Women and Production in Sargonic Adab

The corpus of Sargonic texts has enormously increased in recent years. On the basis of the new available data, it is possible to have a fresh look at the topic of women and production in the Sargonic period, bridging the gap between Early Dynastic evidence (especially Ebla and Lagash) and Ur III archives (Garshana, Lagash, Puzrish-Dagan, Umma, Ur, etc.). Presently, the Adab text corpus stands out as the best case study for this kind of research, since the tablets stemming from this site are not only abundant, but also cover the whole span of the Sargonic period, which is conventionally subdivided into Early, Middle, Classical, and “Late” Sargonic. In particular, the Adab archives allow us to take an in-depth view on key aspects of the productive process, with special reference to women, and the role they played in traditional indoor and outdoor activities. More in detail, the weavers’ archive provides valuable information on the internal organization of local workshop units, devoted to the production of textiles. In addition, legal documents offer some insights on the social status of female supervisors, who appear as witnesses in loan documents. Also, thanks to the recent re-evaluation of the original archaeological reports and notes provided by E. J. Banks and V.S Persons, dating back to 1903-1905 (i.e. when no stratigraphical method was applied), it is possible to correlate the content of the tablets with their probable archaeological setting. When combined, the evidence allows us to better appreciate the emergence of the first large extra-regional organization in Mesopotamian history, and its impact in terms of local labor management. As it is argued in this paper, women are embedded in a productive system that builds on the Early Dynastic experience, adding further elements of complexity to the administrative schemes – a practice that in turn reminds, albeit in a much smaller scale, of large Ur III institutions.