Among the Sumerian texts attributed to the priestess Enheduana—who lived and presumably wrote over four thousand years ago and is often called history’s first named author—two are dedicated to the glory of the goddess Inana. As the most prominent female deity in Mesopotamia, Inana was powerful and marvelously complicated. The goddess of love and war, among other things, her heart was described as a raging storm, a fury of emotions. Although Enheduana was herself a high-ranking servant of the moon god, her poems known as the Exaltation and the Hymn to Inana appeal to the goddess instead, as Enheduana pleads to her for help in a time of great trouble. This talk examines the wider historical and literary context of Enheduana’s major texts, considering in particular how they may engage with other texts—and contexts—of the goddess Inana.

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Gina Konstantopoulos is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Assyriology and Cuneiform Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA. Her research centers on religion, magic, and literature in Mesopotamia, with a particular focus on the role of demons and monsters in Sumerian and Akkadian texts.