Gender Roles Of Ancient Mesopotamia

* The status of women in Mesopotamia was lower then men. Women enjoyed some protection and liberties, yet not as much as men.

However, in Mesopotamia, the males subjugated the women. To stop married women from tempting other men, they were forced to cover their bodies, except for their faces, with veils. Women in Mesopotamia were often arranged into marriages, without a say on the subject. The Mesopotamian women had little impact on their society, while certain Egyptian women were able to gain highly influential positions in their society. One Egyptian woman even became the Queen of Egypt, alongside her son. Due to Egypt being less strict towards the women, Egyptian women were able to have a greater influence on their society. Although both civilizations were patriarchal, they varied on how strict they were towards women.

Mesopotamia restrictions on female roles in society were more prominent than they were in Egypt. In Mesopotamia, men were of greater value in the hierarchy than the women were. The men were the ones who served in the military, built the walls that protected the city, served in governmental positions but men also did a majority of the agricultural jobs. The men protected the city-states and the women did not, which created a patriarchy in the civilization that was constantly at war. This created a divide in the rights of men and women both legally and social. Women was not defined by her personality but instead by her relationship with her husband. Men were seen as the head of the household, giving men of the lower classes more power even if

Greek Woman was considered to be submissive which means once you are married to a woman, then she is in your full control. The woman in ancient was not allowed to own the property, in one way we can also relate that the woman had fewer rights than the man because they could hardly express their feeling. The woman was not considered as the citizens.

The Mesopotamian culture is shown throughout this literary text.We can see that the Mesopotamian culture really believed in men ,patriarchy and gender division.This is shown by there being a strong male leader, Gilgamesh, who was also aided by the city elders, which was very similar to a type of government. Even though this may seem as an equal and justified political system, there is still many issues with the rights of the citizens. This leads to nothing but outrage. Besides the ideas and views of patriarchy in Mesopotamia there was also a strong presence of religion in this text. You can obviously see that their religious beliefs are somewhat similar to Greek and Roman. Since the Mesopotamians believed in many gods and goddesses they were

Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals wholly or partly due to their gender. It arises from differences in gender roles. Gender inequality isn’t a exercise which has just recently developed instead it is a practice which has been part of our community since civilizations have begun. When one thinks of gender issues they directly connect it with females however this issue consists of both men and women which can be heavily seen in the early eras.

Throughout history gender has played a defining role in the structure and function of civilizations all over the world. Women were usually deemed as inferior to men in most nations thus leading to a plethora of unfair treatment and social unrest. There were, however, various times in history when women actually stood up for their rights as human beings and spoke out against these atrocities. An example of this is the story of Abina, a young African woman who was unlawfully enslaved in 1876. She made the courageous decision to run away and speak out against her master in court despite insurmountable odds. A political and business world dominated by men led to her case being unjustly dismissed despite having proof to back up her grievances. Just like many other cases at this time, the fact that Abina was a woman worked against her. Quamina Eddoo, his lawyer William Melton, and the all-male jury condemned Abina from the beginning thus leading to her accusations against the accused as being dismissed. The case was doomed from the beginning because of the established societal norm that women were inferior to men. In almost every example of early colonization, the role of women has been greatly devalued and ignored as the male populace strived to be the most powerful and important figures in society.

In Babylonian society during Hammurabi’s time, women are not of equal status to men, though neither are they treated as slaves. For example, under “Property”, numbers 38 and 39, it states that a man cannot give ‘his field, or garden, or house’ to a woman, but if he writes a will that states she is allowed to have his possessions after his death, then they can be granted to her. Also, number 142 (under “Marriage and the Family”) says that if a woman is treated poorly by her husband, then she’s allowed to leave him.

Gender differences between men and women become less distinct regarding the experience and expression of deep emotion, such as grief over the loss of a dear friend. Nowhere is this more clearly seen than in the ancient Sumerian text, the Epic of Gilgamesh, which tells the story of the fabled Sumerian king Gilgamesh and his close friendship and adventures with the character Enkidu. In the epic, Gilgamesh is shown to be a great king who struggles with pride but who, with the help of Enkidu, grows to be defined by his nobility, bravery, and strength. These traditionally masculine traits characterize Gilgamesh. However, in his grief over Enkidu’s untimely and protracted death, Gilgamesh exhibits distinctly feminine behaviors and shows mourning to be a process that is complex and unbounded by gender stereotypes.

As Mary Wollstonecraft once said, “I do not wish them to have power over men, but over themselves.” In this quote, “themselves” is referred to as women of course. It is somewhat customary to pick up a paper in today’s light and perhaps see read about Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, or First Lady, Michelle Obama, even media specialist, Oprah Winfrey. The list could go on and on, but the point remains the same. If King Hammurabi of Babylon were living in today’s world and saw how dramatic the power of women has transformed over the years, he would perhaps declare himself Queen of Babylon. Kevin Reilly accurately depicts the struggling role of women from this early period of civilization through Assyrian

     Back in the days of Mesopotamia, things were quite different. Women were respected for who they were and did not have to fight to gain the rights they had.

The Greeks, as other civilizations, used art to portray each stage their society was going through at certain periods of time. So, how did the ancient greeks portrayed gender roles and social statutes through art? I will prove that through the development of art, the ancient greeks, in specific the Minoans demonstrated the social status and gender roles of their inhabitants, as well as the beginning of the creation of their history.

Mesopotamian society was a patriarchal society, and so women possessed far fewer privileges and rights in their marriage. A woman's place was at home and failure to fulfill her duties was grounds for divorce. If she was not able to bear children, her husband could divorce her but he had to repay the dowry. If his wife tried to leave the home in order to engage in business, her husband could divorce her and did not have to repay the dowry. Furthermore, if his wife was a "gadabout, . . . neglecting her house [and] humiliating her husband," she could be drowned.

First of all, in ancient Mesopotamia women are low on the social class. First off, women are low on the social class because in the Akkadians father’s advice to his son the father states that he doesn’t want his son marrying a woman that has a job or position. Next, women are low on the social class because in the Akkadians father’s advice to his son the father writes that a wife should be reverent and submissive. Third, women are low on the social class because in the code of Ur-Nammu law #7 says if a man sleeps with a woman and she has a husband than they will slay the woman and the man would be set free. Finally, women are low on the social class because men don’t like to marry women with jobs, women had to be reverent and submissive, and if a man sleeps with a woman that has a husband than the woman will be slain and the man set free. Therefore, this proves my thesis because many

By 2,500 B.C., communities and cities were formed in many different areas, complete with laws, codes, and rulers. In the middle-eastern region that was known as Mesopotamia, although there were many different cultures, there were also similarities among the groups, especially where women were concerned. Unless a woman was the wife or daughter of a ruler or another man with a title of authority, she made no choices of her own. Her marriage was arranged and a dowry or bride price was given. If a woman worked outside the home, it was to sell homemade goods. Women of that time also became mid-wives and pharmacologists of sorts, they developed and