The position and role of women in the Kingdom of Van (Urartu): evidence from Urartian cuneiform sources

An analysis of the cuneiform sources permits several conclusions regarding the status, functions, and role of women in the Kingdom of Van (Urartu). Within Urartian society of the ninth–seventh centuries BCE, the following social categories of women can be identified: members of the highest aristocracy, priestesses, women of the free population, maidservants, concubines, and female slaves. Women of the aristocracy possessed private property and could hold specific official positions, while queens, in certain instances, participated in the administration of the state. The female priesthood occupied a prominent place in the social hierarchy and took part in a wide range of religious ceremonies performed during various festivals. Evidence derived from paleoanthropological research suggests that the average life expectancy of women in the Kingdom of Van (Urartu) was approximately 35–40 years. Despite the limited corpus of surviving sources, the available cuneiform evidence makes it possible to reconstruct the place and role of women in the society of the Kingdom of Van. The discovery of new written texts, together with further archaeological and interdisciplinary research, will undoubtedly contribute to a substantially broader understanding of the social status, functions, and everyday life of women in the Kingdom of Van (Urartu).