WOMEN'S WEAVING ACTIVITIES IN THE MIDDLE IRON AGE: SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ROLES IN THE NEO-ASSYRIAN, URARTIAN, AND NEO-HITTITE KINGDOMS

Öz

Dokumacılık, insanlık tarihindeki en eski el sanatlarından biri olup, Eskiçağ toplumlarında hem ekonomik hem de toplumsal yaşamın temel unsurlarından biri olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Bu süreçte kadınlar merkezi bir konumda yer almış ve dokumacılık, büyük ölçüde kadın emeğiyle özdeşleşmiştir. Arkeolojik kazılardan elde edilen yazılı ve görsel belgeler, ip eğirme ve dokuma işlerinin çoğunlukla kadınlar tarafından gerçekleştirildiğini göstermektedir. Mezar buluntularında ve stellerde rastlanan ağırşaklar ile iğ tasvirleri de bu durumu desteklemektedir. Başlangıçta kadınlar tarafından ev içi üretim olarak yapılan dokumacılık, artan talep nedeniyle saraylar, tapınaklar ve özel atölyelere taşınmıştır. Erken ve Orta Bronz Çağı'nda tekstil üretimi ağırlıklı olarak kadınlar tarafından yapılırken, Geç Bronz Çağı'ndan itibaren erkeklerin kurumsal sektörde daha fazla yer aldığı görülmektedir. Orta Babil’de bu eğilim devam ederken, Yeni Asur ve Yeni Babil saraylarında hem erkekler hem de kadınlar dokumacılık yapmıştır. Ancak, Yeni Asur döneminde tapınak ve saray arşivlerinden gelen belgelerde kadın dokumacılara dair çok az referans bulunmaktadır. Kadın işçilerin metinlerde yeterince temsil edilmemesi, araştırmacılar tarafından “görünmez işçiler” olarak tanımlanmalarına yol açmıştır. Toplumsal cinsiyet araştırmacıları, tarihsel belgelerde kadın emeğinin genellikle eksik veya göz ardı edildiğini vurgulamaktadır. MÖ 1. binyılda toplumsal yapı erkek egemen hale gelmiş, savaş ve merkezi devletler bu durumu pekiştirmiştir. Kadınların rolü kısıtlansa da annelik statüsü korunmuştur. Sanatsal betimlemelerde kadınlar, aile içinde eş ve anne olarak tasvir edilirken, dokuma aletleriyle de gösterilmiştir. Kadınlar, akademik araştırmalarda uzun süredir ele alınsa da, erken dönem çalışmalar genellikle erkek merkezli bir tarih yazımına sahipti. Kadınlar, çoğunlukla izole bir kategori olarak incelenmiş ve sadece istisnai figürler tarihsel anlatılara dâhil edilmiştir. Kadınlar, sürekli “öteki” olarak konumlandırılmıştır. Bu makale, Yeni Asur, Urartu Krallığı ve Geç Hitit Krallıklarında kadın emeğinin dokumacılık sektöründeki yeri, sınırları ve ekonomik sistem içindeki görünmezliği ele alınmaktadır. Bu çalışma, tarihsel belgelerin kadın emeğini yeterince yansıtmadığına dikkat çekerek, toplumsal cinsiyet perspektifinden bir değerlendirme sunmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Dokumacılık
• Urartu
• Geç Hitit Krallıkları
• Yeni Asur
• Kadın işgücü

WOMEN'S WEAVING ACTIVITIES IN THE MIDDLE IRON AGE: SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ROLES IN THE NEO-ASSYRIAN, URARTIAN, AND NEO-HITTITE KINGDOMS

Öz

Weaving is one of the oldest handicrafts in the history of mankind and is one of the basic elements of both economic and social life in ancient societies. In this process, women occupied a central position and weaving was largely identified with women's labour. Written and visual documents obtained from archaeological excavations show that spinning and weaving were mostly performed by women. The depictions of spindles and spindle whorls found in grave finds and stelae also support this situation. Weaving, which was initially carried out by women as domestic production, was transferred to palaces, temples and private workshops due to increasing demand. While textile production was predominantly carried out by women in the Early and Middle Bronze Age, it is observed that men were more involved in the institutional sector from the Late Bronze Age onwards. While this trend continued in Middle Babylonia, both men and women worked as weavers in Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian palaces. However, there are very few references to women weavers in documents from temple and palace archives during the Neo-Assyrian period. The underrepresentation of women labourers in texts has led researchers to describe them as ‘invisible workers’. Gender researchers emphasise that women's labour is often missing or ignored in historical documents. In the 1st millennium BC, the social structure became male-dominated, and war and centralised states reinforced this situation. Although women's role was restricted, their status as mothers was preserved. In artistic depictions, women are depicted as wives and mothers within the family, and are also shown with weaving tools. Although women have long been addressed in academic research, early studies generally had a male-centred historiography. Women were mostly analysed as an isolated category and only exceptional figures were included in historical narratives. Women were constantly positioned as the ‘other’. This article examines the place of women's labour in the weaving sector, its limits and its invisibility within the economic system in Neo-Assyrian, Urartian and Late Hittite kingdoms. Drawing attention to the fact that historical documents do not adequately reflect women's labour, this study offers an evaluation from a gender perspective.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• weaving
• Neo-assyrian
• urartian
• Neo-hittite kingdom
• female labor

Kaynakça

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