Name: Enheduanna

Born & Died: 23rd Century BCE

Country of Origin: The city of Ur in modern day Iraq

In a nutshell: Enheduanna was a poet, princess and priestess whose particular claim to fame is being the writer of the oldest texts by a named author in world history. That’s kind of a big deal, right?! 

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Enheduanna lived in the city of Ur (in modern day Iraq) in Mesopotamia all the way back in the 23rd century BCE. That’s an almost mind-bending length of time ago so what makes her iconic enough for her name to have made it through the centuries to now? Well, here’s a little known fact. The oldest texts by a named author in history were written by a woman. I can’t be the only one a little bit chuffed about that!

This woman was Enheduanna, a poet, princess and priestess of the Akkadian Empire and from all those alliterative jobs she had (in the English language anyway), it’s clear she was a busy woman. Or, at least, I’m pretty sure she’d qualify as a #girlboss by today’s standard. 

Enheduanna was the daughter of King Sargon of Akkad, the first leader of the Akkadian Empire and possibly the world’s first ever emperor so this pretty epic girl had a pretty epic lineage. Little is known of her family life or childhood but what is known is that she was given a place of great honour in her position as high priestess of the cult of Nanna. Both patron to the city-state of Ur and god of wisdom, Nanna was a moon deity worshipped in Mesopotamia. However, Enheduanna’s poems show a particular devotion to Nanna’s daughter Inanna, goddess of love, beauty, sex and war. For reference, the Greek equivalents of Inanna are thought to be a combination of Aphrodite and Athena. 

Enheduanna’s position as high priestess continued through the reigns of her brothers Rimush and Manishtushu. However, one of her poems, The Exaltation of Inanna, details her enforced exile by someone known as Lugalanne, a possible enemy of her nephew Naram-Sin. I need to pause to tell you a little bit about Naram-Sin as he is an odd figure in history. He is considered the ruler of the Akkadian Empire when it was at its strongest and defied himself so that he not only held the title of king but also god of the four corners, as in the four corners of the world… essentially Naram-Sin classed himself god of the entire world. Aim high, I guess. 

Back to Enheduanna though as we need to talk more about her writing. She wrote several poems and 42 hymns and these had such a lasting impact that she practically set the bar for religious writing, and just about any writing really, for centuries to come. Some even believe the her lasting influence can be found in the Old Testament and the writings of Homer. 

All knowledge of Edheduanna seemed lost to time until 1927 when British archaeologist Sir Leonard Wooley discovered a disk that held both Enheduanna’s name and a carving of her likeness. I’d love to tell you more about one particular member of Sir Wooley’s excavation team, his wife, Katherine, who inspired an Agatha Christie character, but that’s a story for another time. 

As both high priestess, an incredibly powerful and respected position for her time, and poet, Enheduanna made her lasting impact on history. It’s also worth noting the impact she had on literature. The very first uses of written language date way back to ancient Mesopotamia three thousand years BCE. However, the written word came in the form of note taking for the merchants of the time to keep track of their finances and dealings. Enheduanna was the individual that took written language away from being a tool of necessity and turned it into a means of self-expression and worship. So, to answer my own question from the beginning, yeah, Enheduanna and her impact on literature is definitely a big humungous deal.

Thank you for reading. Just a little disclaimer that I’m not very familiar with the history of Mesopotamia but I’ve done my best with researching on this because it was a story too good not to tell. If any of the facts are a little off, please feel free to let me know. For more info on Enheduanna and her influence, check out this amazing TED-Ed video.