Ama-e

Ama-e (fl. circa 2330 BC), was an Ancient Sumerian businesswoman. She is one of the earliest individual businesswomen of which any significant amount of information is known.

Background

She lived in the city of Umma during the reign of Sargon of Akkad.^[1] She was married to Ur-Šara and her business transactions are well documented in the so-called Ur-Sara family archive.^[2]

Business

She rented land from the crown for cultivating, invested in buildings, traded in barley and metal, and had a network of business agents through which she bought and sold silver, wood, wool, food and perfume.^[3]

Translator H. J. Marsman wrote:

In early Mesopotamian society, women appear to have acted quite independently [and] could stand surely for someone else [as with] the businesswoman Ama-e, who lived in Sargonic Umma. She engaged in trade involving grain, wool, and metals.^[4]

Family business records show that she invested some of the profits in real estate and building projects and oversaw a widespread trade network.^[5]

References

^ Foster, Benjamin Read (1982). Umma in the Sargonic Period. Academy. pp. 69–75. ISBN 978-0-208-01951-6.
^ Foster, Benjamin R. (1977). "Commercial Activity in Sargonic Mesopotamia". Iraq. 39 (1): 31–43. doi:10.2307/4200046. ISSN 0021-0889. JSTOR 4200046. S2CID 167589023.
^ Budin, Stephanie Lynn; Turfa, Jean MacIntosh (2016). Women in antiquity: real women across the ancient world. Rewriting antiquity. London New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-138-80836-2.
^ Marsman, H.J. (2021). Women in Ugarit and Israel: Their Social and Religious Position in the Context of the Ancient Near East. Oudtestamentische Studiën, Old Testament Studies. Brill. p. 401. ISBN 978-90-04-49340-7. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
^ Mark, Joshua J. (2022-10-12). "Ten Great Ancient Mesopotamian Women". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2024-11-10.

Background

Business

References

Further reading