ART AND GENDER IN ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN STUDIES
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 10/12/2020

Debates about the gender identity of anthropomorphic figures are always among the most vivid when discussing how certain art objects have to be interpreted. Some of these debates, initiated at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, may help us to understand how were certain ideals of femininity and masculinity constructed then. Moreover, I defend that good knowledge and analysis of these past debates may help us to understand how we construct these discourses nowadays as well. To reflect on these issues, in this communication I pay special attention to the way the shape of the chest and the presence of more or less prominent breasts, widely considered now as secondary sexual attributes signaling femininity, was interpreted in these debates on anthropomorphic figures in the framework of ancient Near Eastern studies. To do this I start from two main images: the one of the peg-shaped foundation figurines from Nippur and a relief from Hattuša, materials widely discussed at the beginning of the 20th century. Putting on the table both secondary literature and archival documents (photographs, drawings and letters) I aim to proof as well their value as primary sources when carrying out a historiographical approach as the one proposed here.


Author(s): Garcia-Ventura, Agnes (IPOA, Universitat de Barcelona)