The Role Of Women In Ancient Mesopotamia And Ancient India

In Mesopotamia, women’s inferiority to men was taken for granted, but they shared the social standing of their fathers and husbands.

The understanding of gender roles in society has been very fluid in the evolution of mankind. In ancient civilizations, the roles that you were given within a society were centered primarily around gender. These gender roles did vary from civilization to civilization, but were generally comparable. In most ancient civilizations, the roles of women were confined to the household. This was evident in most societies, but a stand out among these was Ancient Egypt. In which, Egypt was one of the only civilizations where women were even remotely equal to men. When comparing to other societies during the ancient time period, women were most respected in Egypt.

Gender roles in ancient Mesopotamia were clearly defined (teachmiddleeast.edu). Generally, men worked outside of the home and women stayed inside of the home while focusing on raising their children and keeping up with work that took place in the home. However, there were exceptions; we know of women who were “bartenders” and even women who were priestesses, but with limited responsibility. Due to the fact that some were from socially higher families and owned large amounts of property, those women were not allowed to marry. Women at the time were given much less freedom than men, however, women were more protected than men, which is seen in Hammurabi’s Code of Law, specifically in his 130th law:

For thousands of years there has been a strong distinction between the roles of men and women. Often times in stories there will be women that are only mentioned for their beauty and charisma. Hardly ever will you see pages upon pages being spent talking about the true character and accomplishments of women characters. Even though stories like The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Book of Genesis were written thousands of year ago, (when stories were told mostly told from a males perspective) the light shined on women in the texts show them as wise, strong, and greatly influential beings. In The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Book of  Genesis, the writer shows the women as bringers of knowledge,  guidance, and care to the men in the texts that are lacking thereof.

Women have played important roles throughout history. They have been responsible for the rise and fall of nations, sustaining families, and have been the focal point of worship in ancient religions. Moving forward in history, women's roles have continually changed. Their status as matriarchs changed as the more advanced ancient civilizations rose. The patriarchal societies of ancient Greece and Rome viewed women differently from some societies of past eras. The study of the economic and political status of women, their rights, and their contributions to both these ancient societies reveals how views change throughout history.

Ancient sumerian women were inferior to their male counterparts. Sumerian men had more legal and marital rights than women, and they were able to serve their community by doing more than reproducing. Women in ancient Sumer were not as protected by law as men, so much more blame and punishment was placed on them when they were caught committing any given crime. Though female goddesses were worshiped and adored by all followers of sumerian religion, they hold no real power or rule on earth, so they do not serve as evidence to support an egalitarian

Throughout written history, women have experienced status submissive to the men they lived with. Commonly, most cultures known to modern historians followed a typical pattern of men being given the role of the defender and breadwinner of the family, whereas women were given responsibilities of domestic servitude. The roles of females differed greatly among the ancient societies of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The most part, ancient women in Egypt enjoyed more rights and privileges than their Mesopotamian counterparts in matters of marriage and property ownership. Women in ancient Egyptian civilization were perceived as liberated citizens with the same potential to operate as part of a legal system as men, and they can even be priestess.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh we learn that ancient Mesopotamians valued women’s roles as child bearers, and since only women are able to create

During this time, men held roles such as kings and rulers, warriors, and priest. While men held most of the power, the woman did have some important roles. If a woman was sold to the temple by their family, the would become a priestess which was an honor to the family. The woman could also be goddesses. If a woman were not sold to the temple, they were generally only mothers and housekeepers. From young girls, the woman would be taught skills that would be useful for when they grew up and became wives and mothers. Instead of going to school with the boys, they would stay home and learn skills for when they got

In the writing found in earlier civilizations there is much evidence that proves women in those societies’ possessed little rights. In the Code of Hammurabi there were laws for both women and men, however most of the laws “for” women were more like punishments. The laws were set in stone by the king Hammurabi and were meant to “further the well-being of mankind” he said. However, it is said that there is an exception to every rule, in this case that would be The Epic of Gilgamesh, another piece of writing set in the same place (but not the same time). In this story, even though it took place in a society where women had close to no value, they were depicted as powerful and wise.

Women could, however, own their own businesses and make their own money. They played a big role in the society’s economics. Along with this, they were able to be priestess and many goddesses were also women.

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

Rob Revercomb The Evolving Role of Women in Neolithic Societies The role of women in society changed greatly as the Neolithic time period began. While still in the hunter-gatherer time period women and men were considered equal. As time progressed women began to do less physical work and subsequently started having reduced rights.

Throughout the majority history, the power and influence of men over women varied greatly, with women typically being in the position of less power and influence. Although women seem to play a less apparent role, women are essential for both the continuation of life and the nurturing of the future, signifying that the power of women is very potent. The women of Gilgamesh are goddesses, priestesses and a variety of other roles, each with their own set of skills, guide Gilgamesh throughout the epic. Despite the perception of some scholars that the women of Gilgamesh appear inferior, the women have diverse and influential roles throughout the story, challenging the traditional conception of women’s lesser influence and power. The power of

in terms of power and wealth.1 As a result, women seldom had a choice in whom they married.