Language… it was one of the things that made
the modern humans superior over the Neanderthals and contributed to their
survival. With language, modern humans were able to form network and build
alliances and obtain what they needed to survive. Language gave way to many
innovations.
One of the most important innovation in human
civilization related to language is writing—signs representing speech. It began
with the development of a number of writing systems in different parts of the
globe. After periods of innovation, writing led to the historical development
of literature and with this came the birth of the author.
Enheduanna, High Priestess and Sumarian poet, was the first
named author in history. Archeologists found the remains of tablets
containing poetry and hymns in Mesopotamia, with the author’s name on it. These
were the work of Akkadian/Sumerian poet, Enheduanna (2285–2250 BCE),
who—historians generally agree—is the first female poet, if not the first in
the world.
Enheduanna was appointed as high priestess by her father,
Sargon the Great. Her poetry and hymns were used to bring two societies
together, the Akkadians/Sumerians, of the territories which her father ruled.
Dubbed the female Shakespeare, Enheduanna was not only a gifted poet, but also
had a talent for politics as she was able to unify the culture and mythology of
the Akkadians and Sumerians through her work, securing her power and her
father’s reign.
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| Enheduanna |
After being
exiled by rebels and then recovering her position, Enheduanna remained an
important figure for the Mesopotamian people even centuries after her death. In
fact, her influence was far ranging into history, echoing in religious holy
books. She is best known for her work, Inninsagura (The Great-Hearted
Mistress) and for her 42 hymns, generally known as the Sumarian Temple Hymns.
What is
interesting about her work is that not only did she write in the first person but
she also wrote about her personal experience. Many of Enheduanna’s works
were devoted to Inanna, the ancient Mesopotamian goddess associated with love,
beauty, sex, desire, fertility, war, justice, and political power. Reading
about Enheduanna, I immediately thought of Virginia Woolf, English Modernist writer
of the 20th century.
I came to know
about Enheduanna much, much later than Virginia Woolf. It’s interesting to see
the contrast in circumstances where these two powerful female authors were in.
When writing, Woolf felt the pressure of Victorian ideals affecting her, where
women were refrained from speaking their minds or of demonstrating that they
had a mind at all. Women writers of Woolf’s time could not write freely about
sex, desire, or politics, issues that would affect their purity. Woolf discussed
about this in her famous speech in 1931, Professions for Women, where
she used the phrase “The Angel in the House”, borrowed from a famous poem by
Coventry Patmore (1854) of the same title which depicted the ideal Victorian
wife. And it was this angel that came to Woolf each time she began to write,
lurking behind her, reminding her to constrain herself. Woolf described her as:
… it—she was pure. Her purity was supposed to be her chief beauty—her blushes, her great grace. In those days—the last of Queen Victoria—every house had its Angel. And when I came to write I encountered her with the very first words. The shadow of her wings fell on my page…
Woolf
declared that it is part of the occupation of a woman writer to kill the Angel
in the House.
… I turned upon her and caught her by the throat. I did my best to kill her. My excuse, if I were to be had up in a court of law, would be that I acted in self-defense. Had I not killed her she would have killed me. She would have plucked the heart out of my writing….
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| Virginia Woolf |
Enheduanna
wrote hymns praising Inanna's qualities of love, beauty, sex, desire, war,
justice, and political power. Epochs later, Virginia Woolf had to suppress all
these characteristics in her writing.
In
one of Enheduanna’s hymns, she described the shrine and powers of Goddess
Inanna:
Temple Hymn 26
The Zabalam Temple of Inanna
O house wrapped in beams of lightwearing shining stone jewels wakening great awesanctuary of pure Inanna(where) divine powers the true me spread wide
Zabalamshrine of the shining mountainshrine that welcomes the morning lightshe makes resound with desirethe Holy Woman grounds your hallowed chamber
with desireyour queen Inanna of the sheepfoldthat singular womanthe unique onewho speaks hateful words to the wickedwho moves among the bright shining thingswho goes against rebel landsand at twilight makes the firmament beautifulall on her owngreat daughter of Suenpure InannaO house of Zabalamhas built this house on your radiant siteand placed her seat upon your dais
It is fascinating to see the description of a goddess before
the age of the major religions of the world, contrasted with that of a creature—the angel—one
associated with feminine nature invented by patriarchal culture and morality. An
image that lived throughout modern history.
Language was an important factor in the survival of the
human race. It enabled humans to transfer knowledge and then reach a culturally
advanced stage. Language brought us the gift of writing, literature, and the arts.
Language as a tool for expression then became a tool of repression. Throughout
history literature, the arts, and freedom of expression became the privilege of
the few.
Are we now in the era of the death of the angel? Have women
writers of today, as advised by Woolf, killed the angel in the house? I guess
the answer would vary upon personal experiences and which part of the world one
lives in. Personally speaking, I haven’t killed her. Instead, I have befriended
her, I have converted her.
She lurks behind me as I am writing, not to control my
words. She whispers to me stories of the past. Knowledge only makes us stronger.
She is the phantom who is now my partner in crime in the journey of liberation.
What I am saying may sound archaic to those who think that writing when being female is
no longer an issue, but I’m sure many women around the world are still embarking
on the same journey.
Perhaps Inanna is looking down upon us from her temple in
the mountains and smiling. God bless her. Happy New Year everyone!
Sources
Alex, Bridget (2018) ‘How Humans Invented Writing—Four
Different Times.’ Discover Magazine
[online] <https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/how-humans-invented-writing-four-different-times>
[30 December 2019].
Classical Art History (2012) Hymnal Prayers and Poems of Enheduanna [online] <http://classicalarthistory.weebly.com/library/enheduanna-poems>
[31 December 2019].
Excerpt
from Virginia Woolf’s Professions for Women (1942) [online] <https://faculty.mercer.edu/glance_jc/English_264_Online/resources/eng264_files/Woolf_Professions.pd>
[30 December 2019].
Mark, Joshua J. (2014) ‘Enheduanna.’ Ancient History Encyclopedia [online] <https://www.ancient.eu/Enheduanna/>
[31 December 2019].
New World Encyclopedia (2017) Enheduanna [online] <https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Enheduanna>
[31 December 2019].
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