WOMEN'S WEAVING ACTIVITIES IN THE MIDDLE IRON AGE: SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ROLES IN THE NEO-ASSYRIAN, URARTIAN, AND NEO-HITTITE KINGDOMS
Küçük Resim Yok
Tarih
2025
Yazarlar
Dergi Başlığı
Dergi ISSN
Cilt Başlığı
Yayıncı
E.U. Printing And Publishing House
Erişim Hakkı
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Özet
Weaving is one of the oldest handicrafts in the history of mankind and is one of the basic elements of both economic and social life in ancient societies. Women played a central role in this process, and weaving was closely associated with their labour. Written and visual documents obtained from archaeological excavations show that spinning and weaving were mostly performed by women. The depictions of spindles and spindle whorls found in grave finds and stelae also support this situation. Weaving, which was initially carried out by women as domestic production, expanded into palaces, temples, and private workshops due to increasing demand. While textile production was predominantly carried out by women in the Early and Middle Bronze Age, it is observed that men have been more involved in the institutional sector since the Late Bronze Age. While this trend continued in Middle Babylonia, both men and women worked as weavers in Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian palaces. However, there are very few references to women weavers in documents from temple and palace archives during the Neo-Assyrian period. The underrepresentation of women labourers in texts has led researchers to describe them as 'invisible workers'. Gender researchers emphasise that women's labour is often missing or ignored in historical documents. In the 1st millennium BC, the social structure became male-dominated, and wars and centralised states reinforced this situation. Although women's role was restricted, their status as mothers was preserved. In artistic depictions, women are depicted as wives and mothers within the family and are also shown with weaving tools. Although women have long been addressed in academic research, early studies generally reflected a male-centred historiographical approach. Women were mostly analysed as an isolated category and only exceptional figures were included in historical narratives. Women were constantly positioned as the other. This article examines the place of women's labour in the weaving sector, its limits and its invisibility within the economic system in Neo-Assyrian, Urartian and Neo-Hittite kingdoms.
Açıklama
Anahtar Kelimeler
Weaving, Neo-Assyrian, Urartian, Neo-Hittite, female labour
Kaynak
Tarih Incelemeleri Dergisi
WoS Q Değeri
N/A
Scopus Q Değeri
Cilt
40
Sayı
1
