HYMNAL
PRAYER OF ENHEDUANNA
THE
ADORATION OF INANNA OF UR
Source:
Pritchard, James D. (1975): The Ancient Near East, Volume II, Princeton
University Press, Chichester, USA.
~2320 Before
Common Era
Queen
of all the ME, Radiant Light,
Life-giving
Woman, beloved of An (and) Urash,
Hierodule
of An, much bejeweled,
Who loves
the life-giving tiara, fit for High Priestesshood,
Who grasps
in (her) hand, the seven ME,
My Queen,
you who are the Guardian of All the Great ME,
You have
lifted the ME, have tied the ME to Your hands,
Have
gathered the ME, pressed the ME to Your breast.
You have filled the land
with venom, like a dragon.
Vegetation
ceases, when You thunder like Ishkur,
You who
bring down the Flood from the mountain,
Supreme
One, who are the Inanna of Heaven (and) Earth,
Who rain
flaming fire over the land,
Who have
been given the me by An,
Queen
Who Rides the Beasts,
Who at
the holy command of An, utters the (divine) words,
Who can
fathom Your great rites!
Destroyer of the Foreign Lands,
You have
given wings to the storm,
Beloved
of Enlil - You made it (the storm) blow over the land,
You carried
out the instructions of An.
My Queen,
the foreign
lands cower at Your cry,
In dread
(and) fear of the South Wind, mankind
Brought
You their anguished clamor,
Took
before You their anguished outcry
Opened
before You wailing and weeping,
Brought
before You the "great" lamentations in the city streets.
In the van of battle, everything
was struck down before You,
My Queen,
You are
all devouring in Your power,
You kept
on attacking like an attacking storm,
Kept
on blowing (louder) than the howling storm,
Kept
on thundering (louder) than Ishkur,
Kept
on moaning (louder) than the evil winds,
Your
feet grew not weary,
You caused
wailing to be uttered on the "lyre of lament."
My Queen,
[all]
the Anunna, the great gods,
Fled
before You like fluttering bats,
Could
not stand before Your awesome face,
Could
not approach Your awesome forehead. Who can soothe Your angry heart!
Your
baleful heart is beyond soothing!
Queen, Happy of "Liver," Joyful
of Heart,
(But)
whose anger cannot be soothed, daughter of Sin,
Queen,
Paramount in the Land,
Who has
(ever) paid You (enough) homage!
The mountain who kept from
paying homage to You -
vegetation
became "tabu" for it,
You burnt
down its great gates,
Its rivers
ran with blood because of You,
its people
had nothing to drink,
Its troops
were led off willingly (into captivity) before You,
Its forces
disbanded themselves willingly before You,
Its strong
men paraded willingly before You,
The amusement
places of its cities were filled with turbulence,
Its adult
males were driven off as captives before You.
Against the city that said
not "Yours is the land,'
That
said not "It belongs to the father who begot you,"
You promised
Your Holy Word, turned away from it,
Kept
Your distance from its womb,
Its woman
spoke not of love with her husband,
In the
deep night she whispered not (tenderly) with him,
Revealed
not to him the "Holiness" of Her heart.
Rampant Wild Cow, elder daughter
of Sin,
Queen,
greater than An,
who has
(ever) paid You (enough) homage!
You who in accordance with
the life giving me,
Great
Queen of Queens,
Have
become greater than Your mother who gave birth to you,
(as soon
as) you came forth from the Holy Womb,
Knowing,
Wise, Queen of All the Lands,
Who multiplies
(all) living creatures (and) peoples --
I have
uttered Your Holy song.
Life-Giving Goddess, fit for
the ME,
whose
acclamation is exalted,
Merciful,
Live-Giving Woman, Radiant of Heart,
I have
uttered it before You in accordance with the ME.
I have entered before You
in my holy gipar,
I the
En, Enheduanna,
Carrying
the masab-basket, I uttered a joyous chant,
(But
now) I no longer dwell in the goodly place You established.
Came
the day, the sun scorched me
Came
the shade (of night), the South Wind overwhelmed me,
My honey-sweet
voice has become strident,
Whatever
gave me pleasure has turned into dust. Oh Sin, King of Heaven, my (bitter) fate,
To An
declare, An will deliver me,
Pray
declare it to An, he will deliver me.
The kingship of heaven has
been seized by the woman (Inanna),
At whose
feet lies the flood-land.
That
woman (Inanna) so exalted,
who has
made me tremble together the city (Ur),
Stay
Her, let Her heart be soothed by me.
I, Enheduanna
will offer supplications to Her,
My tears,
like sweet drinks.
Will
I proffer to the Holy Inanna, I will greet Her in peace,
Let not
Ashimbabbar (Sin) be troubled.
She (Inanna) has changed altogether
the rites of Holy An,
Has seized
the Eanna from An,
Feared
not the great An,
That
house (the Eanna) whose charm was irresistible,
whose
allure was unending,
That
house She has turned over to destruction,
Her .
. . that She brought there has . . .
My Wild
Cow (Inanna) assaults there its men, makes them captive.
I, what am I among the
living creatures!
May An
give over (to punishment)
the rebellious
lands that hate your (Inanna's) Nanna,
May An
split its cities asunder,
May Enlil
curse it,
May not
its tear-destined child be soothed by her mother,
Oh, Queen who established
lamentations,
Your
"boat of lamentations," has landed in an inimical land,
There
will I die, while singing the holy song.
As for
me, my Nanna watched not over me,
I have
been attacked most cruelly.
Ashimbabbar
has not spoken my verdict.
But what
matter, whether he spoke it or not!
I, accustomed
to triumph, have been driven forth from (my) house,
Was forced
to flee like the cote like a swallow, my life is devoured,
Was made
to walk among the mountain thorns,
The life-giving
tiara of En-ship was taken from me,
Eunuchs
were assigned to me -
"These
are becoming to you," it was told me.
Dearest Queen, Beloved of
An,
Let your
Holy heart, the Noble, return to me,
Beloved
wife of Ushumgalanna (Dumuzi),
Great
Queen of the Horizon and the Zenith,
The Anunna
have prostrated themselves before you.
Although
at birth You were the younger sister,
How much
greater You have become than the Anunna,
the Great
Gods!
The Anunna
kiss the ground before You.
It is not my verdict that
has been completed,
it is
a strange verdict that has been turned into my verdict,
The fruitful
bed has been abolished,
(So that)
I have not interpreted to man the commands of Ningal.
For me,
the Radiant En of Nanna,
May your
heart be soothed, You who are the Queen beloved of An.
"You are known, You are known"
-
it is
not of Nanna that I have recited it,
it is
of You that I have recited it.
You are known by Your heaven-like
height,
You are
known by Your earth-like breadth,
You are
known by Your destruction of rebel-lands,
You are
known by Your massacring (their people),
You are
known by Your devouring (their) dead like a dog,
You are
known by Your fierce countenance.
You are
known by the raising of Your fierce countenance,
You are
known by Your flashing eyes.
You are
known by Your contentiousness (and) disobedience,
You are
known by Your many triumphs" --
It is
not of Nanna that I have recited it,
it is
of You that I have recited it.
My Queen, I have extolled
You,
who alone
are exalted,
Queen
Beloved of An, I have erected your daises,
Have
heaped up the coals, have conducted the rites,
Have
set up the nuptial chamber for You,
may Your
heart be soothed for me,
Enough,
more than enough innovations,
Great
Queen, have I made for You.
What
I have recited to You in the deep night,
The gala-singer
will repeat for You in midday.
It is
because of Your captive spouse, your captive son,
That
Your wrath is so great, Your heart so unappeased.
The foremost
Queen, the prop of the assembly,
Accepted
Her prayer.
The heart
of Inanna was restored,
The day
was favorable for Her,
She was
clothed with beauty, was filled with joyous allure,
How she
carried (her) beauty -- like the rising moonlight!
Nanna
who came forth in wonder true,
(and)
her Ningal, proffered prayers to Her,
Greeted
her at the doorsill (of the Temple).
To the
hierodule whose command is noble,
The destroyer
of foreign lands, presented by An with the me,
My Queen
garbed in allure,