View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto WOMEN AND THEIR AGENCY IN THE NEO-ASSYRIAN EMPIRE Assyriologia Pro gradu Saana Teppo 1.2.2005 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements................................................................................................................5 1. INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................6 1.1 Aim of the study...........................................................................................................6 1.2 Background ..................................................................................................................8 1.3 Problems with sources and material.............................................................................9 1.3.1 Prosopography of the Neo-Assyrian Empire ......................................................10 1.3.2 Corpus of Neo-Assyrian texts .............................................................................11 2. THEORETICAL APPROACH – EMPOWERING MESOPOTAMIAN WOMEN.......13 2.1 Power, agency and spheres of action .........................................................................13 2.2 Women studies and women’s history ........................................................................17 2.3 Feminist scholarship and ancient Near East studies ..................................................20 2.4 Problems relating to women studies of ancient Near East.........................................24 3. NEO-ASSYRIAN WOMEN – INVISIBLE WOMEN?..................................................29 4. ASSYRIAN ROYAL WOMEN ......................................................................................34 4.1 Queens........................................................................................................................34 4.2 Queen’s household.....................................................................................................40 4.3 Daughters of kings and other royal women ...............................................................43 5. FOREIGN LEADERS AND QUEENS...........................................................................46 6. PERSONNEL OF THE PALACE ...................................................................................53 6.1 Šakintu - administrator ...............................................................................................53 6.1.1 Šakintu’s household ............................................................................................54 6.1.2 Šakintu-officials known by name........................................................................56 6.1.3 The unnamed šakintu-officials............................................................................58 6.1.3.1 The period from Tiglath-pileser III (744-727) to Sargon II (721-705)........58 6.1.3.2 Reign of Sennacherib (704-681) ..................................................................59 6.1.3.3 Reign of Esarhaddon (680-669)...................................................................60 6.1.3.4 Reign of Assurbanipal (668-631?)...............................................................61 6.1.3.5 Reign of Aššur-etel-ilani (630?-623?) or Sin-šarru-iškun (622?-612).........62 6.1.3.6 The unnamed šakintu-officials in other contexts .........................................62 6.1.4 Women related to šakintu ...................................................................................62 6.2 Lahhinutu - official ....................................................................................................63 6.3 Musicians ...................................................................................................................64 6.3.1 Nargallutu - chief female musician.....................................................................65 6.3.2 Nuārtu - female musician....................................................................................66 6.3.2.1 In wine and ration lists .................................................................................66 6.3.2.2 As part of the royal loot ...............................................................................66 6.4 Amat ekalli - palace maid...........................................................................................67 6.5 Other professionals of the palace ...............................................................................68 6.5.1 Professionals of the imperial administrative records ..........................................69 6.5.2 Other named and unnamed professionals ...........................................................71 7. OTHER WOMEN OF THE PALACE ............................................................................73 7.1 Sekretu........................................................................................................................73 2 7.1.1 Sekretus in active roles........................................................................................73 7.1.2 As part of the royal loot ......................................................................................73 7.1.3 In wine lists .........................................................................................................75 7.1.4 In other texts........................................................................................................76 7.1.5 Rab isāti ..............................................................................................................76 7.1.6 Sekretus’ role in the palace .................................................................................77 7.1.7 Sekretus and the seclusion of women of the palace ............................................78 7.2 Court ladies and wives ...............................................................................................79 7.3 Active women with unknown status ..........................................................................81 7.4 Women in lists ...........................................................................................................82 8. WOMEN ASSOCIATED WITH TEMPLES..................................................................84 8.1 Prophetesses ...............................................................................................................84 8.1.1 Prophetesses known to us by their names...........................................................87 8.1.2 Unnamed prophetesses........................................................................................89 8.2 Šēlūtu - Votaresses .....................................................................................................90 8.3 MÍ.MAŠ .....................................................................................................................91 8.4 Priestesses ..................................................................................................................92 8.4.1 Sacred prostitutes? ..............................................................................................93 8.4.2 Qadištu - sacred woman......................................................................................94 8.4.3 Kezertu – “woman with curled hair”...................................................................95 8.4.4 Ēntu - high priestess............................................................................................95 9. WOMEN OUTSIDE INSTITUTIONS............................................................................97 9.1 Working women.........................................................................................................97 9.1.1 Harimtu – prostitute? ..........................................................................................97 9.1.2 Other working women.......................................................................................100 9.2 WOMEN IN THE FINANCIAL SPHERE..............................................................101 9.2.1 Buyers and sellers .............................................................................................101 9.2.2 Creditors and borrowers....................................................................................102 9.2.3 Guarantors and witnesses..................................................................................102 9.2.4 Women with property .......................................................................................103 9.2.5 Financers ...........................................................................................................104 9.2.6 Other financially active women ........................................................................105 9.2.7 Financially active women and agency ..............................................................106 9.3 WOMEN ACTIVE IN OTHER SPHERES.............................................................106 9.3.1 Women’s correspondence .................................................................................106 9.3.1.1 Senders .......................................................................................................107 9.3.1.2 Recipients...................................................................................................107 9.3.2 Women in the justice system ............................................................................108 9.3.2.1 Adoption.....................................................................................................109