Tonia Sharlach

author of "An Ox of One's Own: Royal Wives and Religion at the Court of the Third Dynasty of Ur"

January 8, 2018

Tonia Sharlach is a professor of Ancient History at Oklahoma State University. An author of two books and numerous articles and reviews, Dr. Sharlach's work has covered a range of topics based on cuneiform tablets in the Sumerian language dating from about 2050 B.C. from southern Iraq. Starting with work on taxation, “Taxation and the Ur III State,” and touching on matters such as calendars and diplomacy, Dr. Sharlach's more recent publications have focused on the roles of women in the religion at the royal court.

“An Ox of One’s Own” centers on the archive of a woman who died about 2050 B.C., one of King Shulgi’s many wives. Her birth name is unknown, but when she married, she became Shulgi-simti, “Suitable for Shulgi.”

Attested for only about 15 years, she existed among a court filled with other wives, who probably outranked her. A religious foundation was run on her behalf whereby courtiers, male and female, donated livestock for sacrifices to an unusual mix of goddesses and gods.

Previous scholarship has declared this a rare example of a queen conducting women’s religion, perhaps unusual because they say she came from abroad. The conclusions of this book are quite different.

An Ox of One’s Own lays out the evidence that another woman was queen at this time in Nippur while Shulgisimti lived in Ur and was a third-ranking concubine at best, with few economic resources. Shulgi-simti’s religious exercises concentrated on a quartet of north Babylonian goddesses.

URL: https://library.okstate.edu/news/celebratingbooks/2018-honorees/jason-lavery

Last Updated: 14 February 2018