ABSTRACT

As authors and subjects males dominate the written sources that have survived from the Neo-Assyrian period (c. 1000-1605 BCE); yet females, too, appear in every kind of text, including monumental inscriptions, temple dedications, funerary tablets, and labels on personal items. The picture that emerges is one in which (elite) women worked together with men and played important roles in pursuing personal and family interests, and even, on some occasions or in certain capacities, running the country. The texts included here are representative of women’s various activities, although administrative and economic documents are excluded because they merely name participants.1