Mesopotamian matriarch Painting

Inspired by women in ancient Iraq (part of Mesopotamia) Mesopotamia is a name for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, corresponding to modern-day Iraq, Kuwait, the northeastern section of Syria and to a much lesser extent southeastern Turkey and smaller parts of southwestern Iran. The origins of patriarchy in the West are generally traced to Mesopotamia. Before Sumer (a region in Mesopotamia that included modern day Iraq) was patriarchal, it was matrilineal. This was because people in ancient Sumer followed polyandry. Also, as with all matrilineal/matriarchal societies, the mother Goddess (Nintur) was seen as the creator. According to the Akkadian myth of Atrahasis, Nintur created humankind by mixing clay with the blood of a slain god (Lambert and Millard 1969: 57-61). Around 2300 BCE the Sumerian King, Urukagina, abolished the custom of polyandry in Mesopotamia to encourage patriarchy. According to text translated by Samuel Kramer in 1964, he seems to have abolished the former custom of polyandry in his country, ‘on pain of the woman taking multiple husbands being stoned with rocks upon which her crime is written’. Another is a statute stating that "if a woman says (illegible text) to a man, her mouth is crushed with burnt bricks." to address adultery by women. No comparable laws from Urukagina addressing penalties for adultery by men or polygamy are evident. The discovery of these fragments has led some modern critics to assert that they provide "the first written evidence of the degradation of women". By 4000 BC, men in Sumer – today southern Iraq – had claimed naming and ownership rights over children, and were gaining control over women’s bodies in turn.

Painting:Wood on Wood

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:12 W x 9 H x 0.8 D in

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