of the different socio-economic worlds of pastoralists and agriculturists. In the tale,
the Queen of Heaven, Inanna, is courted by both Dumuzi, a shepherd, and Enkimdu,
a farmer. Inanna’s brother, the sun-god Utu, tries to persuade her to choose Dumuzi,
who can offer her milk and butter and woolen garments. Inanna, however, chooses
Enkimdu because his lentils and grain are more stable sustenance; and he can provide
fine linen clothes.
This story reveals a perceived difference in qualities between textiles manufactured
by pastoralists and those of settled agriculturists. It also suggests that the different
economic framework is the reason for these differences. Perhaps the most striking
aspect of the story, however, is the reputation of the agricultural community’s textile
production: it is superior to that of pastoralists. This difference is based on the pro-
curement of different types of fiber, which is the basis of cloth becoming a commodity
of trade. On another level, the notion that Inanna’s decision of a marriage partner was
based on his offer of finer cloth, suggests the importance of cloth as a social codifier.
In a verse describing Inanna’s courtship with Dumuzi, she converses with her brother
Utu. He says that the fields of flax are ripe and that he will bring flax to her. In this
verse the whole process from flax harvest to weaving a bridal sheet is relayed.
The investigation of myth can also reveal rather detailed aspects of the division of
labor, of power structures, trade and other aspects of the economic organization of
ancient societies. This has recently been done with particular regard to long-distance
exchange in the Ancient Near East with Eastern Iran and Central Asia through the
study of the myth of Enmerkar and the lord of Aratta (Vanstiphout 1991 : 217 – 240 ;
see also Good, 2005 ).
Dress, investiture and adornment are associated with rank, but also take on a
symbolic and cosmological role and carried mystical meaning through ritual in ancient
Mesopotamia. A central theme in ancient Mesopotamian life was the clothing of
deities. The practice of ritual dressing may also be understood to carry meaning on
all levels in Babylonian society. Protection, evocation of fertility and other apotropaic
forces were met through elements of garment structures and design (see Figure 9. 2 ).
How were these features created?
TEXTILE TECHNOLOGIESFibersCloth, both in its manufacture and in its organization of production, played a key
role in the process of economic and social development of early complex society. First,
let us start with fiber. Linen and wool fiber were both important resources in ancient
Babylon. Their use involved both local production and consumption as well as
production (and eventually commoditization) for export. Specialized fiber types were
developed by the Old Babylonian period and played a significant role in economic
development in this early complex society (see Van Koppen, this volume, for discussion
of the early economy of Babylon). These specialized fibers, in fact, were an important
aspect of the developing complexity of early Babylonian society.
Linen, from the domesticated flax plant,Linum usitatissimumL., is a bast fiber
requiring much labor to process. Bast fibers are the fibrous cells from the stem of a
— Cloth in the Babylonian World —