Doyle, JessicaDean, ChandlerWentz Research Scholars2023-05-252023-05-252023-04-27Dean, C., Doyle, J. (2023). Mother or womb? The portrayal of women as mothers in ancient near eastern texts. Poster session presented at the Oklahoma State University Wentz Research Scholars Symposium, Stillwater, OK.https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14446/337733Many assumptions are made about the portrayal of women in the Bible, but what does the text actually portray them as, and how does this portrayal compare to the portrayal of women in other contemporary texts? This project shows that women in Ancient Near Eastern texts do not have personage until they bear a child, and even when they have borne a child, they don’t have any characteristics besides “wife” or “mother” and have no agency. In contrast, women in the Bible are portrayed as fully developed characters even before they have a child, and they have emotions, goals, and agency.application/pdfIn the Oklahoma State University Library's institutional repository this paper is made available through the open access principles and the terms of agreement/consent between the author(s) and the publisher. The permission policy on the use, reproduction or distribution of the article falls under fair use for educational, scholarship, and research purposes. Contact Digital Resources and Discovery Services at lib-dls@okstate.edu or 405-744-9161 for further information.Posterbiblewomenmotherancient near east