Enheduanna as en-priestess and wearing the flounced gown of divinity, is overseeing the pouring of a ritual libation onto a plant stand by a priest, while two priestesses stand behind her, to the right. The restored translucent alabaster disk is kept at the University of Pennsylvania Museum.
What has been found of her
writings so far, include 6
literary compositions:
1) nin-me-sar-ra
("Queen of countless divine powers")
2)
in-nin sa-gur-ra ("Stout-hearted Lady")translated by
Ake Sjoberg
3) in-nin me-hus-a (Inanna and Ebih")
The first three form a cycle of hymns to Inanna
4) e-u-nir
(The Collection of 42 Sumerian Temple Hymns)
5) e-u-gim e-a (Hymn of Praise to Ekishnugal and Nanna on Assumption of
en-ship)
6) title broken, (Hymn of Praise of Enheduana)
The last two have been
published by
Dr. J. Westenholz in 1989.
According to Dr. Joan Westenholz, Enheduanna lived ca. 2300-2225 B.C.
and the first artifact
discovered informing us of her existence is a
translucent alabaster disk
(above photo is the restored version) which was discovered in pieces
by Sir Leonard Woolley in 1925 in section C of the giparu, where she lived.
Links
Okeanos: Near Eastern Studies etc...
She was also the daughter of Sargon the
Great, who was the first king to rule an empire joining Sumer
and Akkad. He began a tradition
that was to last 500 years,
whereby the king installed his
daughter as en,
or High Priestess, of Nanna ,
the Sumerian Moon God, in the
ancient Sumerian city of Ur
(Southern Iraq). [She is often
mistakenly called a Sumerian
princess because she lived in the
sumerian city of Ur
as a high priestess but her father,
Sargon of Akkad, was Akkadian and
so was she.]
Her high rank and royal background
may explain why she is the
first to include her name in her most popular hymn,nin-me-sara.
As princess of the most prolific king up
to that time in history,
and installed as en
of Nanna,
she was in a very powerful position and possessed
the clout and the pride to include herself in her writings. As you will
see especially in nin-me-sara
in which, she wove her own personal story into a hymn
to Inanna, leaving us with a record of some details of her life.
THE GIPARU
The giparu was a joint building, containing the temple of Ningal,
which is the lower section C on the floorplan, and the private, residential quarters
of
the en priestess- upper right section A. Directly below this section is
section B which contains the cemetary where they buried the dead
en-priestesses. There are records that show offerings were made to
these dead ens, which shows how important they were. To the right of this
cemetary is the dining area and below it is the kitchen area. For an
excellent, detailed
analysis of the giparu please read Penelope Weadock's article, listed in the
bibliography.
Now, some 70 years after that discovery,
she is becoming more known in
scholarly
writings
as well as the "mainstream". As one of her
many modern day scribes, I invite you to email me, Michelle Hart, at
the address below, any
questions you may have about Enheduanna
and I will try to answer them. "What I have done here
no one has done before" to quote Enheduanna!
She wrote that at the end of the Sumerian
temple hymns as it was the first time
a compilation of hymns to all of the temples
of Sumer and Akkad existed.
ABZU: Database for Near Eastern Studies
Diotima
Anahita Board: Study of Women in Antiquity
Oriental Institute at the Univ. of Chicago
Excellent Website on Enheduanna's writings