Children in Ancient Mesopotamia

What is it about?

This article analyzes the data on children that appear in the earliest written sources of humankind from the Late Uruk period from Southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq, ca. 3000 BC. The author shows the presence of minors in central public households in Sumerian cities. The discussion of the rich terminology brings to the identification of two approaches to record children. In the first case, children were divided into gender and age groups. The second way used a different set of terms and has only age classes. The analysis of these data shows how bureaucrats defined the childhood of their dependents.

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Why is it important?

This study offers the discussion of the earliest written sources that mention children (4th mill. BC).