Enheduana - Babylonian Princess, Priestess & Poetess
Apr 21, 2024 14:50:59 GMT
Lucy of Ravenscar likes this
Post by foresthermit on Apr 21, 2024 14:50:59 GMT
I found another fascinating article in the London Review of Books! This time it's about Enheduana (or Enheduanna), the ancient Babylonian noblewoman who lived about 2300 BCE, and is
believed to be the world's first named author.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n03/anna-della-subin/wreckage-of-ellipses
Enheduana lived over four thousand years ago. Her works precede those of Homer of Greece and Virgil of Rome by centuries. Yet we can still read her poems today!
This is from part of Enheduana's poems. It's a hymn she wrote, to praise the Mesopotamian goddess Inanna (better know to modern people as Ishtar) :
The Hymn to Inanna
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/157578/from-the-hymn-to-inanna
believed to be the world's first named author.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n03/anna-della-subin/wreckage-of-ellipses
Enheduana lived over four thousand years ago. Her works precede those of Homer of Greece and Virgil of Rome by centuries. Yet we can still read her poems today!
This is from part of Enheduana's poems. It's a hymn she wrote, to praise the Mesopotamian goddess Inanna (better know to modern people as Ishtar) :
The Hymn to Inanna
Lady of all powers,
In whom light appears,
Radiant one
Beloved of Heaven and Earth,
Tiara-crowned
Priestess of the Highest God,
My Lady, you are the guardian
Of all greatness.
Your hand holds the seven powers:
You lift the powers of being,
You have hung them over your finger,
You have gathered the many powers,
You have clasped them now
Like necklaces onto your breast.
In whom light appears,
Radiant one
Beloved of Heaven and Earth,
Tiara-crowned
Priestess of the Highest God,
My Lady, you are the guardian
Of all greatness.
Your hand holds the seven powers:
You lift the powers of being,
You have hung them over your finger,
You have gathered the many powers,
You have clasped them now
Like necklaces onto your breast.
