TY - BOOK ID - 145590407 TI - Women and religion in the ancient Near East and Asia AU - Brisch, Nicole Maria AU - Karahashi, Fumi PY - 2023 SN - 9781501518614 PB - Berlin ; Boston : De Gruyter, DB - UniCat KW - Women and religion KW - Femmes et religion KW - Prêtresses KW - Déesses KW - History KW - Prêtresses KW - Déesses UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:145590407 AB - The recent years have seen an upswing in studies of women in the ancient Near East and related areas. This volume, which is the result of a Danish-Japanese collaboration, seeks to highlight women as actors within the sphere of the religious. In ancient Mesopotamia and other ancient civilizations, religious beliefs and practices permeated all aspects of society, and for this reason it is not possible to completely dissociate religion from politics, economy, or literature. Thus, the goal is to shift the perspective by highlighting the different ways in which the agency of women can be traced in the historical (and archaeological) record. This perspectival shift can be seen in studies of elite women, who actively contributed to (religious) gift-giving or participated in temple economies, or through showing the limits of elite women?s agency in relation to diplomatic marriages. Additionally, several contributions examine the roles of women as religious officials and the language, worship, or invocation of goddesses. This volume does not aim at completeness but seeks to highlight points for further research and new perspectives. ER -