Descripción del proyecto
Género, sexualidad y poder en el antiguo Oriente Próximo
El Imperio asirio puso bajo su hegemonía a gran parte de Oriente Próximo desde el año 900 a. C. hasta el 600 a. C. Al tratarse del imperio más antiguo del mundo, ha sido ampliamente estudiado desde una perspectiva que se ha centrado en el rey. Solo obras recientes sobre los reinados de las mujeres provocaron la evaluación de las suposiciones tradicionales sobre el género en cuanto al poder ejercido en el antiguo Oriente Próximo. El proyecto Assyrian Eunuchs, financiado con fondos europeos, se centra en la clase de hombres «ša-rēši», definida como eunucos, para demostrar que Asiria fue una entidad colaborativa basada en la cooperación activa de una serie de grupos y personas, entre ellas el rey. El proyecto abordará directamente las percepciones tradicionales sobre la relación entre género, sexualidad y estructuras de poder en Asiria, mediante la descripción de las posturas de identidad de los eunucos, su evolución histórica y los medios específicos utilizados para negociar su condición.
Objetivo
The study of Assyria, the world’s earliest empire, has sought to define and reconstruct the material and immaterial structures of imperial power. Research to date has focused primarily on the roles and agency of the king, the most visible actor in the extant sources, though recent work on queenship has initiated an important reconsideration of traditional gender assumptions regarding the exercise and materialization of power in the ancient Near East. This project takes the next step in recognizing Assyria, like later empires, as a collaborative enterprise, one whose success was based in the active and deliberate contributions of diverse groups and individuals including but not limited to the king. It uses the ša-rēši, a class of men defined as eunuchs, as its chief case study to directly challenge traditional assumptions of the relationships between gender, sexuality, and power structures in Assyria. The project will focus on four major objectives: delineating the identity positions of the eunuchs and their historical situation and development; defining the specific material and visual means by which the eunuchs negotiated their status and agency; critically assessing traditional assumptions on the relationships of gender, sexuality, and power, and the ongoing influence on these of Orientalism; and illuminating the actual roles, functioning, and agency of eunuchs in Assyria. The project is strongly multidisciplinary, involving close analysis of newly accessible textual, artefactual, and image corpora through the application of advanced approaches and methodologies drawn from disciplines including art history and material culture studies as well as archaeology and philology. Results will redefine our understanding of the world’s earliest imperial system, Assyria, and serve as a model for reconsidering the roles of perceived marginal groups as important actors in other imperial systems.
Ámbito científico
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Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinador
14195 Berlin
Alemania