Ama-e
Ama-e (fl. circa 2330 BC), was an Ancient Sumerian businesswoman. She is one of the earliest individual businesswomen of which any significant amount of information is known.
Background
[edit]She lived in the city of Umma during the reign of Sargon of Akkad.[1] She was married to Ur-Šara and her business transactions are well documented in the so-called Ur-Sara family archive.[2] While it does not appear to have been uncommon for women to conduct business, as it was regarded as a part of the household duties, no other individual businesswoman and her transactions from this period or before is as well documented as Ama-e.[citation needed]
Business
[edit]She rented land from the crown for cultivating, invested in buildings, traded in barley and metal, and had a network of business agents through which she bought and sold silver, wood, wool, food and perfume.[3]
Translator H. J. Marsman wrote:
In early Mesopotamian society, women appear to have acted quite independently [and] could stand surely for someone else [as with] the businesswoman Ama-e, who lived in Sargonic Umma. She engaged in trade involving grain, wool, and metals.[4]
Family business records show that she invested some of the profits in real estate and building projects and oversaw a widespread trade network.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ Foster, Benjamin Read (1982). Umma in the Sargonic Period. Academy. pp. 69–75. ISBN 978-0-208-01951-6.
- ^ Foster, Benjamin R. (1977). "Commercial Activity in Sargonic Mesopotamia". Iraq. 39 (1): 31–43. doi:10.2307/4200046. ISSN 0021-0889. JSTOR 4200046. S2CID 167589023.
- ^ Budin, Stephanie Lynn; Turfa, Jean MacIntosh (2016). Women in antiquity: real women across the ancient world. Rewriting antiquity. London New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-138-80836-2.
- ^ Marsman, H.J. (2021). Women in Ugarit and Israel: Their Social and Religious Position in the Context of the Ancient Near East. Oudtestamentische Studiën, Old Testament Studies. Brill. p. 401. ISBN 978-90-04-49340-7. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
- ^ Mark, Joshua J. (2022-10-12). "Ten Great Ancient Mesopotamian Women". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
Further reading
[edit]- Morris Silver: Economic Structures of Antiquity
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