The Role of Women in Work and Society in the Ancient Near East
Ed. by Lion, Brigitte / Michel, Cécile
Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Records (SANER) 13
xi, 574 pages, 35 Fig. Boston/Berlin : De Gruyter, 2016. ISBN 978-1-61451-908-9
Keyword(s):
Ancient History; Ancient Near Eastern Studies; Ancient Economic History; Women and Gender Studies
Presentation:
Economic history is well documented in Assyriology, thanks to the preservation of dozens of thousands of clay tablets recording administrative operations, contracts and acts dealing with family law. Despite these voluminous sources, the topic of work and the contribution of women have rarely been addressed.
This book examines occupations involving women over the course of three millennia of Near Eastern history. It presents the various aspects of women as economic agents inside and outside of the family structure. Inside the family, women were the main actors in the production of goods necessary for everyday life. In some instances, their activities exceeded the simple needs of the household and were integrated within the production of large organizations or commercial channels. The contributions presented in this volume are representative enough to address issues in various domains: social, economic, religious, etc., from varied points of view: archaeological, historical, sociological, anthropological, and with a gender perspective.
Table of Contents
Foreword v
Acknowledgements vii
Brigitte Lion and Cécile Michel
Women and Work in the Ancient Near East: An introduction 1
Catherine Breniquet
Weaving, Potting, Churning: Women at work during the Uruk period. Evidence from the cylinder seals 8
Camille Lecompte
Representation of Women in Mesopotamian Lexical Lists 29
Fumi Karahashi
Women and Land in the Presargonic Lagaš Corpus 57
Maria Giovanna Biga
The Role of Women in Work and Society in the Ebla Kingdom (Syria, 24th century BC) 71
Massimo Maiocchi
Women and Production in Sargonic Adab 90
Adelheid Otto
Professional Women and Women at Work in Mesopotamia and Syria (3rd and early 2nd millennia BC): The (rare) information from visual images 112
Bertrand Lafont
Women at Work and Women in Economy and Society during the Neo-Sumerian Period 149
Agnès Garcia-Ventura
The Sex-Based Division of Work versus Intersectionality: Some strategies for engendering the Ur III textile work force 174
Cécile Michel
Women Work, Men are Professionals in the Old Assyrian Archives 193
Jerrold S. Cooper
The Job of Sex: The social and economic role of prostitutes in ancient Mesopotamia 209
Jana Matuszak
“She is not fit for womanhood”: The Ideal Housewife According to Sumerian Literary Texts 228
Ichiro Nakata
Economic Activities of nadītum-Women of Šamaš Reflected in the Field Sale Contracts (MHET II/1–6) 255
Katrien De Graef
Cherchez la femme! The Economic Role of Women in Old Babylonian Sippar 270
Nele Ziegler
Economic Activities of Women According to Mari Texts (18th century BC) 296
Sophie Démare-Lafont
Women at Work in Mesopotamia: An attempt at a legal perspective 310
Matteo Vigo
Sources for the Study of the Role of Women in the Hittite Administration 328
Brigitte Lion
Work and Gender in Nuzi Society 354
Josué J. Justel
Women in Economic Agreements: Emarite sale contracts (Syria, 13th century BC) 371
Masamichi Yamada
The kubuddā’u-Gift in the Emar Texts 388
Eiko Matsushima
Women in Elamite Royal Inscriptions: Some observations 416
Virginie Muller
Women and their Activities in Divinatory Texts 429
Saana Svärd
Studying Gender: A Case study of female administrators in Neo-Assyrian palaces 447
Francis Joannès
Historiography on Studies Dedicated to Women and Economy during the Neo-Babylonian Period 459
Louise Quillien
Invisible Workers: The role of women in textile production during the 1st millennium BC 473
Yoko Watai
Economic Activities of Women in 1st Millennium Babylonia 494
Laura Cousin
Beauty Experts: Female perfume-makers in the 1st millennium BC 512
Julien Monerie
Women and Prebends in Seleucid Uruk 526
Violaine Sebillotte Cuchet
Women and the Economic History of the Ancient Greek World: Still a challenge for gender studies 543
Index of professions and activities 565