Women in the Sumerian Early Dynastic Period: From the Perspective of Economic Analysis Related to their Religious Activities

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K03095
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: History of Asia and Africa
• Research Institution: Chuo University
• Principal Investigator: Karahashi Fumi 中央大学, 文学部, 教授 (80453679)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: シュメール語 / 初期王朝時代 / 主教祭儀 / ジェンダー / 女性史 / 経済活動 / 古代オリエント

Outline of Final Research Achievements

I constructed a database consisting of information about text types, date of documents (ruler's name, year, and month), personal names, occupations, family relations, and other specifics, which were collected from the texts recording barley rations, land allotments, work assignments, offerings and festival provisions, and so forth of the Lagash E2-MI2 archive from the third millennium BCE.
Through detailed analyses of these data, I was able to show that the elite Lagash women had their own economic means and suggest that backed up by this economical power, they contributed materials such as sheep and goats for the offerings and festival banquets that were held in public mostly by the queen. Certainly, the number of these women was quite small compared to men. Nonetheless, they actively participated the Lagash public life, both economically and religiously. It can be concluded that they, in so doing, played an important role in maintaining the political system of Lagash.

Free Research Field

古代オリエント史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

家父長制の社会において、女性、特に既婚女性が公の場で行動する時ー女性が独自に行動する余地はほとんどないという認識の下ー女性の行動がどのようなものであっても、その女性は自分の夫の名において、すなわち、夫の代わりに行動していると一般的に理解・解釈される。確かに古代史研究において女性の主体性を論じることは的外れで、本研究の女性たちも当時の社会の仕組みの中で行動しているに過ぎない。しかし、女性の経済力が女性に積極的な社会参加を促したことは資料から明らかである。本研究は緻密な資料分析を通して、女性は受動的でその居場所は家の中という役割概念を再考する機会を提供することができたのではないかと思う。