Fascinating piece Filiz, I enjoyed reading. It's not often I read about the ancient world but I am loosely aware of the empires you mention. Your opening paragraph about genders caught my attention. I know that is the case in many African countries where there language is gender neutral.

Reading your article does make me think about how the world has changed given many ancient cultures saw women as divine, sometime deities and in many cases equal if not above men.

Thank you for sharing an interesting history in such a captivating way.