Enheduana of Sumer - The First Known Author

Summary:
          Enheduana of Sumer was the daughter of King Sargon, who ruled two ancient city-states, near to where modern Baghdad is today, called Akkad and Kish.  She had two twin brothers; Rimush and Manishtusu, whom Sargon expected to become kings of his two cities.  Unfortunately for him, both brothers enjoyed war too much, and both were killed by enemies of the palace. 
          Although her two brothers weren't very successful during their lifespans, Enheduana showed promise ever since she had become a teenager.  Her father noticed how mature she was, and immediately promoted her to high priestess to the moon God of Sumer, Nanna.  To fulfill the obligations required of her as high priestess, Enheduana moved to a city south of Akkad to Ur.  Situated near the center of Ur, there was a ziggurat temple with seven different-colored stories.  As high priestess, Enheduana used the blue room at the top, closest to heaven, to complete her duties.          
         The people of Sumer believed that their gods controlled everything, and that it was only through praying and making sacrifices to them that mild weather, healthy crops and livestock, and good fortune would be granted to them.  To appease the gods, Enheduana prayed to them, carried out rituals, and sacrificed animals, and burned incense.  One of the most vital rituals Enheduana needed to complete in order to keep the gods happy was a ritual to celebrate the spring New Year.  She needed to act out the legend of a hallowed marriage between a lowly shepherd called Dumuzi, and the moon goddess, Inanna.  Enheduana would be the goddess, and some high-ranking man would be Dumuzi. 

Inanna/Ishtar

          Although Enheduana was kept busy with her obligations as a priestess, she still found a lot of time to write.  Much of her writings were religious, and and she wrote forty-two poems dedicated to the temples of Sumer.  Enheduana began to execute more articles of writing to Inanna, the moon goddess, although she was technically a priestess of the moon god, Nanna, and wrote a long piece of poetry to her, which may have been chanted or sung in Inanna's honor.  Enheduana's writings had a lot of influence, and sooner or later, Inanna was transformed into the highest goddess of Sumer.  Although the priestess wrote multiple items showing that she was religious, she also wrote about herself and politics.  She produced a story about how the city-states her father, King Sargon, had ruled had united to fight against him, and had placed siege upon Akkad until the King beat them back, and taught them who was in control.  There have been 50 tablets with the exact same poem writing by Enheduana on them, which proves that her writing was extremely popular back then. 

A Writing Tablet Used Before Paper

          Enheduana held the post of high priestess to Nanna for almost twenty-five years, until one of her nephews claimed the throne.  Although she'd had years of experience and was very popular with the Akkadian people, Enheduana was removed from her post as priestess.  Her nephew fired her, and possibly exiled her to the desert, in order to give his daughter the honored role.  Although she eventually lost her position, Enheduana was a very important person.  She is the first individually known writer, and anyone who knows anything about history knows her name.  On the other hand, her king nephew is hardly known by at all. 

Questions:
1.)  What did books look like during the time that Enheduana was writing?  How were these books written?
          In Enheduana's time, books looked like carved clay.  They were molded tablets, with writing chiseled into them by scribes with hardened reeds called styluses.  These tablets were much more durable than paper, which accounted for the fact that so many of them were discovered by archaeologists.

2.)  Where did Enheduana and her family live?  What did her father do?
          Enheduana and her family originally resided in a palace at the city-state Akkad.  Her father was King Sargon, and he ruled over Ur, Akkad, and Kish; uniting them.  King Sargon mysteriously rose to power from being a cupbearer for the king of Kish to powerful King of many city-states. 

3.)  What was Enheduana's job?  List three of her duties.  How did she lose her job?
          Enheduana's job was high priestess of the moon god, Nanna.  She was required to keep the gods happy in order to bring good fortune to her city by praying, making sacrifices, completing sacred rituals, and burning aromatic incense for the gods to enjoy.

4.) The author says that Enheduana's poems were so popular that they were like bestsellers today.  What evidence does she use to support this claim?
          The author uses the fact that archaeologists have found over fifty clay tablets with the same poem written by Enheduana on them as evidence that they were so popular they were similar to bestsellers today.

5.)  Enheduana's writings are hymns of praise, but they also tell us about the times she lived in.  Describe one "current event" that Enheduana wrote about.
          One of the "current events" that Enheduana wrote about pictured her father fighting against his revolting people.  Apparently, a few city-states that Sargon controlled united to rebel against him, and placed siege on Akkad as well as removing the goddess Inanna from her shrines and temples.  Sargon was eventually able to suffocate the rebellion, and he showed the traitors that Inanna was "all-powerful."