Identify and explain two similarities between the status of women under islam during the seventh and eighth centuries CE and the status of women in a Greek city-state and/or Achaemenid (persian) Empire during the fifth and fourth centuries BCE

Women enjoyed broad economic rights and had a very high educational level.

Explanation:

1. Women enjoyed broad economic rights.

In all three cultures, women often exercised economic independence from their husbands and had the right to own and inherit property. Next, we will observe some peculiarities of each one:

Early Islam (7th-8th centuries CE) : During this time, women had a much higher economic status than in later centuries. According to Islamic Law, women could freely manage their finances and in marriage contracts they had an advantage, since the suitor was obliged to pay a dowry to her rather than to her family, as was the custom of other cultures.

Many women managed to consolidate great economic power. For example, there are testimonies of upper-class women who would invest in land (In present day Iraq). Likewise, some stood out for their commercial skills, as is the case of Muhammad's (Founder of Islam) wives.

Classical Sparta (5th-4th centuries BCE) : Unlike their Athenian counterparts, Spartan women had all economic freedoms. Even the law would encourage them to take care of the land, a fact that would reinforce their economic independence. On the other hand, they would inherit the assets of their parents on equal terms as their brothers.

Achaemenid Empire (5th-4th centuries BCE) : A remarkable fact of this culture is that women could exercise leadership over certain economic activities, who did it were called arashshara (chief) and had both men and other women as subordinates.

2. Women had a very high educational level.

In these cultures women excelled in both learning and scholarship of a wide variety of disciplines, which allowed them to enjoy great reverence in their communities.

Early Islam (7th-8th centuries CE) : Islam commands its faithful to cultivate intellectual virtues. For that reason, Muhammad and his sucessors encouraged the education of all people without distinction of gender or social status.

Some women became sources of religious authority because of their high theological knowledge. This is the case of Ayesha bint and Ali bin Muhammed, a woman who lived during the eighth century, who stood out as a great scholar of the Koran and the life of prophets.

However, women also excelled in secular knowledge. Many of them gained notoriety in areas such as medicine and jurisprudence. In the latter, some served as advisors to the caliphs.

Classical Sparta (5th-4th centuries BCE) : Sparta was the only Greek state that had an education system that did not discriminate against women. Even, they were better prepared academically and artistically than men, because they were only trained for war.

Achaemenid Empire (5th-4th centuries BCE) : Like Islam, Zoroastrianism (the most important religion in the Empire) encouraged its followers to seek knowledge. Women, in particular, had a very high educational level and were also trained in physical skills.