VN September 2023

September 2023 39 In Ancient Mesopotamia, women lived in a patriarchal system but, since older times, they had significant rights and responsibilities. Their role was fundamental in the creation of the family and housekeeping, but depending on their belonging to a certain social class, they could also have access to education, and contribute in areas such as economy, religion and politics.We conserve the names of some women who assisted their male relatives in the managing of animals, like sheep, goats and oxen, during the Third Dynasty of Ur: Geme-Nanna, Šašimi, Arbitum or Zaganbi, the priestess, to cite some of them. More famous were women from the highest strata of society. The luxuriant gardens, full of exotic plants and animals offered as royal gifts, delighted queens like Puabi of Ur and Kubaba of Kiš. The importance of women in society was reflected in a pantheon filled with powerful goddesses, who personified the powers of nature. Regarding feminine principles, these were in origin related to fertility and regeneration of the land, but as time went by, they embodied more complex roles. Some were related to a certain animal species, thus conceiving of a “species spirit”. We have some examples in the figure. The compassionate Nanše, the goddess of fish, birds and marshes, had an interest in the care of the disadvantaged (the orphans, the widows, the elder ones…). Gula, the powerful goddess of healing and a great physician herself, the one who knew every kind of treatment, also valued the importance of comforting and caring for the week. However, if provoked, their personality could drastically change. The beautiful Inanna/Ishtar, the goddess of erotic love, was also a reckless warrior, heavily armed and fierce as a lion (her sacred animal), who enjoyed terrifying those who were disobedient to her. An offended Gula could neglect the sick ones or condemn them to death. For this reason, she and her dogs were invoked in curses as well as in healing prayers. With the fall of the Sassanian Empire (VII century B.C.), women’s status in Mesopotamia rapidly declined, and so did the cult of these goddesses. But the figure of Potnia Theron survived in later female deities. v POTNIA THERON: MISTRESS OF THE ANIMALS Silvia Nicolás Alonso Ph.D. in Veterinary Medicine Biblical and Oriental Institute (León, Spain) Do you Know? Although first used by Homer (VIII century B.C.) to describe Artemis, the image of the Mistress of the Animals dates back from Prehistory. It refers to an artistic motif common to many ancient cultures in different continents, and in different chronologies. In the Ancient Near East and Egypt, this figure was linked to the concepts of divinity and royal power. Mesopotamian goddesses: Left, Nanše seated in her sacred geese. Terracotta plaque (2nd millennium B.C.). Iraq Museum. Center, Gula and her dog. Cylinder-seal detail (911-612 B.C.). British Museum. Right, the warrior Ishtar stands on a lion. Akka- dian Empire stone cylinder seal imprint, 2350–2150 B.C. Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago. Potnia Theron: Neolithic mother goddess controlling two felines (lionesses or leopards), Çatalhöyük (6000-5500 B.C.). Leaving aside the differentiating details typical of each culture, a human figure is generally represented, whether male or female, although anthropozoomorphic beings may also appear. This person usu- ally appears standing, holding two animals, wild or domestic, real or fantastic, one in each hand.