Abstract
Members of the ancient Mesopotamian cult of Ištar have been subjected to various interpretations by scholars despite only a small number of textual references. In scholarly literature, assinnu have been described as everything from cultic prostitutes, to castrates, to “playboys” and “festival people.” This paper will discuss attestations of assinnu in ancient textual sources that have been deployed for various interpretations and translations relating to gender and sexuality. The deepest focus is on the issues of sex assignment at birth, castration, sexuality, prostitution, and transvestism. The incorporation of modern gender theory will aid with deconstructing long-held interpretive traditions within Assyriological scholarship and make space for a new analysis of assinnu as performing a non-normative or non-binary gender. This new, minimal interpretation of assinnu is less dependent on rigid categorization and instead allows room for ambiguity in the ancient texts and modern descriptions of assinnu.