Women at Work in the Deuteronomistic History - International Voices ...

FEMALE WORKERS RELATED TO THE ROYAL HOUSEHOLD | 241
People may feel proud of being captains or bakers, but they are no less
dependent, no less enslaved.
Notable in this list brought up by Warburton is the absence of perfumemakers,
unless they are included in the more general craftsmen or manual
laborers terms. Besides the fact, already stated by Warburton, that it is not
intended to be exhaustive, the list is noteworthy in that there are more
supervisory-oriented (male’s domain) than production- or service-oriented
occupations (traditionally female’s domain).
Perfume-Makers or Cosmeticians
Regrettably, most writers, ancient and modern, do not differentiate between
male and female labor in their descriptions. In fact, Armijo Navarro-Reverter
asserts that the Egyptian language has no female terms for laborers, even for the
most menial ones! 10 On the other hand, at least some Babylonian texts ascribe
this profession to women. And there is “Overseer of Funerary Priests” among
the titles held by females in the Egyptian Old Kingdom; perhaps preparation of
cosmetics was part of these priest(ess)’s duties. 11
In the Bible, expertise in perfume preparation in connection with ritual is, of
course, a man’s occupation. Apart from our text in which perfumery is a female
occupation, we hear of “an early maker of perfumes … Bezalel, a skillful and
versatile craftsman (Ex. 37:29).” 12 The expression used is חקר השׂעמ, “the
perfumer’s doing, action, work.” Similar expressions with the participle appear
in Exod 30:25 and in 1 Chr 9:30 (םימשׂבל תחקרמה יחקר “prepared the
mixing of spices”) both describing priestly responsibilities. There is also another
task for some perfumers. In his study on perforated tripodal vessels, Nicolae
Roddy calls attention to the use of herbs for burial purposes, as described in 2
Chr 16:14. King Asa from Judah was buried “on a bier that had been filled with
various kinds of spices prepared by the perfumer's art” (NRSV). As the author
notes, this is “a rare biblical insight into the use of aromatics in funerary
rituals.” 13 Finally, we also find among those reconstructing the wall of Jerusalem
a certain Hananiah, from the “guild” of the perfumers (םיחקרה־ןב Neh 3:8). 14
10
Armijo Navarro-Reverter, “La vida de las mujeres egipcias,” 132.
11
Lesko, “Women's Monumental Mark,” 5.
12
King and Stager, Life in Biblical Israel, 281. Unfortunately, they do not refer to female perfumers
at all.
13
Nicolae Roddy, “Perforated Tripodal Vessels at Iron II Bethsaida-Tzer,” BN NF141 (2009): 98.
On several powdered herbs used in ritual offerings, 96–99.
14
Gendolyn Leick, Mesopotamia: la invención de la ciudad (Barcelona: Paidós, 2002), 229,
mentions luxurious oils and aromatic plants among the items bought and sold by Sippar naditus
during the Old Babylonian period. On perfumers at Ugarit see Yamashita, “Professions,” 68, #36.
rqh šmn, perfumer’s oil, “a profession of a special skill.”