An Ox of One's Own: Royal Wives and Religion at the Court of the Third Dynasty of Ur

T. M. Sharlach

Published by De Gruyter 2017

An Ox of One's Own

Royal Wives and Religion at the Court of the Third Dynasty of Ur

T. M. Sharlach

Volume 18 in the series Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Records (SANER)

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501505263

Overview
Contents

About this book

Shulgi-simti is an important example of a woman involved in sponsoring religious activities though having a family life. An Ox of One’s Own will be of interest to Assyriologists, particularly those interested in Early Mesopotamia, and scholars working on women in religion.

An Ox of One’s Own centers on the archive of a woman who died about 2050 B.C., one of King Shulgi’s many wives. Her birth name is unknown, but when she married, she became Shulgi-simti, “Suitable for Shulgi.” Attested for only about 15 years, she existed among a court filled with other wives, who probably outranked her. A religious foundation was run on her behalf whereby courtiers, male and female, donated livestock for sacrifices to an unusual mix of goddesses and gods.
Previous scholarship has declared this a rare example of a queen conducting women’s religion, perhaps unusual because they say she came from abroad. The conclusions of this book are quite different.
An Ox of One’s Own lays out the evidence that another woman was queen at this time in Nippur while Shulgi-simti lived in Ur and was a third-ranking concubine at best, with few economic resources. Shulgi-simti’s religious exercises concentrated on a quartet of north Babylonian goddesses.

Author / Editor information

T. M. Sharlach, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, U.S.A.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	IX
Acknowledgements Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	XI
Part I: Historical Introduction: Shulgi, King of Ur and His Wives
Chapter 1. Historical Introduction: The Reigns of Ur-Namma and Shulgi of Ur Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
Chapter 2. Centers of Power, the Palaces and the Court Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	31
Chapter 3. Queens and Concubines Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	53
Chapter 4. Was There a Harem in Early Mesopotamia? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
Chapter 5. Lives of the Wives: Nin-kalla and Shulgi-simti Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	101
Chapter 6. The Lives of Shulgi’s Wives: Ea-niša, Geme-Ninlilla and More Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
Chapter 7. The Death of Shulgi and his Wives Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
Part II: The Shulgi-simti Archive and the Shulgi-simti Foundation
Chapter 8. The Shulgi-simti Archive Historical Sources Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
Chapter 9. An Ox of One’s Own: Provisioners and Influence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211
Chapter 10. Sacrifice: An Overview of the Cultic Events to which the Shulgi-simti Foundation Contributed Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
Chapter 11. Belet-šuhnir and Belet-terraban and Religious Activities of the Queen and the Concubine(s) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	261
Part III: A Wider Lens
Chapter 12. A Wider Context: Temple Households and Changes in the Roles Played by Royal Wives in Early Mesopotamia Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	289
Chapter 13. Conclusions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	305
Bibliography, An Ox of One’s Own Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	309
Tablets from the Yale Babylonian Collection Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	323
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	333

(Deutsch)

Languages: English, Multiple languages
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Scholars of Ancient Near East (Assyriologists, Sumerologists); people interested in Women's History / women in religion
Pages
- Front matter: 12
- Main content: 336
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 3
- Coloured Illustrations: 2
Keywords: Shulgi-simti; Harem; Ishtar; Third Dynasty of Ur

eBook

Published: September 11, 2017
ISBN: 9781501505263

Hardcover

Published: September 11, 2017
ISBN: 9781501514470