Happy International Women’s day!
In celebration let’s talk about Enheduanna, an ancient Sumerian high priestess of the goddess of fertility and war; Inanna.
What makes Enheduanna unique is the fact that she is the earliest known [non-anonymous] poet and author in the entire world. (That’s right, the earliest known poet/author is a woman!) Her mother was most likely Sumerian, her father was Sargon of Akkad. However, she is sometimes also listed as the wife of the moon god Nanna. (Father of Inanna)
Excerpt from the Exaltation of Inanna:
At your battle-cry, my lady, the foreign lands bow low. When humanity comes before you in awed silence at the terrifying radiance and tempest, you grasp the most terrible of all the divine powers. Because of you, the threshold of tears is opened, and people walk along the path of the house of great lamentations. In the van of battle, all is struck down before you. With your strength, my lady, teeth can crush flint. You charge forward like a charging storm. You roar with the roaring storm, you continually thunder with Ickur. You spread exhaustion with the stormwinds, while your own feet remain tireless. With the lamenting balaj drum a lament is struck up.
The poetry of Enheduanna, such as the Exaltation of Inanna, are older than the Egyptian book of the dead, the IChing, and the Hebrew bible. Her writings, mostly about the goddess Inanna, helped shape the culture and language of the time period. Being highly influential, she assisted in uniting north and south Mesopotamia with her authorship by trying to unify the city states through worship. The goddess Inanna, one of the more complex and important of Mesopotamian gods, arose to great prominence because of Enheduanna’s writings. She even called upon the goddess against a male usurper!
You can read more about Enheduanna by following this link.
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