Research into emotions is a developing field within Assyriology, and NLP tools for Akkadian texts offers new perspectives on the data. We use PMI-based word embeddings to explore the relationship between parts of the body and emotions. Using data downloaded from Oracc, we ask which parts of the body were semantically linked to emotions. We do this…[Read more]

The “Queens of the Arabs” are a unique group of women whose actions are only recorded in the sources of the Neo-Assyrian empire. They ruled in many of the same ways as other foreign male kings did: they led military campaigns, and were in control of their people’s assets. In a very real sense these women acted in a masculine manner. In this contr…[Read more]

Beards were part of a visual matrix of expressing masculinity during the NeoAssyrian period (ca. 934–612 BCE). But masculinity does not exist in isolation and interacts with other aspects of identity. I will examine the beard as an indicator of masculine status during the Neo-Assyrian period. This will be done through investigating the visual a…[Read more]

During the Neo-Assyrian period (approximately 934-612 BCE, based in modern Iraq) the annals and royal inscriptions of several kings mention women with a curious title: ‘Queen of the Arabs’. These women have been included in previous discussions regarding Assyrian interaction with the ‘Arabs’, but a full investigation into their roles as rulers…[Read more]

The study of masculinities is a growing field within Assyriology, and has so far largely focussed on general trends across Mesopotamian history, or more specifically the Neo-Assyrian king Sennacherib. Thus far there has not been a discussion regarding how the masculinities of the NeoAssyrian king were constructed by the monarch in his titulary.…[Read more]