Studying Gender: A Case Study of Female Administrators in Neo-Assyrian Palaces

The aim of this article is to propose a new methodological approach for the study of gender in Mesopotamia and make some preliminary suggestions as to how it could be used.1 I will first outline the history of Assyriology and gender
studies. In the second part of the paper I will outline a proposition on how women’s work and gender could be researched. There I will introduce my case study of texts relating to šakintus, the female administrators of the Neo-Assyrian
palaces. Some preliminary remarks will be given on gender construction in the Neo-Assyrian Empire based on textual evidence concerning the šakintus.

Full reference: Saana Svärd: “Studying Gender: A Case Study of Female Administrators in Neo-Assyrian Palaces” In: Brigitte Lion & Cécile Michel (eds.), The Role of Women in Work and Society in the Ancient Near East. Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Records (SANER) 13. Walter De Gruyter, Boston. 2016, pp. 447-458.