Page 1 of 4

Leigh Young
History 134
Dr. Thomson
25 June 2016
Assyria: Their Status and Womens Roles
A womans role in ancient Mesopotamian times was very simple;
dutiful wife, loving mother; she was viewed as her fathers daughter or her
husbands wife. The man was the patriarch of the family. (Women in
Mesopotamian Society, 2014) Many women may have been considered
partners with their husbands prior to the Assyrian rule, and would have been
allowed to attend social gatherings; few women were likely to have been
treated as equals to their husband.
Wealthy high status women may have been required to learn how to
read and write (Assyrian Christian women were often more literate than
Muslim men) but freedom for women took a sharp decline during the
Assyrian era. Certain Assyrian queens were quite powerful, but they were the
exceptions. (Joshua, 2014) The regent Shammuramat is an example of one of
these women, holding the throne for her boy son, Adad Nirari III, from 811806 BCE, securing the empire and creating successful military campaigns to
put down troublesome populations in the north. When Adad Nirari was of
age, he was handed a large and stable empire, thanks to his mother.

Page 2 of 4

Most depictions of women in art are prisoners of war or female

deportees. (Ancient Tablets, Ancient Graves: Accessing Women's Lives in
Mesopotamia, 1996-2000) The gap between high class versus low class
females was quite large, and we would see the first laws requiring public
veiling creep up during this time. It is likely that the rise of Assyrian
monotheism influenced the restrictions on women and their rights.
Women in ancient Mesopotamia were thought to be ready for marriage
as soon as they entered into puberty. Once a woman was engaged, she was
thought of as a part of the grooms family. The grooms father was quite
involved in the marriage contract, and required a dowry to be paid. The
grooms father could also give the bride to one of the grooms brothers, in
the event of his death or unhappiness with the marriage. (The Assyrian
Empire: Early History of Assyria, n.d.)
Day to day life for ancient women included cooking, cleaning, raising
the children, catering to her husband, and weaving. Some women did
participate in trade; food production, brewing beer, midwifery, and weaving.
Weaving contributed greatly to Mesopotamian economy, and many women
were employed in making cloth.
Divorce was around in ancient times, however, it was difficult for a
woman to obtain. A man, on the other hand, was free to divorce his wife at
his pleasure, with no compensation paid. If a woman were to be found guilty
of adultery, her husband was permitted to maim or even kill her. If a man

Page 3 of 4

found himself in debt, it was not unheard of to sell his wife into slavery.
Women of the kings harem were subject to beatings; Assyrian laws were
typically more serious and violent than other regions of the time. The death
penalty was not uncommon, and flogging and forced labor after the fact
werent unheard of. (Assyrians: Countries and Their Cultures, n.d.)
Unfortunately, time has not been kind to the women and their rights.
Current conditions for women, in what was once Assyria, are not significantly
better than that of ancient times. Beatings, murders, and the view that
women are to be nothing more than wives, housekeepers, and mothers,
appears to still go on in the middle east. We can only hope that one day that
will change, and women will be treated with respect equal to that of their
male counterparts.

Annotated Bibliography:
Ancient Tablets, Ancient Graves: Accessing Women's Lives in Mesopotamia. (19962000). Retrieved from Women in World History Curriculum:
womeninworldhistory.com
Assyrians: Countries and Their Cultures. (n.d.). Retrieved from Every Culture:
everyculture.com
Joshua, M. J. (2014, June 12). Ancient Mesopotamia: Life in Mesopotamia. Retrieved
from The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago:
mesopotamia.lib.uchicago.edu

Page 4 of 4
The Assyrian Empire: Early History of Assyria. (n.d.). Retrieved from Angelfire:
angelfire.com/nt/Gilgamesh/assyrian.html
Women in Mesopotamian Society. (2014, September 27). Retrieved from History on
the Net: historyonthenet.com