Poetry
The Exaltation of Inanna
Nin-me-šara
Enheduanna · -2300
Synopsis
The hymn first praises the goddess Inanna, to whom An has entrusted the divine powers and whose anger lays waste the lands that refuse her obedience. The priestess then speaks in the first person: driven from her temple in Ur by Lugal-ane, who has seized power, and stripped of her insignia, she begs the god Nanna, then Inanna herself, to intercede with An so that she may regain her place.
Context
The poem, of one hundred and fifty-four lines, is known only from copies on tablets made at least six centuries after the life of the woman to whom it is attributed. It is linked to a revolt against Naram-Sin, during which a certain Lugal-ane seized power at Ur. William W. Hallo and J. J. A. van Dijk gave its first complete edition in 1968, with an English translation, and Annette Zgoll a new edition in 1997. Miguel Civil and Jeremy Black have questioned the attribution to Enheduanna, whose name might designate the office of priestess rather than a person.
Who it is for
To read one of the oldest poems in the world, in which a priestess in exile speaks in her own name.
Prizes and reception
Hallo and Åke Sjöberg were the first to attribute the poem firmly to her; Denise Le Dantec devoted a book to her in 2021.