“. . . the surprising humanity which finds their way into them, the genuine challenges and personal anxiety over her time and struggles. . .”

Sophus Helle is a treasure, finding a terrific balance in presenting what has been previously fairly less accessible texts, the current best understanding of the ancient priestess of Inana and original author, Enheduana of the Akkadian city of Ur, c. 2300 BCE.

None of the terms identifying the subject of this book may be understood casually, however. Enheduana’s biography and authorship are each separate entities, each with their own set of ambiguities and conceptual challenges. Her politics and the role of the goddess Inana are equally enigmas in several ways. Fortunately, Helle does not leave any of these issues unattended, but not only offers some of the best and most readable translations of the original texts we have, but takes the time to write extensively, openly, and fairly to new readers and learners about the questions and what is at stake in each of them. He has, in short, become himself a part of the Enheduana authorship.

To be sure, the original cuneiform tablets we have–somehow so innumerable as to themselves be confusing (her texts were used by school students in later centuries)–are still fragmentary, assemblages of various versions and storylines. Where we have little, Helle leaves the translation a graphic blank of ellipses to demonstrate how much remains. Then, in both introductions and later full essays on what has survived, he reveals what we might learn of Akkadian society and politics, of her life and repute, and broader implications of her place in later centuries and today. 

And while I enjoyed the reading of the tablets, the surprising “humanity” which finds their way into them, the genuine challenges and personal anxiety over her time and struggles, I also appreciated the work these texts must have done in the politics of her time, as works of rhetorical narrative driven to shift power. Moreover, Helle’s illuminations of these struggles were a highlight of the reading for me. 

As an introduction to the study of these texts, of cuneiform and ancient Sumer, this is a fine read, one I will likely refer to again and again.