Men, Women, Eunuchs, Etc.: Visualities of Gendered Identities in Kassite Babylonian Seals (ca. 1470-1155 B.C.)

Scholars have extensively investigated ancient Mesopotamian cylinder seals in terms of their iconographic and stylistic qualities. This article concentrates on the question of whether and how gender, as an important component of personal identity, found expression in the material, visual, and textua...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bulletin of ASOR
Main Author: Yalçin, Serdar (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: The University of Chicago Press 2016
In: Bulletin of ASOR
RelBib Classification:BC Ancient Orient; religion
NBE Anthropology
TC Pre-Christian history ; Ancient Near East
Further subjects:B GAY people
B Cylinder seals
B Babylonia
B Kassite
B Kassites
B MESOPOTAMIAN antiquities
B Personality
B Gender
B Identity
B Eunuchs
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Summary:Scholars have extensively investigated ancient Mesopotamian cylinder seals in terms of their iconographic and stylistic qualities. This article concentrates on the question of whether and how gender, as an important component of personal identity, found expression in the material, visual, and textual aspects of Babylonian cylinder seals of the Kassite period, a relatively understudied era of Mesopotamian history. Like any other society, ancient Mesopotamia had various complex gender categories, which included, in addition to normative male and female groups, other genders, such as eunuchs and homosexuals. It is argued here that the gender of a seal owner and the nature of the relations between different genders in Kassite-era Babylonian society were communicated through the seal image and labels, as well as through the use of cylinder stones.
ISSN:2161-8062
Contains:Enthalten in: American Schools of Oriental Research, Bulletin of ASOR
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.5615/bullamerschoorie.376.0121