The Role of Women in Work and Society in the Ancient Near East

Economic history is well documented in Assyriology thanks to the good preservation of numerous private and official archives; however, the contribution of women has seldom been addressed. This volume examines the many aspects of women as economic agents, inside and outside of the family structure over the three millennia of Near Eastern history. Papers address issues from historical and archaeological points of view and with a gender perspective. Brigitte Lion and Cécile Michel: Women and Work in the Ancient Near East: An introduction Catherine Breniquet: Weaving, Potting, Churning: Women at work during the Uruk period. Evidence from the cylinder seals Camille Lecompte: Representation of Women in Mesopotamian Lexical Lists Fumi Karahashi: Women and Land in the Presargonic Lagaš Corpus Maria Giovanna Biga: The Role of Women in Work and Society in the Ebla Kingdom (Syria, 24th century BC) Massimo Maiocchi: Women and Production in Sargonic Adab Adelheid Otto: Professional Women and Women at Work in Mesopotamia and Syria (3rd and early 2nd millennia BC): The (rare) information from visual images Bertrand Lafont: Women at Work and Women in Economy and Society during the Neo-Sumerian Period Agnès Garcia-Ventura: The Sex-Based Division of Work versus Intersectionality: Some strategies for engendering the Ur III textile work force Cécile Michel: Women Work, Men are Professionals in the Old Assyrian Archives Jerrold S. Cooper: The Job of Sex: The social and economic role of prostitutes in ancient Mesopotamia Jana Matuszak: “She is not fit for womanhood”: The Ideal Housewife According to Sumerian Literary Texts Ichiro Nakata: Economic Activities of nadītum-Women of Šamaš Reflected in the Field Sale Contracts (MHET II/1–6) Katrien De Graef: Cherchez la femme! The Economic Role of Women in Old Babylonian Sippar Nele Ziegler: Economic Activities of Women According to Mari Texts (18th century BC) Sophie Démare-Lafont: Women at Work in Mesopotamia: An attempt at a legal perspective Matteo Vigo: Sources for the Study of the Role of Women in the Hittite Administration Brigitte Lion: Work and Gender in Nuzi Society Josué J. Justel: Women in Economic Agreements: Emarite sale contracts (Syria, 13th century BC) Masamichi Yamada: The kubuddā’u-Gift in the Emar Texts Eiko Matsushima: Women in Elamite Royal Inscriptions: Some observations Virginie Muller: Women and their Activities in Divinatory Texts Saana Svärd: Studying Gender: A Case study of female administrators in Neo-Assyrian palaces Francis Joannès: Historiography on Studies Dedicated to Women and Economy during the Neo-Babylonian Period Louise Quillien: Invisible Workers: The role of women in textile production during the 1st millennium BC Yoko Watai: Economic Activities of Women in 1st Millennium Babylonia Laura Cousin: Beauty Experts: Female perfume-makers in the 1st millennium BC Julien Monerie: Women and Prebends in Seleucid Uruk Violaine Sebillotte Cuchet: Women and the Economic History of the Ancient Greek World: Still a challenge for gender studies