Women in Ancient Mesopotamia Illustration

Ancient Mesopotamia for Kids
Women

In ancient Mesopotamia, women were not considered equal to men. They had some rights but not all rights. Women could freely go out of their homes and go to the market.  They were allowed to own property. They could start a business. They could become involved in court cases. They could learn to read and write. They could get a paid job. But they were not allowed a vote in the assembly, so they had no voice in making laws.

It was understood that women were very busy, taking care of the house, the kids, meal preparation, and sewing clothing, plus sometimes working in the fields, but everyone had to pray a great many times each day to the gods to avoid their anger, no matter how busy they were with other things. Recognizing this was a problem, the Mesopotamians solved this by placing a statue of a praying woman in the temple. Women still had to pray every day, but not nearly as often as men, because only women had a statue in the temple to do some of the daily praying for them.

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