• "posing on the red carpet" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: JessAndTheCity (Jessica Erin Higgins) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
  
  

Origins

• The concept of matrimony precedes recorded history. However, the oldest known written matrimony laws were present in ancient Mesopotamia in the Code of Hammurabi. This code defines the concept of matrimony as being a social union between a man and a woman.
  
  

Sex

• In the United States, marriage is defined as a union between a man and a woman, except in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa, where same-sex marriages are allowed
  
  

Polygamy

• Polygamy, a form of matrimony where individuals have more than one spouse, is illegal in the United States.
  
  

Biblical Definition

• A common biblical interpretation of matrimony is that it is a union between a man and a woman that dates back to the Garden of Eden, with the union between Adam and Eve.
  
  

Anthropological Definition

• Cultural anthropology defines matrimony as being a "socially-approved sexual and economic union, usually of a male and female, that is assumed to be more or less permanent."