“Ho paura di essere consegnata in dono!” Aspetti della schiavitù femminile nell’antica Mesopotamia

Freedom in Ancient Near East was a relative, not an absolute state, as the ambiguity of the term for “slave” in all the region’s languages illustrates. Slavery is widely attested in Ancient Mesopotamia even if it had not here the relevance it had in Roman society. A major distinction was made between foreigners, enslaved through capture in war, kidnapping or force, and natives, forced in slavery mostly by debt or famine. While in the first case slavery was a permanent chattel condition, with little succour from the local legal system, in the second case it was protected by authorities. In law, in fact, slavery was for citizens a voluntary and temporary condition. A natural conflict existed between family law, which applied to slaves as persons, and property law, which applied to slaves as chattels. It is particularly in this field that major and interesting differences between male and female slavery existed.Keywords: schiavitù, Mesopotamia, schiavitù per debito, diritto di famiglia, proprietà (leggi riguardanti la); slavery, Mesopotamia, debt-slavery, family law, property law

"Ich will den Kopf des Jochanaan", or the head of the king of Kakmium

La pratique de la décapitation dans le Proche-Orient ancien est bien connue. L'Ebla proto-dynastique en fournit les témoignages les plus anciens, dans la documentation tant figurée qu'écrite. Le texte le plus intéressant à cet égard est, pour l'instant, TM.75.G.1358, un document administratif remontant à la période de l'avant-dernier roi d'Ebla, dont l'interprétation est toujours discutée, comme le montre sa récente réédition dans ARET XV 10. Plusieurs passages intéressants y renvoient à un seul et même souverain étranger, le roi de Kakmium, un fait par ailleurs pratiquement inattesté, ce qui montre l'importance de ce cas. Cette contribution souhaite démontrer, à travers un réexamen approfondi des passages correspondants, où on relève la particularité des expressions employées et des livraisons faites pour le roi de Kakmium, que ce texte concerne en réalité sa décapitation, ce qui n'avait été suggéré jusqu'à présent que sous forme d'hypothèse

«Ho stabilito mia moglie come padre e madre della mia casa». Invecchiamento e diritti delle donne nell’Antica Mesopotamia

Elderly people were highly respected in Mesopotamian society. But which were the problems or the advantages connected to aging? After a short survey of some aspects of women’s social status, evidence is given that aging could involve a major increase in women’s independence and power, mostly in the case of widowood. The vulnerability and plight of widow (and orphan) are proverbial in the literature of the Ancient Near East, and their protection was the common policy of Mesopotamia. Nevertheless, at least in medium and upper classes, widowhood might offer an opportunity for true independence. In Assyria, the widow without father-inlaw or sons, was given the right to go “wherever she pleases”. In later age, primary responsability for care fell upon the son, or even the daughter. Lack of sons could pose serious problems for the lower layers of the free population. But propertied women (even small property owners) could easily avoid the problem by adopting adults for the purpose of their sustenance

Disease-Modifying Therapies and Coronavirus Disease 2019 Severity in Multiple Sclerosis

Objective: This study was undertaken to assess the impact of immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory therapies on the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Methods: We retrospectively collected data of PwMS with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. All the patients had complete follow-up to death or recovery. Severe COVID-19 was defined by a 3-level variable: mild disease not requiring hospitalization versus pneumonia or hospitalization versus intensive care unit (ICU) admission or death. We evaluated baseline characteristics and MS therapies associated with severe COVID-19 by multivariate and propensity score (PS)-weighted ordinal logistic models. Sensitivity analyses were run to confirm the results. Results: Of 844 PwMS with suspected (n = 565) or confirmed (n = 279) COVID-19, 13 (1.54%) died; 11 of them were in a progressive MS phase, and 8 were without any therapy. Thirty-eight (4.5%) were admitted to an ICU; 99 (11.7%) had radiologically documented pneumonia; 96 (11.4%) were hospitalized. After adjusting for region, age, sex, progressive MS course, Expanded Disability Status Scale, disease duration, body mass index, comorbidities, and recent methylprednisolone use, therapy with an anti-CD20 agent (ocrelizumab or rituximab) was significantly associated (odds ratio [OR] = 2.37, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.18-4.74, p = 0.015) with increased risk of severe COVID-19. Recent use (<1 month) of methylprednisolone was also associated with a worse outcome (OR = 5.24, 95% CI = 2.20-12.53, p = 0.001). Results were confirmed by the PS-weighted analysis and by all the sensitivity analyses. Interpretation: This study showed an acceptable level of safety of therapies with a broad array of mechanisms of action. However, some specific elements of risk emerged. These will need to be considered while the COVID-19 pandemic persists