Old Akkadian Clay Tablet Mentioning Gender-Fluid Priest

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Old Akkadian Clay Tablet Mentioning Gender-Fluid Priest

Place of OriginProbably Iraq

DateOld Akkadian period (ca. 2340–2200 BCE)

Dimensions1 15/16 × 1 7/16 in. (4.9 × 3.6 cm)

MediumClay

ClassificationUtilitarian Objects

Object number

1908.87

Not on View

DescriptionA rectangular clay tablet inscribed with cuneiform script on both sides. The text is in Sumerian and records an administrative list of workers, including their professions and possible ranks. The tablet is broken at the edges, with some signs missing or unclear.

Label TextThis Old Akkadian tablet (ca. 2340–2200 BCE), dating from the reign of Sargon of Akkad, records a workforce that includes a gala-maḫ, or chief gala priest. The gala priests served the goddess Ishtar and held a unique social position. They performed sacred lamentations and rituals, often appearing in temple records alongside female mourners and singing in a dialect typically reserved for women. In their ritual roles, gala-priests appear to have existed outside traditional gender categories. While some Sumerian proverbs portrayed them unflatteringly with suggestions of homosexuality, the gala were not a uniform group; they could be of any gender, rich or poor, and could even own slaves or be enslaved themselves. The chief gala priest could be one of the city's highest-paid officials. The inclusion of a gala-maḫ in this tablet demonstrates that religious institutions in the Akkadian Empire recognized and valued individuals who did not conform to rigid gender norms as we understand them today.Published ReferencesVan De Mieroop, Marc, and Tremper Longman, “Cuneiform Tablets from the Toledo Museum of Art,” Revue d’Assyriologie et d’Archéologie Orientale, vol. 79, 1985, p. 21, no. 3.

“RA 079, 021 03 Artifact Entry.” 2002. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). July 11, 2002. https://cdli.ucla.edu/P200404.