Gender studies and Assyriology: a proposal to interpret manpower as registered in Ur III texts

The main aim of this workshop is to analyse certain words used to name manpower under the light of gender studies perspectives. The primary sources I propose to use are a sample of the numerous administrative cuneiform tablets written in Sumerian language from Mesopotamian Ur III (2100-2000 BCE), particularly the ones that are connected with textile production.

To open the workshop I propose reading and discussing a selection of articles and excerpts of the main methodological contributions from gender studies that can be used to interpret cuneiform texts. The other main section of the workshop will be devoted to discuss about 20 Ur III administrative texts in transliteration and translation into English. Through them I propose an analysis of uses and contexts of different words related to manpower to establish a profile of the group identified by each of them. Moreover, as administrative texts are synthetic, all the choices can be considered to be significant: by highlighting one aspect, others are rejected for reasons of space.

To reach these goals and to develop these proposals, the workshop will be organised in 3 main different blocks to be held during the whole day. All of them will be preceded by a general introduction and presentation of the general framework and the materials at our disposal. Below I detail these blocks:

1. Methodology, gender studies and Assyriology
   1. Introduction: about Assyriology and methodology / why gender studies are useful to interpret all materials and not only “women’s history”
   2. Gender studies: main trends and proposals
   3. Gender studies, archaeology, Assyriology and ancient history: some particularities

During this first block we are going to read and discuss texts by the most significant scholars of different trends and schools. e.g. Donna Haraway, Sandra Harding, Ruth Tringham, Judith Butler, Ann Pyburn, Joan M. Gero, among others.

2. The primary sources: Ur III administrative texts
   1. Geographical and chronological framework
   2. Clay tablets: the relationship between content and container
   3. The structure of the administrative texts dealing with the textile production

3. Defining collectives: Sumerian words for manpower in Ur III times
   1. Applying methodology: about kinship and the idea of collective
   2. Sumerian words for job categories in Ur III times
   3. Reading and discussion of a sample of about 20 administrative texts to analyse terms that we translate today as “female worker”, “male worker”, “weaver”, “miller”, “fuller”, “overseer” or even “son” or “daughter”, among others
   4. To conclude: how are collectives defined in Ur III?

Remark: participants at the workshop do not need any preliminary knowledge of Sumerian language as we will discuss nuances of words always presenting Sumerian terms and their proposed translations.