal uncles: “The maternal uncle is (like) a father.”

A matrilocal community generally consists of a number of extended matrilineal families who share the same female line, living in compounds clustered within a narrow area, or scattered about in groups. Each family has a specialty in which it excels, and between the neighboring family lineages, the different tasks are harmoniously divided. Each matrilocal community has its own religious center (shrine), to honor the founding ancestors of their community.

Autonomous food-producing matrilocal communities form a basic sociopolitical format varying from a few families (25-50 people), to up to several thousand. Each family has a leader, or family head, who is responsible for the material and spiritual welfare of every member. He also maintains law, order, justice, and harmony. A number of sub-heads are also selected from each household of the community. The elders of each family lineage settle internal disputes among members of their lineages.

In some regions where people have been attacked by foreigners, which created refugees and/or forced settlements by foreigners, the village community may commonly consist of families of totally different ethnic stock. When not all members of a village share blood ties, the head of the lineage and other elders still lead the community.

The elders, representing the established lineages of the community, form a council (legislative body), which elects a headman from the founder lineage of the community. This eldership assists the headman in the governance of the community. The council of elders serves as a court, helps the headman allocate access to resources (such as land, water rights, etc), carries out rituals, organizes public works, such as co-op facilities and granaries to store products, etc.

The head of the matrilocal community (like the model Ausar) is more of an “overseer” than a ruler. His legitimacy to rule over his people, was derived from following the matrilineal principles, as explained earlier. His main function was/is to link (directly and/or with other spiritual intermediaries) the community ritually to the authority of the local spirits of the land and the ghosts of past leaders, in the context explained below.

The Ancient and Baladi Egyptian beliefs in Animism were also reflected in their traditional relationships between people and earth. The Egyptians believed/believe that land had no value apart from people, and, conversely, that people could not exist without land. As such, all living people must recognize, respect, and coexist with the supernatural residents of the land. The spirits of a place (trees, rocks, rivers, animals, and objects) were identified and placated by the original founders, who arrived and inhabited the land at an earlier time.

The rights of a group, defined by common genealogical descent, were linked to a particular place and the settlements within it, not through “ownership”, but because of their pact with the primordial spirits of the land/site. The spirits, both of family and place, demanded loyalty to communal virtues and to the authority of the elders in maintaining ancient beliefs and practices.

It is therefore that all living people join the pre-existing local spirit population in a new covenant between themselves and the pre-existing local spirits. This covenant legitimized their arrival. In return for regular homage to these spirits, the founders could claim perpetual access to local resources. In so doing, they became the lineage in charge of the hereditary local priesthood and village headship, and were/are recognized as “tenants of the place” by later human arrivals.

Such respect for the spirits of the land is indicative of a people who will not violate anybody or any land. Egyptians, as such, are very peaceful people.