Nin-me-sar-ra (Adoration of Inanna) - IV

The final part of the series. For more on Enheduanna, see Cass Dalgish's poetic response to this poem and legend, Humming the Blues.

Since the heart was full, too full, great Queen, I birthed it for you.
The deep midnight songs I recited to you
The cult singer will echo at noon:
"Because of your captive spouse, your humble protégé,
Your anger has only grown larger, your heart unassuaged."
The powerful lady, respected by kings, accepts her offerings.
She finally accepts her prayer and sacrifice.
Inanna's great heart has been slaked.

Like the light of the rising moon, she was clothed in enchantment.
Nanna came forward to gaze at her in awe
And her mother Ningal blessed her,
And the temple doorsill opened and said "be hailed!"
What all inside spoke to the mistress was exalted.
Draped in allure, your heart is restored, with power to rule with the Word,

O Inanna, all glory!

Nin-me-sar-ra (Adoration of Inanna) - III

This is the third of a four-part translation of the oldest surviving lyric poem in human history. In this segment, the poet calls forth multiple gods to help her escape her banishment from the holy temple, where she was supplanted as priestess by an unidentifiable male entity.

Sin, tell Heaven of my heart-wrenching fate.
Declare it unto Heaven, and Heaven will deliver me.
Report it into Heaven, and we will be released.
"The Lady will seize the kingship,
Foreign lands and flooded sands lie at her feet.
Woman so exalted, who can make the cities tremble
Step forward, let her heart be soothed for me."
En-hedu-Ana am I, I say to you now in a prayer
My tears, like the sweetest beer
I shed them freely for you, Inanna,
"Your judgment" I submit myself to.

As for Asimbabbar, concern yourself not!
He changed the rites and altered everything.
He stripped great Heaven of its power.
He did not stand in awe of the greatest God.
He turned that temple of endless abundance,
Inexhaustible beauty, into a ruined house
Which he entered as if my companion, but really it was envy!
My wild holy cow, drive out the man! Capture the man!
In this place where life is made possible - where do I stand?
Heaven should force them to surrender the city!
Heaven should strike the despised rebels down!
Enlil should curse them!

The mother shall not soothe her crying child!
O Queen with your lamenting all over the land
May your ship of lamentation be left for the enemy behind!
Must I die for my holy songs?
I - My Nanna has not decided my case.
In renegade land, he destroyed me utterly.
He has not passed a final judgment on me!
Has he pronounced it or not? Does it mean anything?
He stood there in triumph, and drove me from the temple.
He made me fly like a swallow from the window - my life was devoured
—And so I must go to the thorns of the mountain.
He stripped me of my rightful tiara
And gave me a eunuch, saying "this is now your crown!"

One and only Queen, beloved of Heaven, may your heart beat
On my behalf! Beloved wife of Dumuzi
You are the Queen from Horizon to Zenith.
The great gods, the Anuna, submitted to you.
You were born a younger sister
But now you're so much greater!
The Anuna put their lips to the ground before you
But my trial is not yet over, a strange verdict hangs as if my verdict.
To the fruitful bed I did not reach out my hand
And the holy commands I did not reveal to man
Radiant High Priestess of Nanna that I am.
My Queen, beloved of Heaven, may your heart forgive me.

It must be known! It must be known! Nanna has not yet spoken a decree
—"It is yours" is what it said!
Be it known you are as high as the sky!
Be it known you are as wide as the world!
Be it known that you massacre the rebellious!
Be it known that you roar against trespassers!
Be it known how you crush skulls!
Be it known how you devour the dead like a dog!
Be it known your terrible gaze!
Be it known how you raise your terrible gaze!
Be it known of your flashing eyes!
Be it known you are uncompromising!
Be it known you stand triumphant at all times!

That Nanna has not spoken out, and said that "It is yours"
Only makes it sweeter, it makes your power more!
My Queen, beloved of Heaven, I'll reveal to all your wrath!
In the censor I have heaped the coals, the lustration is prepared,
The nuptial chamber waits for you. May your heart be gratified!

Nin-me-sar-ra (Adoration of Inanna) - II

This is the second of a four-part translation of the oldest surviving lyric poem in human history. In this segment, the author, Enheduanna, for the first time in recorded history, names herself, as part of her taking on her high priestess role for Inanna, who is portrayed here as an all-powerful, but distinctly feminine God.

Lady, Supreme there, who'd dare take your Earth?
If you frown at the mountains, the green there will die,
The canyons will burst into flames, and blood will flow
Down rivers because of you, that people will not drink.
The soldiers must gather together, to surrender to you,
The elite troops must gather together, to disband for you,
The young men must gather together, to stand before you.
In the taverns of pleasure, a storm brews,
The best men are hunted as captives for you.

You speak for those who can't say "the land is yours,"
And will not declare "in the name of your loving Father."
He has spoken the Word and your footing's restored:
The sheep disappear from their stalls,
And women no longer speak of love with their spouses,
They no longer consort in the depths of the night,
No longer reveal the future inside them.
Wild and impetuous Cow, Great Daughter of Sin,
Queen greater than Heaven, who'd take your province away?

The Great Queen of Queens, born for the Word,
Born of a fate-laden body, you are greater
Than even your mother, a sage over all the lands
Who gives life to all of Earth's people,
I give birth to you with this song!
Goddess of Truth, fit for the Word,
You speak with magnificent force
And unfathomable heart—I'll intone the Word for you!

Enheduanna has entered the rectory for your sake,
To serve, my fate, as ornament.
When I carried the cup, and struck up the song of joy
They set down my meal as if I had never lived there.
I came toward the light, but the light was too bright.
I came to the shadow, it was veiled by the storm.
My sweet mouth became full of venom,
My power to heal turned to dust.

Nin-me-sar-ra (Adoration of Inanna)

This is the first recorded lyric poem in human history, written about 2350 BC by the first recorded (named) author, Enheduanna, a Sumerian high priestess. Although this poem was copied as a popular sacred text for 500 years, throughout the Babylonian era, it was only discovered in 1927, with the painstaking task of translation from Sumerian clay tablets only beginning in the last 50 years. The current scholarly translations still contain numerous ambiguities, contradictions, obscure references, hidden nuance, and the inevitable loss of semantic purity as experts puzzle over complex grammars and well-hidden religious beliefs. Rather than wade into that debate, I've created from the existing sources (Hallo and van Dijk (1968), James Pritchard (1975), Annette Zgoll (1997), Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature) a more poetic translation, since I've found this poem to have more than historical interest.

Here's part one of four parts, to be posted each Friday over the next month. The first section is an affirmation of Goddess Inanna's power and purpose, as well as the poet's role as embodiment of the Goddess in words -- at times, almost a consort, in terms that are striking to modern sensibilities.

Lady of the Word, a raging light rising,
Spirit of earth, in iridescent robes, beloved of An and Uraš,
Mistress of heaven, protected with jewels,
Loved by the life-giving crown, that fits this high priestess
Who holds in her hand the seven holy powers.
My Queen! You are the guardian of the Word.
You have lifted the chalice, you have held it in your hand.
You have gathered the liquid divine, placed it next to your breast.

Like a dragon you spit venom on the land.

When you thundered like Iskur, no green life withstood you,
Who brought down the deluge on those who opposed you.
Sultana Ianna, uniter of Heaven and Earth,
Who rains divine fire on the land,
Who's been chosen by An to command the Word,
The Lady who rides on the snake
Who, endowed with the power of fate, speaks the Word.
The great rites are yours - who can fathom them?

Destroyer of unaligned soil, you unleashed the storm.
Beloved of Enlil, you weighed terror on the land.
You stand at the service of An's commands,
My Queen! At your battle cry, all foreign lands bow.
Humanity in awe is silent before you, the terrible glare and storm
As they bring you their anguished clamor
- For you, they must walk the path of lamentation.
For you, all arms are gone before the battle.

My Queen! With your strength, a tooth can break flint!
You possess us as you come a storm possessive,
And as a storm percusses so you howl.
With Iskur do you thunder,
Spread exhaustion with your roaring winds
While your own feet have yet to tire.
Humanity strikes a song of lament on the lyre.

My Queen! The great gods, Annana, before you
Fluttered like terrified bats to the tops of ruined mounds.
They cannot withstand your devastating gaze.
They dare not face the terror in your brow.
Who can cool your furious heart?
A heart that is too violent for soothing.
O Lady, are you viscerally sated?
Is your heart now really filled with joy?
Great Daughter of Sin, your rage does not cool!