Tablets inscribed with "The Exaltation of Inanna" (1 of 3)
These three tablets include the entire poem. The extract below begins with Enheduanna’s plea to Inanna, which details how Lugalanne desecrated the temple of An, the sky god, and forced Enheduanna out of her office, vividly alluding to sexual harassment for the first time in literature. In the end, Inanna accepts her plea, and Enheduanna is reinstated. Enheduanna then adds a remarkable line about her creative process, stating that she has “given birth” to this poem.
Tablets inscribed with "The Exaltation of Inanna" in three parts
Mesopotamia, possibly Larsa (modern Tell Senkereh)
Old Babylonian period, ca. 1750 BC
Clay
Yale Babylonian Collection, Purchase; YPM BC 018721/YBC 4656 (Lines 1–52), YPM BC 021234/YBC7169 (Lines 52–102), YPM BC 021231/YBC 7167 (Lines 102–53)
Courtesy of the Yale Babylonian Collection. Photographygraphy by Klaus Wagensonner.
Sidney Babcock: These three tablets include the entire poem. The extract you will hear begins with Enheduanna’s plea to Inanna, which details how Lugalanne desecrated the temple of An, the sky god, and forced Enheduanna out of her office by taking away her distinguishing headdress and by encouraging her to commit suicide. She vividly alludes to sexual harassment for the first time in world literature:
Nimet Habachy:
“I am Enheduanna, let me speak to you my prayer,
My tears flowing like some sweet intoxicant:
“O Holy Inanna, may I let you have your way?
I would have you judge the case.”
Sidney Babcock: Indictment of Lugalanne
Nimet Habachy:
“That man has defiled the rites decreed by holy heaven,
He has robbed An of his very temple!
He honors not the greatest god of all,
The abode that An himself could not exhaust its charms, its beauty infinite,
He has turned that temple into a house of ill repute,
Forcing his way in as if he were an equal, he dared approach me in his lust!”
[ . . . ]
“When Lugalanne stood paramount, he expelled me from the temple,
He made me fly out the window like a swallow, I had had my taste of life,
He made me walk a land of thorns.
He took away the noble diadem of my holy office,
He gave me a dagger: ‘This is just right for you,’ he said.”
Tablets inscribed with "The Exaltation of Inanna" (2 of 3)
Sidney Babcock: Facing the formidable threat of Lugalanne, Enheduanna intensifies her passionate plea to Inanna. In the end, the goddess accepts her prayers, and Enheduanna is restored to office:
Sidney Babcock: Listen to Enheduanna’s Appeal to Inanna
Nimet Habachy:
“O precious, precious Queen, beloved of heaven,
Your sublime will prevails, let it be for my restoration!
[ . . . ]
Show that you stand high as heaven
Show that you reach wide as the world
Show that you destroy all unruly lands
Show that you raise your voice to foreign countries
Show that you smash head after head,
Show that you feed on kill, like a lion,
Show that your eyes are furious,
Show that your stare is full of rage,
Show that your eyes gleam and glitter
Show that you are unyielding, that you persevere,
Show that you stand paramount,
For if Nanna said nothing, he meant, ‘Do as you will.’”
Sidney Babcock: Now listen to the Restoration of Enheduanna
Nimet Habachy:
“The almighty queen, who presides over the priestly congregation,
She accepted her prayer.
Inanna’s sublime will was for her restoration.
It was a sweet moment for her [Inanna], she was arrayed in her finest, she was beautiful beyond compare,
She was lovely as a moonbeam streaming down.
Nanna stepped forward to admire her.
Her divine mother, Ningal, joined him with her blessing,
The very doorway gave its greeting too.
What she commanded for her consecrated woman prevailed.
To you, who can destroy countries, whose cosmic powers are bestowed by Heaven.
To my queen arrayed in beauty, to Inanna be praise!”
Tablets inscribed with "The Exaltation of Inanna" (3 of 3)
Sidney Babcock: For the first time in the history of world literature, an author describes her own creative process in the "Exaltation of Inanna." Enheduanna states how she has "given birth" to this poem:
Nimet Habachy:
“One has heaped up the coals (in the censer), prepared the lustration.
The nuptial chamber awaits you, let your heart be appeased!
With ‘it is enough for me, it is too much for me!’ I have given birth, oh exalted lady, (to this song) for you.
That which I recited to you at (mid)night
May the singer repeat it to you at noon!”