Nadītum-Women in the Field Lease Contracts from Sippar

Abstract

This article surveys the economic activities of the nadītum-women cloistered in Sippar, as reflected in the Old Babylonian field lease contracts published by L. Dekiere in MHET II/1–6. The survey addresses the size of the leased fields, the subsistence level of a farmer in that period, rental rates, the timing of concluding a field leasing contract, locations of fields, and the amount of the land held by some of the prominent nadītum-women. Some nadītum-women accumulated as much as 44 iku (about 15.8 hectatres) or even 70 iku (25.2 hectares) of land to lease during their residency in the cloister and can be characterized as women entrepreneurs.