THE FIRST CIVILIZATION A woman named Enheduanna was one of the most powerful figures in ancient Mesopotamia Enheduanna was still a child when her parents King Sargon and Queen Tashlultum of Akkad conquered Sumer and brought it under Akkadian rule establishing the world’s first empire As Enheduanna grew older she became history’s earliest author The writers of ancient Akkad and Sumer used a form of writing known as cuneiform CHAPTER 1 7 ABD_ANC_MES_FPGS indd 710 30 14 11
Her poetic works written in approximately 2300 BCE were the first to be credited to a specific person rather than being anonymous This gave her an unprecedented legacy Historians do not know her birth name Enheduanna was the name she took on when she became high priestess a common practice among religious leaders to this day Just as Pope Francis is not addressed by his birth name of Jorge Bergoglio Enheduanna did not refer to herself by her birth name It is unlikely we will ever know what it was Most of what historians know about Enheduanna comes from two sources the text of her 47 surviving hymns and a calcite engraving called the Disk of Enheduanna These artifacts say relatively little about her daily life or her personal history outside of the public eye but they say a great deal about her far-reaching priorities Her temple dedications tell us she was talented at describing gods the communities that worshiped them and how the two were connected She likely spent much of her daily life in the giparu or priest’s home in the Sumerian city of Ur Her religious duties involved rituals we now know little about She would have probably washed and maintained the statues of the gods overseen sacrifices pronounced blessings and written hymns She also would have predicted the future kept detailed records on the movement 8 ABD_ANC_MES_FPGS indd 8 10 30 14 11
of the moon and the stars delivered public speeches and managed the massive network of temples These buildings were the most important social and cultural institutions of their time As high priestess she would have also been regarded as the wife of the moon god Nanna This made her a symbol of fertility power and wisdom for the entire nation The people of Ur worshiped their gods in temples built on top of pyramid-shaped platforms called ziggurats 9 ABD_ANC_MES_FPGS indd 910 30 14 11
