Sumerian Texts From the Archive of the Princess Šāt-Eštar in the Collections of the Iraq Museum

Abstract

The princesses in the royal family of the Ur III state had a role in developing and revitalizing the economy. In ancient Iraqi society women operated in all fields of work. Cuneiform texts recorded their activities in the processes of receiving, delivery, distribution and mediating between people. Living in the community, Iraqi women played an important and positive role in ancient Iraq's society. Šāt-Eštar first became known as a princess in the texts treated in the author's MA Thesis in 2010. The study of the texts which mention princess Šat-Eštar shows that this character played an important role in processes of receiving, delivering, distributing and mediating between people. She was specialized in trading several materials, primarily barley and flour and then dates, as well as textiles and clothing types. The people she dealt with were Agatia, Šulgi-mudah, Abituni, Šāt-Su'en, Šāt-Nūnu, Šeškala, and Lugal-nisaĝ-e.