Enheduanna
Encyclopedia
Enheduanna also transliterated as Enheduana, En-hedu-ana or EnHeduAnna ("en" means High Priestess, and "hedu" means adornment
, so this name translates to "high priestess adornment of the god, An
"), was an Akkad
ian princess
as well as High Priestess of the Moon god Nanna (Sin) in the Sumer
ian city-state of Ur
. She was the first known holder of the title "En Priestess", a role of great political importance that was often held by royal daughters. Enheduanna was an aunt of Akkadian king Narām-Sîn, and she was one of the earliest women in history whose name is known.
Regarded by literary and historical scholars as possibly the earliest known author
and poet
of either gender, Enheduanna served as the High Priestess during the third millennium BCE. She was appointed to the role by her father, King Sargon of Akkad
. Her mother was Queen Tashlultum
. Enheduanna has left behind a corpus of literary works definitively ascribed to her that include many personal devotions to the goddess Inanna
and a collection of hymns known as the "Sumerian Temple Hymns" that are regarded as one of the first attempts at a systematic theology
. In addition, scholars such as Hallo
and Van Dijk suggest that certain texts that have not been ascribed to her may also be her works.
Enheduanna was appointed to the role of High Priestess in a move considered to be a shrewd political move by Sargon to help cement power in the Sumer
ian south, in which the City of Ur
was located.
She continued to hold office during the reign of Rimush
, her brother. It was during the reign of Rimush that she was involved in some form of political turmoil and expelled from the role and eventually reinstated. This is detailed in her composition 'The Exaltation of Inanna' or ‘nin me sar2-ra’ details her expulsion from Ur and eventual reinstatement (Franke 1995: 835). This correlates with 'The Curse of Akkade' in which Naram-Sin, under whom Enheduanna may have also served, is cursed and cast out by Enlil
. After her death Enheduanna continued to be remembered as an important figure, perhaps even attaining semi-divine status.
Copies of Enheduanna’s work, many dating to hundreds of years after her death, were made and kept in Nippur, Ur and possibly Lagash alongside Royal inscriptions which indicates that they were of high value, perhaps equal to the inscriptions of Kings (Westenholz 1989:540).
Her other famous work is 'The Exaltation of Inanna' or 'Nin-Me-Sar-Ra' which is a personal devotion to the goddess Inanna and also details Enheduanna's expulsion from Ur.
Enheduanna's authorship raises the issue of female literacy in ancient Mesopotamia; in addition to Enheduanna royal wives are known to have commissioned or perhaps composed poetry and the goddess Nindaba acted as a scribe: As Leick notes "to some extent the descriptive epithets of Mesopotamian goddesses reveal the cultural perception of women and their role in ancient society".
The majority of Enheduanna's work is available in translation at the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature.
Westenholz edited another fragmentary hymn dedicated to En-hedu-ana, apparently by an anonymous composer, indicating her apotheosis
, becoming a deity following her death.
Jungian analyst Betty De Shong Meador has translated works by Enheduanna and written two books on the subject, Inanna: Lady of Largest Heart and Princess, priestess, poet: the Sumerian temple hymns of Enheduanna.
Adornment
An adornment is generally an accessory or ornament worn to enhance the beauty or status of the wearer. They are often worn to embellish, enhance, or distinguish the wearer, and to define cultural, social, or religious status within a specific community. When worn to show economic status, the items...
, so this name translates to "high priestess adornment of the god, An
Anu
In Sumerian mythology, Anu was a sky-god, the god of heaven, lord of constellations, king of gods, Consort of Antu, spirits and demons, and dwelt in the highest heavenly regions. It was believed that he had the power to judge those who had committed crimes, and that he had created the stars as...
"), was an Akkad
Akkad
The Akkadian Empire was an empire centered in the city of Akkad and its surrounding region in Mesopotamia....
ian princess
Princess
Princess is the feminine form of prince . Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or his daughters....
as well as High Priestess of the Moon god Nanna (Sin) in the Sumer
Sumer
Sumer was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age....
ian city-state of Ur
Ur
Ur was an important city-state in ancient Sumer located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar in Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate...
. She was the first known holder of the title "En Priestess", a role of great political importance that was often held by royal daughters. Enheduanna was an aunt of Akkadian king Narām-Sîn, and she was one of the earliest women in history whose name is known.
Regarded by literary and historical scholars as possibly the earliest known author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
of either gender, Enheduanna served as the High Priestess during the third millennium BCE. She was appointed to the role by her father, King Sargon of Akkad
Sargon of Akkad
Sargon of Akkad, also known as Sargon the Great "the Great King" , was an Akkadian emperor famous for his conquest of the Sumerian city-states in the 23rd and 22nd centuries BC. The founder of the Dynasty of Akkad, Sargon reigned in the last quarter of the third millennium BC...
. Her mother was Queen Tashlultum
Tashlultum
Tashlultum was a queen of Akkad and wife of King Sargon of Akkad. She was the mother of his children Enheduanna, Rimush, Manishtushu, Shu-Enlil and Ilaba'is-takal. She was a grandmother of Naram-Sin of Akkad and great-grandmother of Shar-Kali-Sharri....
. Enheduanna has left behind a corpus of literary works definitively ascribed to her that include many personal devotions to the goddess Inanna
Inanna
Inanna, also spelled Inana is the Sumerian goddess of sexual love, fertility, and warfare....
and a collection of hymns known as the "Sumerian Temple Hymns" that are regarded as one of the first attempts at a systematic theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
. In addition, scholars such as Hallo
William W. Hallo
William Wolfgang Hallo was professor of Assyriology and Babylonian Literature and curator of the Babylonian collection at Yale University....
and Van Dijk suggest that certain texts that have not been ascribed to her may also be her works.
Enheduanna was appointed to the role of High Priestess in a move considered to be a shrewd political move by Sargon to help cement power in the Sumer
Sumer
Sumer was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age....
ian south, in which the City of Ur
Ur
Ur was an important city-state in ancient Sumer located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar in Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate...
was located.
She continued to hold office during the reign of Rimush
Rimush
Rimush was the second king of the Akkadian Empire. He was the son of Sargon of Akkad and Queen Tashlultum. He was succeeded by his brother Manishtushu and was an uncle of Naram-Sin of Akkad....
, her brother. It was during the reign of Rimush that she was involved in some form of political turmoil and expelled from the role and eventually reinstated. This is detailed in her composition 'The Exaltation of Inanna' or ‘nin me sar2-ra’ details her expulsion from Ur and eventual reinstatement (Franke 1995: 835). This correlates with 'The Curse of Akkade' in which Naram-Sin, under whom Enheduanna may have also served, is cursed and cast out by Enlil
Enlil
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era. Her poetry was widely popular in both England and the United States during her lifetime. A collection of her last poems was published by her husband, Robert Browning, shortly after her death.-Early life:Members...
. After her death Enheduanna continued to be remembered as an important figure, perhaps even attaining semi-divine status.
Archaeological and textual evidence
Enheduanna is well-known from archaeological and textual sources. Two seals bearing her name, belonging to her servants and dating to the Sargonic period, have been excavated at the Royal Cemetery at Ur. In addition an Alabaster disc bearing her name and likeness was excavated in the Gipar at Ur, which was the main residence of the En Priestess. The statue was found in the Isin-Larsa (c. 2000-1800 BCE) levels of the Giparu alongside a statue of the En Priestess Enannatumma.Copies of Enheduanna’s work, many dating to hundreds of years after her death, were made and kept in Nippur, Ur and possibly Lagash alongside Royal inscriptions which indicates that they were of high value, perhaps equal to the inscriptions of Kings (Westenholz 1989:540).
Her literary work
Enheduanna composed 42 hymns addressed to temples across Sumer and Akkad including Eridu, Sippar and Esnunna. The texts are reconstructed from 37 tablets tablets from Ur and Nippur, most of which date to the Ur III and Old Babylonian periods (Sjöberg and Bergman 1969:6-7). This collection is known generally as 'The Sumerian Temple Hymns'. The temple hymns were the first collection of their kind, in them Enheduanna states: “My king, something has been created that no one has created before.” The copying of the hymns indicates the temple hymns were in use long after Enheduanna's death and were held in high esteem.Her other famous work is 'The Exaltation of Inanna' or 'Nin-Me-Sar-Ra' which is a personal devotion to the goddess Inanna and also details Enheduanna's expulsion from Ur.
Enheduanna's authorship raises the issue of female literacy in ancient Mesopotamia; in addition to Enheduanna royal wives are known to have commissioned or perhaps composed poetry and the goddess Nindaba acted as a scribe: As Leick notes "to some extent the descriptive epithets of Mesopotamian goddesses reveal the cultural perception of women and their role in ancient society".
List of Enheduanna's compositions
- Nin-me-sara, "The Exaltation of Inanna", 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 to AnANAn is an indefinite article in the English language; see also: a and an.An, AN, aN, or an may also refer to:- Culture and language :* An , a god in Sumerian and Babylonian mythology...
, the supreme god of the pantheon. Then, En-hedu-ana speaks in the first person to express her unhappiness at being exiled from the temple and the cities of Ur and Uruk. En-hedu-ana asks for intercession of NannaNanna (Norse deity)In Norse mythology, Nanna Nepsdóttir or simply Nanna is a goddess associated with the god Baldr. Accounts of Nanna vary greatly by source. In the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, Nanna is the wife of Baldr and the couple produced a son, the god Forseti. After Baldr's...
. Lines 122-135 recite divine attributes of Inanna. - In-nin sa-gur-ra (named by incipitIncipitIncipit is a Latin word meaning "it begins". The incipit of a text, such as a poem, song, or book, is the first few words of its opening line. In music, it can also refer to the opening notes of a composition. Before the development of titles, texts were often referred to by their incipits...
), 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
The majority of Enheduanna's work is available in translation at the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature.
Westenholz edited another fragmentary hymn dedicated to En-hedu-ana, apparently by an anonymous composer, indicating her apotheosis
Apotheosis
Apotheosis is the glorification of a subject to divine level. The term has meanings in theology, where it refers to a belief, and in art, where it refers to a genre.In theology, the term apotheosis refers to the idea that an individual has been raised to godlike stature...
, becoming a deity following her death.
In modern culture
Minnesota author Cass Dalglish has published a contemporary poetic adaptation of Nin-me-sar-ra.Jungian analyst Betty De Shong Meador has translated works by Enheduanna and written two books on the subject, Inanna: Lady of Largest Heart and Princess, priestess, poet: the Sumerian temple hymns of Enheduanna.
External links
- Enheduanna on Ancient History Encyclopedia
- Biography of Enheduanna
- The En-hedu-Ana Research Pages
- Inana and Ebih: translation (The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature)
- The exaltation of Inana: Nin me šar-ra (Inana B): translation (The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature)
- A hymn to Inana: In-nin šag gur-ra (Inana C): translation (The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature)
- The temple hymns: translation (The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature)
- The Enheduanna Society (The Enheduanna Society)