Enheduanna
-Jason

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The Akkadian Empire (circa 2340-2154 BCE) was the first empire in recorded history.  Sargon the Great was the founder of this new political entity and both his battlefield and diplomatic actions laid the groundwork for this superpower to dominate ancient Mesopotamia.  The Akkadians gave the world the ideas of universal domination and empire, the political rise of the Semitic peoples, the Akkadian cuneiform writing system, as well as the first named author in world history: Enheduanna.

Sargon the Great did not start as a member of the royal family of the city-state of Kish: rather he was a member of the bureaucracy that usurped his king.  While on a diplomatic mission to an opposing city-state, Sargon was offered support in overthrowing his ruler by Lugal-zage-si of Umma.  Sargon agreed to this arrangement and became the usurper king of Kish while his patron, Lugal-zage-si, conquered the city of Uruk.  This temporary alliance fell apart once Sargon felt strong enough to turn on his “friend.”  With a single campaign, Sargon defeated his rival and controlled not only Kish, but all of Sumer.

Being a usurper of a city-state was not a unique situation.  However, Sargon the Great found himself in a new situation: he suddenly controlled a vast territory made up of different, and at most times hostile, populations.  Sargon was also not simply satisfied with conquering the nearby city-states; he turned his attention to overwhelming the surrounding kingdoms to the north, south, and east.  As his empire grew, so too did the need to legitimize his reign.  Sargon commissioned an “origin story” for himself to show why the gods had seen fit to support his conquest of Mesopotamia.  The goddess Ishtar/Inanna was presented as his patron, and lover, indicating to the people that it was her protection and authority which allowed for his conquests.  Sargon needed to not only have divine patronage for himself: he also had to have a strong claim for his successors as well.

Sargon often placed his family members in positions of power in the territories he conquered.  This had multiple benefits: his sons would learn how to administer the realm, his more restive subjects would be under the eye of loyal family members, who could quickly put down potential rebellions. This also allowed Sargon to bridge the gap between the older Sumerian city-states and his new Akkadian Empire.  One of his most successful children placed in a conquered city-state was his daughter, Enheduanna.  Whether she was his child by birth or adoption is still up for debate, but her position as High Priestess at the city-state of Ur was vital to Sargon. 

She was the first woman to hold the title of High Priestess to the Moon god Nanna (Sin) and was placed there to meld Akkadian gods and goddesses to the older Sumerian pantheon.  Ur was an ancient city by the time Sargon conquered it and had long been one of the leading centers of power in Sumer.  Enheduanna’s role was to watch the uneasy city-state for her father and attempt to assuage the conquered people from thoughts of rebellion.  She was highly successful in position as priestess and caretaker: by using the blended pantheon Enheduanna was able to ease the resentment of the vanquished.  Another of her accomplishments was the melding of the older Sumerian goddess Inanna to the Akkadian goddess Ishtar.

The High-Priestess was given many titles over the course of her life, the most impressive is as follows: "Enheduanna, zirru-priestess, wife of the god Nanna, daughter of Sargon, king of the world, in the temple of the goddess Innana.”  We know that she wrote many poems and songs devoted to the Sumerian-Akkadian gods and goddesses as she is the oldest attested author in history. 

In 1927 the British archeologist Leonard Woolley, famous for his discovery of the city of Ur, was excavating near the ruins of the temple of Ishtar when he found the Enheduanna calcite disc.  This disc contained three lines of inscriptions identifying the four figures carved upon it: Enheduanna, her Estate Manager Adda, her hairdresser Ilum Palilis, and her scribe Sagadu.  Enheduanna’s life and legacy are still topics of active research and debate.