Enheduanna
Enheduanna (c. 2285-2250 B.C.E.; En-hedu-Ana, EN.HÉ.DU.AN.NA 𒂗𒃶𒁺𒀭𒈾 "lord or lady ornament of An (the sky or heaven)") was an Akkadian princess and high priestess of the moon god Nanna (Sin) in Ur, is perhaps the earliest known writer in history. Described in an inscription as the daughter of Sargon of Akkad, she has been dubbed the "Shakespeare of Sumerian literature."
Although she was the priestess of the moon god, Eneduanna's writings honor the goddess Inanna above all the other gods of the Sumerian pantheon. He influence is believed to have assisted in the merging of the Akkadian Ishtar with the Sumerian Inanna.
Biography
Despite living 4300 before the present (ca. 2285-2250 B.C.E.), Enheduanna's historical existence is well established. Her mother was Sumerian, probably herself a priestess, and hailed from southern Mesopotamia. Her father, it is generally agreed, was Sargon of Akkad, who was also the son of a priestess, perhaps a sacred harlot.
Enheduanna was was the high priestess of the moon god (Sin mythology|Sin) or Nanna. The disc which includes her image is currently on displayed at the Univeristy Museum in Philadelphia. She is depicted as in a procession in which she preceded by a male priest with two male attendants behind her. Inheduanna wears a ruffled dress and a brimmed turban, apparently a sign of her office.
On the back of En-hedu-Ana's alabaster disk is an inscription recording her as the "daughter of Sargon of Akkad," the founder of the Dynasty of Akkad and the first ruler to unite northern and southern Mesopotamia, who reigned for 56 years, c. 2270–2215 B.C.E. Scholars have debated whether to take this relationship literally or symbolically. If literally true, it attests Sargon's successful policy of appointing members of his family to key posts. Moreover, there followed after En-hedu-ana a long tradition whereby the king appointed his daughter to the post of high priestess of Nanna, leading many scholars to conclude she was thus the first of such royal daughters to be appointed to this position.
Although she was the priestess of Sin/Nanna, En-hedu-ana's most famous work is her Nin-me-sara, devoted to the goddess Inanna/Ishtar. Near the end of her life, En-hedu-ana called on Inanna for help because she has been temporarily dislodged from her position by Lugal-Ane a rebelling Sumerian king showing this "imperial" appointment to be locally unacceptable. Her prayers to Inanna may have been answered with victories in battles between the Sumerians and the Akkadians. This allowed her nephew, Naram Sin, who was then king, to successfully unite Sumer and Akkad for several years. After this En-hedu-Ana was restored to her post as priestess of Nanna in Ur.
Nin-me-sara was long revered as a sacred scripture. As long as 500 years after her death, during the Babylonian era, it was used as a text copied by students learning to be scribes in the edubba, or scribal schools. More than 100 clay tablet copies of the hymn have been found, testifying to the popularity of the hymn. Few Mesopotamian literary texts have boasted as many copies.
On the alabaster disk, Eh-hedu-anna styles herself the "zirru of Nanna," a mysterious term which may translated as "wife of Nanna," and refer to her as an embodiment of the goddess Ningal, who was Nanna's consort.
Surviving hymns
Enheduanna is known to us as the author of several early Sumerian hymns.
- Nin-me-sara, also called "The Exhaltation of Inanna," consists of 153 lines, edited and translated first by Hallo and van Dijk (1968), later by Annette Zgoll (1997) in German. The first 65 lines address the goddess with a list of epithets, comparing her in greatest to An, the supreme god of the pantheon. En-hedu-anna complaining that she was exiled from the temple and the cities of Ur and Uruk and asking for intercession of Nanna the goddess' father. Lines 122-135 recite divine attributes of Inanna.
- In-nin sa-gur-ra (named by incipit), 274 lines (incomplete), edited by Sjoberg (1976) using 29 fragments.
- In-nin me-hus-a, "Inanna and Ebih," first translated by Limet (1969)
- The Temple Hymns, edited by Sjoberg and Bergmann (1969): 42 hymns of varying length, addressed to temples.
- Hymn to Nanna, edited by Westenholz
Style and theology
En-hedu-anna is the first known author to write in the first person. Scribes had previously written about the king and the the gods, but never about themselves prior to En-hedu-anna. She is often considered to be the earliest author known by name.
The hymns she wrote to the goddess Inanna celebrate her individual relationship with the goddess, thereby setting down the earliest surviving verbal account of an individual's consciousness of her inner life. Historians have alo noted that En-hedu-anna's work displays a strong sense of a personal relationship with the divine:
- My Lady, I will proclaim your greatness in all lands and your glory!
- Your way and great deeds I will always praise! (In-nin me-hus-a 1:254-5)
- I am yours! It will always be so!
- May your heart cool off for me
- May your understanding... compassion…
- I have experienced your great punishment (In-nin me-hus-a l:246-7 & 250)
Enehduana depcits Inanna as both warlike and compassionate. "No one can oppose her murderous battle — who rivals her? No one can look at her fierce fighting, the carnage." (Inanna C:49-59) However, she also sees the goddess as "weeping daily your heart... knows no relaxation." (91-98) To Inanna she assigns wide powers in human affairs:
- To turn a man into a woman and a woman into a man are yours, Inanna. :Desirability and arousal, goods and property are yours, Inanna.
- Gain, profit, great wealth and greater wealth are yours, Inanna. :Gaining wealth and having success in wealth, financial loss and reduced wealth are yours, Inanna.
- Observation, choice, offering, inspection and approval are yours, Inanna.
- Assigning virility, dignity, guardian angels, protective deities and cult centres are yours, Inanna.
Legacy
Enheduanna began a long tradition of Mesopatmian princesses serving a high priestesses. A hymn dedicated to her by an anonymous composer, indicates that after her death she may even have been venerated as a deity herself.
Although shrouded in the mists of an ancient culture, Enheduana's importance is likely to rise in stature. She is, after all, probably the world's oldest known author as well as figure who evidences a significant role of women in the history of literature.
A number of recent studies are devoted to her. Minnesota author Cass Dalglish of Augsberg College, for example recently published a new, poetic translation of Nin-me-sara, under the title "Humming the Blues." It utilizes a unique approach to cuneiform translation, taking the multiple meanings of each symbol into account in order to arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of the Enheduanna's themes and motifs.
See also
- Sumerian literature
Notes
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Dalglish, Cass. Humming the Blues: Inspired by Nin-Me-Sar-Ra, Enheduanna's Song to Inanna, CALYX Books, 2008. ISBN 9780934971928
- Hallo, William W. and J.J.A. Van Dijk, The Exaltation of Inanna, Yale University Press, 1968.
- Meador, Betty De Shong. Inanna, Lady of Largest Heart: Poems of the Sumerian High Priestess Enheduanna, University of Texas, 2001. ISBN 0292752423
- Roberts, Janet."Enheduanna, Daughter of King Sargon: Princess, Poet, Priestess (2300 B.C.E.)," Transoxiana 8, 2004. [1]
- Sjoberg, Ake and E. Bermann, The Collection of the Sumerian Temple Hymns, Locust Valley, J.J. Augustin, 1969.
- Sjoberg, Ake. "In-nin sa-gur-ra: A Hymn to the Goddess Inanna by the en-Priestess Enheduanna," Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archaeologie 65, 1975, 161-253.
- Zgoll, Annette. Der Rechtsfall der En-hedu-Ana im Lied Nin-me-sarra, (En-hedu-Ana's legal case in the hymn Nin-me-sara) [Ugarit-Verlag, Muenster], 1997. For an English translation of Zgoll's translation of Nin-me-sara: [2]
External links
- Biography of Enheduanna
- The En-hedu-Ana Research Pages
- Inana and Ebih: translation (The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature)
- A hymn to Inana (Inana C): translation (The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature)
- The temple hymns: translation (The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature)
- Cass Dalglish's Humming the Blues, Inspired by Enheduanna's Nin-Me-Sar-Ra
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