This paper will present a selective survey of evidence for the role of women musicians as agents of cultural exchange in the Ancient Near East, especially in the second millennium BCE. I will focus on two bodies of evidence: the administrative records of Mari, which include detailed information on the training and management of musiciennes in the ‘harem’ of Zimri-Lim (ruled c.1775–61); and relief-art of the Amarna period which illustrates royal and cultic events in the palace of Akhenaten (c.1353–36). These kings sought to maximize the cultural diversity of their courts especially through the acquisition and display of female musicians from all parts of their imperial holdings and political peripheries. Because these women were sometimes cultic agents in their home spheres, they might also promote a kind of ‘theological calculus’ between adjacent cultures.