Daily life of women
The role of women in ancient Sumer
In ancient Sumer, women's rights varied and were dependent on their social status. While royal women had considerable power in the political and economic system, common women did not participate in literary or political life.
Women of high status, such as priestesses and members of royal families, could learn to read and write. These high-born women were given some administrative authority. Women of lower social status, however, were occupied with child rearing and running the household.
Women in Mesopotamia were not treated as the equals of men. Women's position varied between city-states and changed over time. In the early periods of ancient Sumer, women were respected more and had more rights. Many powerful goddesses were worshipped and they were the primary deities (gods) in some city-states.
The development of agriculture required men, not women, to work in the fields, as they had more physical strength. Women ran small-scale farms, producing foods such as yoghurt and cheese from the milk of domestic animals. Sculptures in Ancient Sumer show that while men tended the flocks and milked them, the women often did the churning. Women were responsible for grinding grain, and women also weaved cloth. The textile industry developed significantly during the early stages of ancient Sumer.
Wealthy Sumerians had slaves to perform many of these tasks.
Unlike women in later periods, who stayed at home, women of this period could go out to the marketplace to buy wools. These women were allowed to deal with the donkey drivers who transported their textile products. Women could own property and sometimes attended to legal matters when their husbands were away. Women's jobs often grew out of her household tasks. A woman might sell the beer she brewed, for example, or even become a tavern keeper.
Women of the merchant class could run textile businesses. Women of royal families also ran businesses, but mostly for the city-state, rather than for themselves. In the palaces, women either made cloth by spinning and weaving, or helped with the food.
During the Assyrian era, female power and freedom declined. From this period, the law stated that elite women had to wear a veil in public. Women's roles were strictly defined as daughters and wives. Women rarely acted as individuals outside their families.
Female slaves worked as weavers, pressers, millers and porters.
Most girls were trained from childhood for the traditional roles of wife, mother, and housekeeper. Girls learned how to grind grains, how to cook and make beverages, especially beer, and how to spin and weave cloth.
Women wore long tunics, wrapped around the body and pinned at the chest. They also wore make-up, such as red henna for lipstick and blusher. Refer Image 1
Family life In ancient Sumer, a relationship started with a proposal, was followed by a marriage contract, and ended with a wedding. Refer animation
A girl was considered ready for marriage when she reached puberty. Marriages were arranged by the families of the future bride and groom. The groom provided a bridal payment. The bride's parents were responsible for a dowry (gift) to the husband. The dowry ensured that the woman would get everything that belonged to her in case the man divorced her or left her a widow.
In the wedding ceremony, the future husband poured perfume on the bride's head. The groom also gave the bride's family money and other presents. After the wedding, the husband and wife began the routine of daily life. This was usually the only marriage for the husband, as long as the wife lived and provided children. If the wife died or could not produce any children, the man had the right to have another wife or a concubine.
Once a woman was engaged, she was considered part of her fiancé's family. If her fiancé died before the wedding, she was then married to one of his brothers or another male relative. If her husband died, a woman could share her property with her children and was allowed to marry again.
Life was very difficult for ordinary people in ancient Mesopotamia. There were plagues, wars, floods, drought and famine. Children were considered the property of their parents. Children could be sold into slavery if they disobeyed their parents, although this did not happen very often.
Most boys went to work with their fathers. Girls stayed home with their mothers to learn household chores and to help look after younger children. Only boys from rich families went to school.
Houses
Most houses, and even the kings' palaces, were built from sun-dried mud-bricks.The houses of ordinary people were simple with few rooms. There were rooms for working and receiving visitors downstairs, and upstairs there was a dining room and bedrooms. The houses of rich people were larger, with a courtyard, a kitchen, a lavatory and sometimes even a tomb under the house. Wealthy Sumerians could afford wooden tables, chairs and beds and containers made of clay, stone, bronze, reeds or wood. Walls were often decorated with animal skins, woollen rugs or reed mats. Refer Image 2
Buildings in the cities were often rectangular in shape stood along narrow streets. There were above-ground and below-ground canal systems which connected most of the households and provided water for the sanitation system of the city.
