The Enheduanna Society - 2nd April 2012

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Enheduanna evening at Salam House, Maida Vale, London

In a PowerPoint presentation, Fran showed the archaeological evidence for Enheduanna, the daughter of King Sargon of Akkad, who lived in Ur 4300 years ago. There are hundreds of lines of Sumerian poetry attributed to Enheduanna (see below).

In the Q & A session after the lecture, people said they would like to hear and discuss the poetry in detail at a future event, having learned about Enheduanna as a person.

June concluded the evening by telling the Enheduanna narrative poem Inanna and Mount Ibih. In this, the shape of the Jabal Hamrin mountain range is explained as the result of a big fight it had with the goddess Inanna!

The audience included Professor A. Razak J. Al-Essa, Cultural Attaché at the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq.

Click thumbnails to view photos:


Salam House audience	Fran introduces Enheduanna	Enheduanna’s family tree

Enheduanna, Homer and Shakespeare	Q&A with Fran and June	June tells Inanna and Mount Ibih

Three poems to the Goddess Inanna

These poems are each 150–250 lines long

1	It’s usually known today in English as ‘Inanna and Mount Ibih’. It’s known to Sumerian scholars ancient and modern by its first line: IN-NIN-ME-HUŠ-A⁵. This reads aloud as ‘Innin mehusha’ and translates as ‘Lady of blazing dominion’.
2	It’s usually known today in English as ‘Lady of Largest Heart’. It’s known to Sumerian scholars ancient and modern by its first line: IN-NIN-ŠA-GUR₄-RA⁵. This reads aloud as ‘Innin shagurra’ and translates as ‘Lady of largest heart’
3	It’s usually known today in English as ‘The Exultation of Inanna’. It’s known to Sumerian scholars ancient and modern by its first line: NIN-ME-ŠÁR-RA. This reads aloud as ‘Nin mesharra’ and translates as: ‘Queen of all cosmic powers’.
	Listen to a recital in Sumerian of extracts from Enheduanna’s poem NIN-ME-ŠÁR-RA read by Janette Yacoub

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