Symbolic and Economic Institutions in 3rd Millennium Southern Mesopotamia: The Household of the ereš-diĝir of Bau

The article provides an overview of the process of integration between new form of government and pre-existing networks of authority in Southern Mesopotamia at the end of the third millennium BC, focusing on the survival of specific religious and economic units. Specifically, it offers a detailed studies of the "household of the high-priestess of Bau" in the province of Lagaš and a comparison with the Pre-Sargonic antecedent of the "women household" underscoring changes and continuity in the role these institutions played in different political settings.