Amat-Mamu (c. 1764 BC – c. 1711 BC) was a Babylonian nadītu priestess. She lived in a closed nadītu community in Sippar, where she worked as a scribe.
Amat-Mamu was born c. 1764 BC, and she was consecrated as a Babylonian nadītu, a priestess of the god Shamash. Her name translates to "woman servant of Mamu", Mamu being the daughter of Shamash. As a nadītu, Amat-Mamu lived in a walled quarter in Sippar, the gagûm, which was separated from the rest of the city. She was allowed to own land, but not to marry or have children.
Amat-Mamu worked as a scribe in the gagûm. Though scribes were traditionally men in Sippar, the nadītu rarely interacted with men. Because of this, Amat-Mamu was one of several women in the community who was taught to read and write so she could work as a scribe when no men were present. Archeologists know of her role as a scribe because they were expected to sign their names to tablets that they produced. Three known documents that Amat-Mamu produced were under three different kings—Hammurabi, Samsu-iluna, and Abi-Eshuh—indicating that she worked as a scribe for at least 40 years. She died c. 1711 BC. Though works to female scribes were common under the reigns of Hammurabi and Samsu-iluna, Amat-Mamu is the only female scribe to have a surviving work by the time of Abi-Eshuh.
Amat-Mamu was one of the women whose names were written on the Heritage Floor of the installation artwork The Dinner Party.
Notes
- ^ Leick 2002, p. 12.
- ^ Lion 2011, p. 99.
- Lion 2011, p. 100.
- Harris 1962, pp. 1–2.
- Lion & Robson 2005, p. 49.
- Brooklyn Museum.
References
- "Amat-Mamu". Brooklyn Museum. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
- Harris, Rivkah (1962). "Biographical Notes on the nadītu Women of Sippar". Journal of Cuneiform Studies. 16 (1): 1–12. doi:10.2307/1359426. ISSN 0022-0256.
- Leick, Gwendolyn (2002). Who's who in the Ancient Near East. Routledge. ISBN 9780203287477.
- Lion, Brigitte; Robson, Eleanor (2005). "Quelques Textes Scolaires Paléo-babyloniens Rédigés par des Femmes". Journal of Cuneiform Studies (in French). 57: 37–54. ISSN 0022-0256.
- Lion, Brigitte (2011). "Literacy and Gender". In Radner, Karen; Robson, Eleanor (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Cuneiform Culture. Oxford University Press. pp. 90–112. ISBN 9780191743597.