Eunuchs, ancient Near East

Abstract

During the second and first millennia BCE , eunuchs served in various official capacities at royal courts in the Near East, including those of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites, and Urartians. Because sources are fragmentary and spread over a wide area and time, the extent to which eunuchs permeated society and the administrative hierarchy remains highly controversial.

Achaemenid court eunuchs in their Near Eastern context: images in the longue durée

“…However, a shift can be felt after the publishing of Guyot's monograph on eunuchs as slaves in Classical Antiquity (1980). Finally, with Grayson (1995), Deller (1999), Dalley (2002), and Tadmor (2002), authors turned their eyes to the complex issues related to Near Eastern eunuchs.…”