The Eunuchs of Assyria: Social Castration as Imperial Strategy in the World’s First Empire

Project description

Gender, sexuality and power in ancient Near East

The Assyrian Empire brought most parts of the Near East under its hegemony from 900 BCE to 600 BCE. As the world’s earliest empire, it has been widely studied from a king-centred approach. Only recent works on queenship sparked the consideration of traditional gender suppositions concerning power exercise in ancient Near East. The EU-funded Assyrian Eunuchs project focuses on the ša-rēši class of men defined as eunuchs to demonstrate that Assyria was a collaborative enterprise based on the active cooperation of a variety of groups and persons including the king. It will directly address traditional perceptions of the relationship between gender, sexuality and power structures in Assyria by describing the identity positions of the eunuchs, their historical evolution and the specific means used to negotiate their status.

Field of science

• /humanities/arts/art history

Programme(s)

• H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility

Topic(s)

• MSCA-IF-2019 - Individual Fellowships

Call for proposal

H2020-MSCA-IF-2019
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

MSCA-IF-GF - Global Fellowships

Coordinator

FREIE UNIVERSITAET BERLIN

Address

Kaiserswerther Strasse 16-18
14195 Berlin
Germany

Activity type

Higher or Secondary Education Establishments

EU contribution

€ 246 669,12

Partners (1)

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

United States

Address

North Charles Street 3400
21218 Baltimore

Activity type

Higher or Secondary Education Establishments