Who was Enheduanna, the first author whose name we know?
TL;DR — Enheduanna, Sargon’s daughter and high priestess at Ur in the 23rd century BC, names herself in her poems; most copies are five centuries younger, so her authorship is debated.
Enheduanna, high priestess of the moon god Nanna at Ur and a daughter of Sargon of Akkad, is the earliest writer known by name. Yale University Press, publishing Sophus Helle’s translation of her poems, says she “has the distinction of being the first author whose name we know.” In the Sumerian hymn known as the Exaltation of Inana, the speaker gives that name herself: “I, En-ḫedu-ana the en priestess, entered my holy ĝipar in your service.”
Quick facts
- When
- 23rd century BC; most surviving manuscripts of the poems date to the 18th century BC
- Where
- Ur, southern Mesopotamia, in the ĝipar, in the sacred precinct that held the temple of the moon god Nanna
- Who
- Enheduanna (also spelled Enheduana), daughter of Sargon of Akkad and high priestess of Nanna
- Outcome
- Poems attributed to her name her in the first person, but the five-century gap to most manuscripts keeps her authorship under debate
What the Disk of Enheduanna shows
The evidence that she lived comes from a carved disk found at Ur in 1927, during Leonard and Katharine Woolley’s excavations. Helle, who maintains the reference site enheduana.org and spells her name Enheduana, gives its inscription, best preserved on a copy made from the disk: “Enheduana, priestess of Nanna, spouse of Nanna, daughter of Sargon, the king of the world, built an altar in the temple of Inana-Zaza at Ur and named it Altar, the Table of Heaven.” The disk itself was found in pieces and, Helle writes, given “a rather heavy-handed restoration that is now contested by many scholars.”
“Based on the Disk of Enheduana,” Helle writes, “we know that Enheduana was a real historical person, that she was the daughter of Sargon, and that she served as high priestess of the moon god Nanna in the city of Ur.” Much else is missing: “We do not know when, where, or to which of Sargon’s wives she was born, nor when she died.” The Assyriologist Joan Goodnick Westenholz drew attention to her title “spouse (dam) of Nanna,” which may tie her to Nanna’s wife Ningal in ritual.
A priestess with an estate
Her office carried power as well as rank. The Sumerian word for high priestess, en, “can also mean ‘lord’ or ‘ruler,’” Helle notes, and he describes the post as “primarily an administrative and political position” that put her “in charge of running the temple’s vast holdings of land and wealth.”
She lived in the ĝipar, a large building in the sacred precinct of Ur arranged around open-air courts. According to Helle it probably held the priestess’s living quarters, a large kitchen, work spaces, a tablet archive, a burial site for former priestesses and “a shrine for the veneration of the king who had installed the current priestess (in Enheduana’s case, Sargon).” Cylinder seals preserve the names of four of her staff: her hairdresser Ilum-palil, whose grave was found in the same precinct, her estate manager Adda, and two scribes, Sagadu and a second whose name survives only as “…-kitushdu.”
"I, En-ḫedu-ana"
The Exaltation of Inana, translated by the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature at Oxford, names its speaker twice: in the passage at lines 66 to 73 quoted above, and again at line 81, “I, En-ḫedu-ana, will recite a prayer to you.”
The poem tells of a man named Lugal-Ane who drove her from office. “He stood there in triumph and drove me out of the temple,” the speaker says. “He stripped me of the rightful crown of the en priestess.” The hymn ends with the goddess appeased: “The powerful lady, respected in the gathering of rulers, has accepted her offerings from her. Inana’s holy heart has been assuaged.”
A second work, the Temple Hymns, credits her in its closing lines: “The compiler of the tablets was En-ḫedu-ana.” The next line reads: “My king, something has been created that no one has created before.”
Five centuries between poet and copies
The case for her authorship rests on copies made long after her death. “Enheduana lived in the 23rd century BCE, and most of the manuscripts of her poems date to the 18th century BCE,” Helle writes. “The five-hundred-year gap between her lifetime and our sources for the works attributed to her has led some scholars to argue that the poems were composed later in her name.” The texts, he adds, may have passed down orally or in written copies now lost before they reached the Old Babylonian schools.
Scholars read the language differently. Miguel Civil first noted phrases that seem to suggest a later date, while Benjamin Foster argued that later scribes updated the language of Sumerian poems. The Temple Hymns raise their own problem: one copy from the Ur III period, much closer to her lifetime, “does not preserve the final lines, in which the text is attributed to Enheduana,” and one temple in it is identified as a later addition by King Shulgi.
Brigitte Lion has pointed out that “the very fact that the ancient scribes saw Enheduana as the author of these texts speaks volumes for how women were perceived at the time.” Helle concludes that “we cannot say for sure whether the poems were written by Enheduana or in her name.”
Key facts
- The Disk of Enheduanna, found at Ur in 1927, names her as priestess of Nanna and “daughter of Sargon, the king of the world” (Helle).
- Her birth, her mother and the date of her death are unknown (Helle).
- In the Exaltation of Inana the speaker names herself as “En-ḫedu-ana” at lines 66 and 81 (ETCSL).
- The Temple Hymns end: “The compiler of the tablets was En-ḫedu-ana” (ETCSL).
- She lived in the 23rd century BC; most manuscripts of her poems date to the 18th century BC (Helle).
- Yale University Press calls her “the first author whose name we know” (Yale University Press).
FAQ
Who was the first author in history?
Enheduanna, a high priestess at Ur in the 23rd century BC, is the earliest author known by name. Yale University Press, publishing Sophus Helle's translation, says she "has the distinction of being the first author whose name we know."
Whose daughter was Enheduanna?
Sargon of Akkad's. The Disk of Enheduanna, found at Ur in 1927, names her as "daughter of Sargon, the king of the world" and as priestess of the moon god Nanna.
What did Enheduanna write?
The poems attributed to her include the Exaltation of Inana, in which the speaker calls herself "En-ḫedu-ana," and the Temple Hymns, which end by naming her as "the compiler of the tablets."
Did Enheduanna really write her poems?
It is debated. Most manuscripts date about five hundred years after her lifetime, and scholars disagree over whether the poems are hers or were written later in her name.
What happened to Enheduanna in the Exaltation of Inana?
The speaker says a man named Lugal-Ane drove her out of the temple and stripped her of the crown of the en priestess. The poem ends with Inana accepting her offerings.
Sources
- Yale University Press, "Enheduana: The Complete Poems of the World's First Author," translated by Sophus Helle
- Sophus Helle, "The historical Enheduana," enheduana.org
- Sophus Helle, "The Disk of Enheduana," enheduana.org
- Sophus Helle, "Authorship," enheduana.org
- ETCSL, University of Oxford, "The exaltation of Inana (Inana B)" (t.4.07.2)
- ETCSL, University of Oxford, "The temple hymns" (t.4.80.1)
Cite this article
- APA
- Song Letter. (2026, October 11). Who was Enheduanna, the first author whose name we know? Our Earth's History. https://ourearthshistory.com/west-asia/ancient/first-author-in-history-enheduanna/
- Chicago
- Song Letter. “Who was Enheduanna, the first author whose name we know?” Our Earth's History, October 11, 2026. https://ourearthshistory.com/west-asia/ancient/first-author-in-history-enheduanna/.
- MLA
- Song Letter. “Who was Enheduanna, the first author whose name we know?” Our Earth's History, 11 Oct. 2026, https://ourearthshistory.com/west-asia/ancient/first-author-in-history-enheduanna/.
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