Enheduana

Enheduana (or Enheduanna) (c2300–c.2225 BC) was an Akkadian princess, the daughter of Sargon the Great, king of Sumer and Akkad. She was the en, or High Priestess, of Nanna, the Sumerian Moon god, in the ancient Sumerian city of Ur in what is now southern Iraq. She is best known as the first known author to have included her name on her writings.

Enheduana wrote a set of hymns, including the Nin-me-sar-ra to Inanna (the daughter of Nanna) in which she included autobiographical material. Her image was first discovered in 1925 by the archaeologist Leonard Woolley on a translucent alabaster disc, found in pieces in the temple complex in Ur where she lived.

Writings

Six of her written works have so far been discovered:

• A set of hymns to Inanna
  1. Nin-me-sar-ra ("Queen of Countless Divine Powers", or "The Exaltation of Inanna"). This was first translated by William Hallo (1968), and more recently by Annette Zgoll (2000).
  2. In-nin sa-gur-ra ("Stout-Hearted Lady" or "Great-Hearted Lady"). This was first translated by Ake Sjoberg (1974).
  3. In-nin me-hus-a ("Inanna and Ebih"). This was first translated by Henri Limet (1969).
• E-u-nir: a collection of forty-two temple hymns edited by Enheduana, some written by her.
• E-u-gim e-a ("Hymn of Praise to Ekishnugal and Nanna on Assumption of en-ship")
• [title broken] ("Hymn of Praise of Enheduana")

Reading

• A. Barnstone and W. Barnstone [edd] A Book of Women Poets from Antiquity to Now. New York: Schocken, 1980. (Translation.)
• William W. Hallo and J.J.A. van Dijk The Exaltation of Inanna (Yale Near Eastern Researches, 3). New Haven: Yale University Press, 1968. (Composite text, commentary, & translation.)
• A.D. Kilmer, J. Bankier, and D. Lashgari Women Poets of the World. New York: Macmillan, 1983. (Translation.)