{"id":42801,"date":"2026-04-07T15:55:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/archeology\/?p=42801"},"modified":"2026-04-12T15:58:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T15:58:00","slug":"pastoral-contract-forms-in-mesopotamia-a-seminar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/archeology\/2026\/04\/07\/pastoral-contract-forms-in-mesopotamia-a-seminar\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastoral Contract Forms in Mesopotamia: A Seminar"},"content":{"rendered":"

As part of the academic activities of the Department of Ancient Iraqi Languages \u200b\u200bfor the 2025-2026 academic year, a seminar entitled “Pastoral Contract Forms in Mesopotamia” was held on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. The seminar, presented by Professor Dr. Amin Abdul-Nafi Amin and Lecturer Dr. Hanin Abdul-Ghani Jassim, shed light on the important profession of pastoralism. The shepherd is responsible for tending flocks of sheep, lambs, and goats, selecting the most abundant and fertile pastures for them, whether in desert regions or areas with abundant vegetation. This profession is considered one of the oldest known to humankind, as the Prophet Adam, the father of humankind, was the first shepherd on Earth. All the prophets were shepherds at some point in their lives before their prophethood, including the Prophets Shu’ayb and Moses (peace be upon them) and the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). In a hadith narrated by Imam al-Bukhari on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may God be pleased with him), the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “God did not send any prophet who did not tend sheep.” His companions asked, “And you, O Messenger of God?” He replied, “Yes, I used to tend them for the people of Mecca for a few coins.”<\/h3>\n

Shepherding played a vital role in the ancient economy of Mesopotamia. Beyond meat, hides, usable body parts, and dairy products, livestock supported agricultural activities and transportation. Sheep, in particular, were a source of fiber for textile production. Sheep farming was among the most productive aspects of the Mesopotamian economy, as textiles were primarily made from wool. Shepherding was closely linked to agricultural settlements, following the pattern of agro-pastoral societies that characterized the region since prehistoric times. In general, grazing mostly took the form of local grazing in the Early Bronze Age in Mesopotamia (3300-1200 BC). The ancient Iraqis paid attention to documenting their economic and social transactions by writing various contracts, out of their keenness to establish the rights of the contracting parties. Grazing contracts are among the well-known contracts in Mesopotamia, and they are a type of economic contract concluded between the grazer and the owner of the livestock.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As part of the academic activities of the Department of Ancient Iraqi Languages \u200b\u200bfor the 2025-2026 academic year, a seminar entitled “Pastoral Contract Forms in Mesopotamia” was held on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. The seminar, presented by Professor Dr. Amin Abdul-Nafi Amin and Lecturer Dr. Hanin Abdul-Ghani Jassim, shed light on the important profession of pastoralism. The shepherd is responsible for tending flocks of sheep, lambs, and goats, selecting the most abundant and fertile pastures for them, whether in desert regions or areas with abundant vegetation. This profession is considered one of the oldest known to humankind, as the Prophet Adam, [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":42802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-symposium"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/archeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/archeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/archeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/archeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/archeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42801"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/archeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42805,"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/archeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42801\/revisions\/42805"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/archeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/archeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/archeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uomosul.edu.iq\/en\/archeology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}