Return to the index of "Other Women's Voices."
Updated 11-14-08
Enheduanna (later
2300s or early 2200s BCE)
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"THAT WHICH HAS BEEN CREATED, NO ONE HAS CREATED."
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We aren't sure of Enheduanna's dates because we aren't sure of her father's dates; Sargon, the ruler of Akkad, a city-state in the north of Mesopotamia, conquered the southern part, Sumer, sometime around 2350 or 2300. He installed his daughter as high-priest of the temple to Nanna, the major temple in Ur, one of the chief cities in the south. We know that she survived her father and continued as high-priest during the reign of one or more of his successors (sons and grandsons). From one of her works, we know that she was temporarily ousted from her position in Ur, perhaps by someone who had usurped power in that city, but that she returned to continue in her position.
Her extant works include a compilation of 42 brief temple hymns (E-u-nir) and three longer hymns to the Sumerian goddess Inanna (whom Sargon seems to have identified with his Akkadian goddess Ishtar). The three Inanna hymns are Inninsagurra, Ninmesarra, and Inninmehusa (the names are from the first lines of the hymns). All of Enheduanna's known works have been translated into English, as have some attributed fragments.
Scholars have conjectured that the temple hymns were intended to show Sargon's concern for defending the traditional religious belief of conquered Sumer as well as of his own Akkad, and that the three Inanna hymns show Sargon's inevitable triumph (since Inanna /Ishtar was his patron) over enemies in Akkad and Sumer and on the frontiers of his empire. Whatever their political purpose, Enheduanna's hymns remained popular long after Sargon's empire had gone. Today they let us hear a woman's voice from an unfamiliar world.
On this page you'll find:
Links to helpful sites online.
Excerpts from translations in print:
Temple Hymns (E-u-nir)
Inninsagurra
Ninmesarra
Inninmehusa
FragmentsInformation about secondary sources.
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1. From the Electronic Corpus of Sumerian Literature. For the first four, you can link to the "composite text," a transliteration of the Sumerian original, as well as to the bibliography listing the sources used by the translators; for the fifth, you can link from line numbers to the transliteration. (For information on The Literature of Ancient Sumer, a print version of three of these translations, see below, under "Secondary sources"):
(a) The temple hymns (called E-u-nir from the opening line of the first hymn).
(b) Inninsagurra (A hymn to Inana). And at another site, the cuneiform characters of a passage of Inninsagurra.
(c) Ninmesarra (The exaltation of Inana).
(d) Inninmehusa (Inana and Ebih).
(e) Two fragments that have been attributed to Enheduanna (a balbale is a short song, frequently a hymn of praise); for lines from another version of one of these, see under "In print."
2. Two other complete translations of Ninmesarra:
(a) S.K. Kramer's, but without the introduction and notes available in the print version (for information on that, see "In print").
(b) Michelle Hart's and Tatjana Dorsch's translation of a German version made by Annette Zgoll; notes are included.
3. Excerpts from Ninmesarra by other translators:
(a) Excerpts from William W. Hallo's and J. J. A. van Dijk's translation, in a useful 2000 essay, "Mesopotamian Worldview Expressions," by Louis Roberts; look at the whole, or use your browser's search function to go to "Enheduanna."
(b) At a bookseller, Jane Hirshfield's introduction to and version of several passages (lines 1-16, 26-33, 66-73, 122-35, 143-53).
(c) Two passages from Aliki and Willis Barnstone's adaptations of Hallo and van Dijk: "As for me, my Nanna ignores me" (lines 100-108) and "No one has sung 'Let the world know!'" (122-30).
(d) Use your browser's search function to go to "Enheduanna" for the poem's first 12 lines, translated by Betty DeShong Meador.
(e) A translation of ll. 28-38, by Daniela Gioseffi, here called "Lament to the Spirit of War."
4. Essays:
(a) "Enheduanna, Daughter of King Sargon---Princess, Poet, Priestess" (2004), by Janet Roberts, analyzes and illustrates the Enheduanna disc and verses by Enheduanna to show how she fulfilled her various roles. At the end are five passages of Ninmesarra, adapted by the Barnstones from Hallo and van Dijk.
(b) Two essays by Roberta Binkley: The first is a 1998 general overview of Enheduanna's major themes, with quotes from Ninmesarra (translated by Hallo and van Dijk), Inninsagurra (translated by Sjoberg), and the temple hymns (translated by Sjoberg & E. Bergmann). The second essay is a discussion of Enheduanna's rhetorical presentation of herself and of Inanna in Ninmesarra (for information on a 2004 print essay on Enheduanna by Binkley, see "Secondary sources").
(c) Betty De Shong Meador's introduction to her 2000 translation of the three Inanna hymns, Inanna, Lady of Largest Heart: Poems of the Sumerian High Priestess Enheduanna.
(d) A detailed Jungian analysis, by Bernard S. Butler, of Ninmesarra, Inninmehusa, and Inninsagurra.
(e) An essay by Hart, "Enheduanna's Writings."
(f) In Carole R. Fontaine's 1990 essay, "A Heifer from Thy Stable: Goddesses and the Status of Women in the Ancient Near East," Enheduanna is the first of several Mesopotanian women discussed.
(g) Although Robert Galantucci's 2006 essay,"Priestesses, Production, and Prostitution: The Impact of the Local Religious Temple on Gender and Status in EDIII Mesopotamia," focuses on the period just before hers (the EDIII of the title refers to the period from 2500 to 2350), it uses what is known of Enheduanna to illustrate women's roles and women's power.
5. Reviews (For excerpts from the translation, see under "In print"; for information on the other books' treatment of Enheduanna, see "In print" and "Secondary sources"):
(a) Peter S. Allen on Meador's 2000 translation, Inanna, Lady of Largest Heart; elsewhere, another review, this by Michelle Hart.
(b) David M. Howard Jr. on the 1997-2002 anthology, The Context of Scripture
(c) Martin Worthington on the 2004 anthology, The Literature of Ancient Sumer.
(d) Teresa Grettano on the 2004 essay collection, Rhetoric Before and Beyond the Greeks; and another review, by Robert G. Sullivan.
6. For historical background:
(a) A 2004 essay by Susan Spencer on the history and culture of Sumer.
(b) "The Cup Bearer Who Became King," by Jefferey Querner, an illustrated essay on Enheduanna's father; it includes passages from her hymns.
(c) A 2000 FAQ by Christopher Siren on Sumerian mythology, which tells what is known of the gods about whom Enheduanna writes; and at another site, Ian Lawton's 2000 "Guide to the Mesopotamian Pantheon of Gods," with a useful family tree.
(d) Links to illustrations of the temple of Nanna, of which Enheduanna was high-priest.
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[The temple hymns, (called E-u-nir, "House
of the ziggurat") are known from the copies made by scribes
around 1800 BCE. Those copies state that the "compiler"
is Enheduanna. Some of the hymns may be older songs that she
collected and adapted; a few seem to have been added to the collection
after her time. Ake W. Sjoberg's and E. Bergmann's collection
contains 42 hymns to some 35 cities, in English translation,
accompanied by the text in cuneiform and in transliteration.
The book's general introduction describes each hymn:]
Sjoberg, Ake W., & E. Bergmann, S.J. The collection of
the Sumerian temple hymns; and The Kes temple hymn, by Gene B.
Gragg (Texts from cuneiform sources, v. 3). Locust Valley, N.Y.,
J. J. Augustin, 1969. (202 p. 38 plates [facsims])
LC#: PJ4061 .C6
------------------------------------
"High mountain of heaven."
------------------------------------
[Each hymn first addresses the temple, describing its importance. The "mountain" apparently refers to the ziggurat of which the temple itself was a part. The me's refer to those gifts of the gods that allow men to create a civil society. Throughout, parentheses are the translators' clarifications:]
House with a lofty name, high mountain of heaven,
Your base (and) your great foundations are mighty,
(Your) interior is full of princely me's, a beaming light
which comes forth,
Shrine, your "back" is like the green sky, your shining
front (can be seen by) all people,
In the land it is a dome, guiding (it) in one track,... [#9:
ll.119-123]
----------------
Eternal place, "deep mountain," founded in a artful
fashion,
Dark cella, awe-inspiring place, lying on a field,...
Your interior is the place where the sun rises, endowed with
abundance, far-reaching,...
[#15; ll.187-188,192]
------------------------------------------------------------
"The lady, the great healer of the dark-headed...."
------------------------------------------------------------
[Each temple is dedicated to a god or goddess, whom the hymn addresses in praise. Bau, the daughter of the chief god, An, seems to have been one of the most loved:]
Uruku(g), shrine which causes the seed to come forth, belonging
to the holy An, called by a good name,
Within you (is) the river of ordeal which vindicates the just
man,
House of widespread counsel, storehouse which eternally possess
silver and lapis lazuli,...
Your princess, the merciful princess of the land, the mother
of all lands,
The lady, the great healer of the dark-headed, who determines
the destiny of her city,
The first-born daughter of the holy An, the maid, mother Bau.
[#21: ll.263-265, 267-269]
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"She measures off the heavens, she places the measuring-cords
on the earth."
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[Nisaba was the goddess of writing and of scribes:]
The true woman who possesses exceeding wisdom,...
She consults a tablet of lapis lazuli,
She gives advice to all lands,...
She measures off the heavens, she places the measuring-cords
on the earth.
Nisaba, praise! [#42: ll.536,
538-539, 541-542]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"The great dragon who speaks inimical words to the evil."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[Three of the hymns are to Inanna's temples in different cities. Although Inanna would later become a goddess of love, at this period she appears responsible for cosmic and human order:]
...the singular woman,
The great dragon who speaks inimical words to the evil,
Who makes (everything as) clean (as) the whitest of things, who
goes against the enemies' land,
Through her the firmament is made beautiful in the evening,
The great daughter of Suen, the holy Inanna,... [#26:
ll.321-325]
-----------------
House of Inanna, of silver and lapis lazuli, store house built
of gold,
Your princess is an urabu-bird, the nugig of the nigigar,...
Arrayed in battle, beautiful...
Who washes the tools in the "blood of battle,"
She opens the "door of battle"...
The wise one of heaven, Inanna,... [#40:
ll.512-514, 515-517]
---------------------------------------------------
"The complier of the tablet Enheduanna"
---------------------------------------------------
[Enheduanna identifies herself at the end of the collection. The verb she uses --- "created" --- is used elsewhere to describe the process of child-birth:]
The compiler of the tablet (is) Enheduanna.
My lord, that which has been created (here) no one has created
(before). [ll.543-544]
========================================================================
[In English, Inninsagurra is often called "Stout-hearted Lady" because of Ake W. Sjoberg's translation of the first line. The text is missing lines at various points, so about 225 lines are extant of an original 274. Sjoberg's introduction analyses the structure of the poem; besides the English translation, he also gives the text in transliterated Sumerian. The periodical is not available in all university libraries, but it is in enough so that you can get the article via interlibrary loan:]
Sjoberg, Ake W. In-nin--sa-gur-ra: A hymn to the goddess Inanna
by the en-priestess Enheduanna. Zeitschrift fur Assyriologie
und vorderasiatische Archaologie, 65 (1976), 161-253.
LC#: PJ3104 .Z5; ISSN: 0084-5299
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Her radiance covers the great mountain, silences the road."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Here Inanna is raised to a rank at least equal to that of
An, the traditional head of the Sumerian pantheon:]
The Mistress, the stout-hearted, impetuous Lady, proudest
among the Anunna-gods,
Surpassing in all lands, the great daughter of Su'en, exalted
among the "Great Princes,"
The queen (performing) great deeds, who gathers the me's of heaven
and earth, she rivals the great An,
She is the august leader among the great gods, she makes their
verdict final.... [ll.1-4]
-----------------
She makes perfect the great me's, she holds a halter in her
hand, she is their (the gods') first.
She is a huge neckstock clamping down upon the gods of the land,
Her radiance covers the great mountain, silences the road,
The gods of the land are panic-stricken by her heavy roar. [ll.8-11]
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"To turn a man into a woman and a woman into a man are yours,
Inanna."
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[Inanna rules not only the gods but also humans:]
People look upon each other in anger, they look for struggle,
Their shouting is disturbing in the plain, it is laying upon
field and empty plain. [ll.50-51]
-------------------
Without you no destiny at all is determined, no clever counsel
is granted favor.
To run, to escape, to quiet and to pacify are yours, Inanna.
[ll.114-115]
-------------------
To destroy, to build up, to tear out and to settle are yours,
Inanna,
To turn a man into a woman and a woman into a man are yours,
Inanna,
Desirability, libido, to have goods and property are yours, Inanna,...
Business, great winning, financial loss, deficit are yours, Inanna,
Information, instruction, inspection, to look closely, to approve
are yours, Inanna,...
To build a house, to build a woman's chamber, to have implements,
to kiss the lips of a small child are yours, Inanna,
Swiftness, foot race, to attain desire are your, Inanna,
To interchange the brute and strong and the weak and powerless
is yours, Inanna,...
To give the crown, the chair and the scepter of kingship is yours,
Inanna. [ll.119-121, 123-124,
138-140, 142]
========================================================================
[This 153-line poem, almost complete, gives the most personal information about Enheduanna and about her relation to Inanna and to the god Nanna, whose priestess she was. William W. Hallo and J.J.A. van Dijk have translated Ninmesarra as "The Exaltation of Inanna." Their translation is probably the most valuable to the general reader because of its extensive commentary and notes. The text is also given in cuneiform and in transliterated Sumerian:]
The exaltation of Inanna, by William W. Hallo and J. J. A.
van Dijk (Yale Near Eastern researches, 3). New Haven, Yale University
Press, 1968. (101 p. illus., facsims., plates)
LC#: PJ4065.E47 N5 1968
Bibliographical footnotes
------------------------------------------------
"I, even I, can no longer live with you!"
------------------------------------------------
[The first part of the poem praises Inanna much as Inninsagurra had done; then the poet begins to speak of herself. The "giparu" refers to the temple cloister:]
You of the appropriate me's, great queen of queens,
Issued from the holy womb, supreme over the mother who bore you,
Omniscient sage, lady of all the lands,
Sustenance of the multitudes, I have verily recited your sacred
song!
True goddess, fit for the me's, it is exalting to praise you,
Merciful one, brilliantly righteous woman, I have verily recited
your me's for you!
Verily I had entered my holy giparu at your behest,
I, the high priestess, I, Enheduanna!
I carried the ritual basket, I intoned the acclaim.
(But now) I am placed in the leper's ward, I, even I, can no
longer live with you!
[ll.60-69; p.23]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I may no longer reveal the pronouncements of Ningal to
man."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Enheduanna continues to refer to her own banishment:]
Most precious lady, beloved of An,
Your holy heart is lofty, may it be assuaged on my behalf....
How supreme you are over the great gods, the Anunna!
The Anunna kiss the ground with their lips (in obeisance) to
you.
(But) my own sentence is not concluded, a hostile judgment appears
before my eyes....
(My) hands are no longer folded on the ritual couch,
I may no longer reveal the pronouncements of Ningal to man.
Yet I am the brilliant high priestess of Nanna,
Oh my queen beloved of An, may your heart take pity on me! [ll.109-110,
115-121; pp.29-31]
-------------------------------------------------------
"I have given birth, oh exalted lady, for you."
-------------------------------------------------------
[To assuage Inanna's anger, Enheduanna recites a litany of praise:]
That you are as lofty as Heaven (An), be it known!
That you are as broad as the earth, be it known!
That you devastate the rebellious land, be it known!
That you roar at the land, be it known!
That you smite the heads, be it known!
That you devour cadavers like a dog, be it known!
That your glance is terrible, be it known!
That you lift your terrible glance, be it known!...
Oh my lady beloved of An, I have verily recounted your fury!
One has heaped up the coals (in the censer), prepared the lustration,
The nuptial chamber awaits you, let your heart be appeased!
With "It is enough for me, it is too much for me!"
I have given birth,
oh exalted lady, (to
this song) for you.
That which I recited to you at (mid)night,
May the singer repeat it to you at noon! [ll.123-29,
135-40; pp. 31-33]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The first lady, the reliance of the throne room, has accepted
her offerings."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Enheduanna's prayers are successful; the poem moves briefly
into the third person:]
The first lady, the reliance of the throne room,
Has accepted her offerings,
Inanna's heart has been restored....
Praise be (to) the devastatrix of the lands, endowed with
me's from An,
To my lady wrapped in beauty, (to) Inanna! [ll.143-45,
153-53; p.35]
========================================================================
[The first volume of this 3-volume collection, Canonical Compositions from the Biblical World, contains a "new" translation by William W. Hallo of "The Exaltation of Inanna." Hallo calls it an updated version of his and van Dijk's 1968 translation, but only a few changes have been made, and none are substantial. The notes are valuable in adding information based on recent research; however, this version lacks the introduction and transliteration of the 1968 edition. (See the table of contents of all three volumes online.):]
The context of Scripture / editor, William W. Hallo; associate
editor, K.L. Younger. Leiden; New York: Brill, 1997- . ( v. <1-
>)
LC#: BS1180 .C66 1997; ISBN: 9004106189 (v. 1)
Includes bibliographical references and index. V.1. Canonical
compositions from the biblical world.
========================================================================
[This easily available anthology contains a partial version of "The Exaltation of Inanna" by Aliki Barnstone and Willis Barnstone "adapted... from Hallo & van Dijk" (p.1). A caution: 130 of the poem's 153 lines are given, but no mention is made of line omission; also, the internal headings, which make the long poem look like a group of short lyrics, are not in the original nor in Hallo and van Dijk:]
A Book of women poets from antiquity to now / edited by Aliki
Barnstone & Willis Barnstone. Rev. ed. New York: Schocken
Books, c1992. (xxiv, 822 p.)
LC#: PN6109.9 .B6 1992; ISBN: 0805209972.
Includes indexes.
========================================================================
[This collection includes the translation of Ninmesarra by S. K. Kramer, entitled "The hymnal prayer of Enheduanna: The adoration of Inanna in Ur," that is available online. The book will give you Kramer's introductory analysis of the poem and the useful notes, neither of which are online:]
Ancient Near Eastern texts: Relating to the Old Testament,
edited by James B. Pritchard (3rd ed. with supplement). Princeton,
N.J., Princeton University Press, 1969. (viii, 274p., illus,
plans, 29cm.)
LC#: BS1180 .P83
Bibliographical footnotes.
========================================================================
[Betty De Shong Meador's study includes her versions of Inninmehusa ("Inanna and Ebih"), Inninsagurra ("Lady of Largest Heart"), and Ninmesarra ("The Exaltation of Inanna"). Meador describes her work in translating the three poems with the help of Daniel A. Foxvog, an instructor of Sumerian language and literature, but makes herself responsible for the final product. The first part of the study offers useful background on Sumeria, Inanna, and what little is known of Enheduanna. The three translations in the book's second half are each given a brief introduction and a detailed interpretive essay. The notes and bibliography are helpful. One caution: although Meador identifies lengthy lacunae by using asterisks, she does not indicate the many places where words, phrases and whole lines are missing. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Enheduanna. Inanna, Lady of Largest Heart: poems of the Sumerian
high priestess Enheduanna / [edited] by Betty De Shong Meador;
foreword by Judy Grahn. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000.
(xviii, 225 p.: ill., map)
LC#: PJ4083 .E54 2000; ISBN: 0292752415, 0292752423
Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-213) and index
-------------------------
"Here is my song."
-------------------------
[The approximately 182 lines of Inninmehusa tells of Inanna's treatment of Mount Ebih, part of the Zagros range on the frontier of Sargon's empire. Any people, or any land, that would not pay obeisance to Sargonic rule were warned of what could happen when Inanna was upset. At the end of an opening invocation to Inanna, Enheduanna introduces her story:]
Queen of battle
the Moon God's oldest child
Maiden Inanna
I worship you
here is my song [p.92]
------------------------------------
"The mountain did not fear."
------------------------------------
[Inanna begins her complaint against the mountain Ebih: it has not shown her respect by bowing before her. Elam, Subir and Lullubi were once enemies of Sargon, now apparently subdued:]
"I Inanna
circling the sky
circling the earth
in the east circling the Elam lands
in the northwest circling the Subir lands
in the north circling the Lullubi lands....
I Inanna
came near
the mountain did not fear
came near Mount Ebih
the mountain did not fear
did not tremble
of its own accord
nor wipe its nose on the ground
not flatten its lips in the dust " [pp.92-93]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"You are he who gives my word weight over all others...."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[Inanna goes with her complaint to the chief god, An; an insult to Inanna is also an insult to An and so must be avenged:]
"An, you are he who
proclaimed throughout heaven
dread of my fearsome brilliance
An, you are he who
gives my word weight
over all others
in heaven and on earth
who gives my iron cold ax
dominion to heaven's outer edge....
listen!
I the Lady
came near
and the mountain did not fear" [pp.95-96]
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Wide-eyed stags roam the hills without shepherds."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
[But An is afraid of this power that has not submitted to human control and the order of civilization; so are the other gods, including the ruling council, the Annuna. An replies:]
"Little One
my Little One
you ask for the mountain
you want the heart of it....
the gods
standing in their place
bend with fear of Ebih,
the Annuna
sitting in their holy place
tremble, stricken
their flesh prickles all over
a red-hot terror
paralyzes out whole country
fiery terror of the mountain Ebih
rages in the land around us
the jagged peaks of Mount Ebih
cuts the blue vault of sky
trees
fruit-laden, full grown
stand luxuriant on its slopes
layers of thick leaves
on its great tree
darken the sky
lion pairs
stroll in the shade
of stretching arch of branches
grey-fleeced wild rams
wide-eyed stags
roam the hills without shepherds
wild bulls come and go
legs brushed by swaying grass
the crescent-horned ibex
mates in the mountain cypress
I am fear-struck
at their lavish brilliance
I will not go there with you
O maiden Inanna
I will not set my head with yours
against the fiery radiance of the mountain." [pp.97-99]
----------------------------------
"...not a moist drop stays."
----------------------------------
[In fury, Inanna acts without the other gods and uses her power over the elements to destroy the life of the mountain:]
bedlam unleashed
she sends down a raging battle
hurls a storm from her wide arms
to the ground below....
and hurricane winds
swift-piercing, stinging
fly with Inanna's fury
such loosened earth into sweet air
dust chokes every blink and breath
broken bits and fiery chips
swirl in the dust dark air....
a parching drought she blows
dust dry air in her pitiless wake
gusts over stems of verdant growth
not a moist drop stays
in the bent and withered grass
she strikes fires
flames cut the sky to the boundary stones
flames dance in the smoke stained air
spread at a glance from the queen's glare [pp.99-100]
---------------------------------------
"Because you stand so high...."
---------------------------------------
[Once her conquest is complete, Inanna tells the mountain the reason for the destruction of its life:]
holy Inanna
fresh-faced, fearless
vigor of a young man commanding
wrestles the mountains to its knees
stands the victor at its base
"Mountain" she cries
"Ebih
because you puff yourself up
because you stand so high
dress up so beautiful
make yourself so green and luscious
put on a royal robe
stretch out your hand straight to An
do not wipe you nose on the ground
do not flatten your lips in the dust
I have killed you
I have struck your heart with sorrow...." [pp.100-101]
----------------------------------------------------
"Praise be to Nisaba, goddess of writing."
----------------------------------------------------
[At the end of the hymn, Enheduanna praises the power of both Inanna and Nisaba, who allows this story to be recorded:]
eldest daughter of the Moon
that you defeated Ebih
O maiden Inanna
be praised
and praise be to Nisaba
goddess of writing [p.102]
========================================================================
[In this collection, an essay by Joan Goodnick Westenholz, "Enheduanna, En-Priestess, Hen of Nanna, Spouse of Nanna," gives the English and transliteration of two poetic fragments attributed to Enheduanna (one of 62 lines, one of 21 lines). Westenholz uses these and Enheduanna's other works, chiefly Ninmesarra, to analyze her cult titles and activities as priest of the god Nanna. (The book's title appears to be Sumerian for "students," literally "children of the school") :]
Dumu-e2-dub-ba-a: studies in honor of Ake W. Sjoberg / edited
by Hermann Behrens, Darlene Loding, Martha T. Roth. (Occasional
publications of the Samuel Noah Kramer Fund; 11). Philadelphia:
Samuel Noah Kramer Fund, University Museum, 1989. ( xxiii, 599
p.: ill.)
LC#: PJ3126.S56 D85 1989; ISBN: 0934718989
Text in English, French, and German. Includes bibliographical
references.
-------------------------------------------
"Your name I will make manifest."
-------------------------------------------
[From the "Hymn of praise to Ekisnugal and Nanna on assumption of en-ship"; Ekisnugal is the name of the temple. The opening:]
O temple rising from the sun, for Sumer!
O Ekisnugal, where the lustrations are pure,
O Temple of Nanna, your loftiness will I declare to you,
O Sanctuary Ur, your name will I make manifest.
[ll.107-110]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"My Enheduanna, may she restore your heart to its place"
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[The "masabbu" is an offering-basket, the "asila" a hymn; Ningal is the goddess-wife of Nanna:]
In order to bring in the masabbu basket, to enunciate the
asila,
In order to beautify the temple, to uphold the temple,
In order to keep in order the place of the holy ablutions
O Ningal, my Enheduanna,
May she restore your heart to its place.
O Spouse of Nanna, let me praise you. [ll.160-165]
========================================================================
[This selection of texts is properly a primary source; it includes the print versions of the three Inana hymns available online at the Electronic Corpus of Sumerian Literature: Inninsagurra (A hymn to Inana), Ninmesarra (The exaltation of Inana), and Inninmehusa (Inana and Ebih). It is given here because the general and individual introductions by Jeremy Black and his fellow editors provide an excellent to Sumerian literature and to the genres to which the three hymns belong. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
The literature of ancient Sumer / translated and introduced
by Jeremy Black ... [et al.] Oxford; New York: Oxford University
Press, 2004. (lxiii, 372 p.: ill., maps)
LC#: PJ4083 .L57 2004; ISBN: 0199263116
Includes bibliographical references and index
--------------------
[This collection includes Roberta Binkley's essay, "The
Rhetoric of Origins and the Other: Reading the Ancient Figure
of Enheduanna." Binkley first discusses the difficulty of
fitting Enheduanna's thought and expression into a canon based
on the rhetoric used in Ancient Greece, and then uses passages
from Ninmesarra to illustrate Enheduanna's treatment of
gender and of the relation between human and deity. (See
the book's table of contents online.):]
Rhetoric before and beyond the Greeks / edited by Carol S.
Lipson, Roberta A. Binkley. Albany: State University of New York,
c2004. (vi, 267 p.: ill.)
LC#: PN187 .R45 2004; ISBN: 0791460991,0791461009
Includes bibliographical references and index
-------------------
[William W. Hallo's study has two chapters, "Literature,"
and "Women," that are probably the best single sources
for background information on Enheduanna; each chapter has a
useful bibliography:]
Hallo, William W. Origins: the ancient Near Eastern background
of some modern western institutions (Studies in the history of
the ancient Near East, 0169-9024 ; v. 6). Leiden; New York: E.J.
Brill, 1996. (xvii, 362 p.)
LC#: CB245 .H25 1996; ISBN: 9004103287
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
--------------------
[The chapter on "Femininity and Eroticism in Sumerian Literature" in Gwendolyn Leick's book gives background on the goddess Inanna. The book also has a useful glossary. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Leick, Gwendolyn. Sex and eroticism in Mesopotamian literature.
London; New York: Routledge, 1994. (xvi, 320 p.: ill., map)
LC#: PJ4047 .L45 1994; ISBN: 0415065348.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 299-310) and index.
--------------------
[J.N. Postgate's is an excellent general history of the area and period; it is easily available in the 1994 paperback revision:]
Postgate, J. N. Early Mesopotamia: society and economy at
the dawn of history. London; New York: Routledge, 1992. (xxiii,
367 p.: ill., maps)
LC#: DS69.5 .P64 1992; ISBN: 0415008433
Includes bibliographical references (p. 331-355) and index.
[1994 paperback revision: ISBN: 0415110327]
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Updated 11-14-08