Reading History through Lexicography: the Weavers of Sargonic Adab in Comparative Perspective

Unravelling the intricacies of third millennium BCE labor terminology remains a difficult business. The paper explores the role of women as producers of textiles in the Sargonic period (ca. XXIV-XII cent. BCE), focusing on the archives of Adab, in southern Mesopotamia, as a case study. The analysis of the terminology involved in the management of workforce reveals a complex scenario, with diverse social rankings. The paper offers a review of the relevant sources, in synchronic and diachronic persepectives, showing a great continuity in the modalities of control over weavers in third millennium BC, from the Early Dynastic period down to the third dynasty of Ur.