Enheduanna, Nin-me-šara (The Exaltation of Inanna)

About the Hymn

Nin-me-šara (“Lady of all the divine powers”) is a 153-line Sumerian hymn to Inanna (Ishtar) composed by Enheduanna (𒂗𒃶𒌌𒀭𒈾, en-ḫe₂-du₇-an-na), the daughter of Sargon of Akkad and the en-priestess of the moon-god Nanna at the Ekishnugal in Ur (c. 2300 BCE).

Enheduanna’s name is preserved both in her own colophons and on contemporary inscriptions (notably the famous disk of Enheduanna, Penn Museum CBS 16665). She is therefore widely regarded as the earliest poet in world literature whose name and authorship are known — predating Homer by roughly 1,500 years and Sappho by 1,700.

Nin-me-šara is one of three long hymns attributed to her (the others are In-nin-ša-gur-ra and the Inanna and Ebih / In-nin me-ḫuš-a). It tells of Enheduanna’s exile from Ur by the usurper Lugal-Ane, her plea to Inanna, and her restoration.

The Sumerian text is preserved on over 100 Old Babylonian school tablets from Nippur, Ur, and elsewhere — evidence that it served as a canonical scribal exercise for centuries.

Opening (lines 1–13)

Sumerian Transliteration (ETCSL composite text 4.07.2)

nin me šár-ra u4 dalla è-a munus zi me-lem4 gùr-ru ki ág an uraš-a nu-gig an-na suḫ-keš₂ gal-gal-la aga zi-de₃ ki ág nam-en-na tum2-ma me 7-bi šu sa2 du11-ga nin-mu me gal-gal-la saĝ-keš₂ ak me ba-e šu ti-a me šu-zu-še₃ lá-a me ur4-ur4 me gam-gam-ma im-ma-an-ši-túm ki ud2 an-né bí-tab dInanna-bi-im an-úr-ra nam-mi-in-mar an-pa-a nam-mi-in-è…

English (J. A. Black et al., ETCSL — copyright Oxford University, reproduced here under their fair-use citation guidance)

Lady of all the divine powers, resplendent light, righteous woman clothed in radiance, beloved of An and Urac! Mistress of heaven, with the great pectoral jewels, who loves the good headdress befitting the office of en-priestess, who has seized all seven of its divine powers!

My lady, you are the guardian of the great divine powers! You have taken up the divine powers, you have hung the divine powers from your hand. You have gathered up the divine powers, you have clasped the divine powers to your breast.

Like a dragon you have deposited venom on the foreign lands. When like Ickur you roar at the earth, no vegetation can stand up to you. As a flood descending upon those foreign lands, powerful one of heaven and earth, you are their Inana.

Enheduanna’s Personal Plea (lines 65–73)

I, En-ḫedu-ana, will recite a prayer to you. To you, holy Inana, I shall give free vent to my tears like sweet beer! I shall say to her “Your decision!” Do not be anxious about Acimbabbar. In connection with the purification rites of holy An, Lugal-Ane has altered everything of his, and has stripped An of the E-ana. He has not stood in awe of the greatest deity. He has turned that temple, whose attractions were inexhaustible, whose beauty was endless, into a destroyed temple. While he entered before me as if he were a partner, really he approached out of envy.

The Restoration (lines 138–143)

The first lady of the throne-room has accepted En-ḫedu-ana’s song. Inana’s love has been restored. The day was favourable for her, she was clothed sumptuously, she was robed in womanly beauty. … She returned to her shining throne.

The Closing Doxology (lines 152–153)

My lady, beloved of An, I shall tell of all your fury. … Powerful lady, respected in the gathering of rulers, she has accepted her offerings from her. Inana’s holy heart has been assuaged. The light was sweet for her, delight extended over her, she was full of fairest beauty. It is sweet to praise her!

Why This Poem Matters

Named authorship is unprecedented. All earlier Sumerian literary texts are anonymous. Enheduanna’s signature (line 65: gá-e en-ḫe₂-du₇-an-na-me-en, “I am Enheduanna”) is the foundational moment of literary self-attribution.
Theological consolidation. The hymn argues for Inanna’s supremacy across the Sumerian and Akkadian pantheons — a religious unification that paralleled her father Sargon’s political unification.
First-person voice. The poet’s personal suffering (her exile, her plea) is woven into a cosmic hymn — an extraordinary literary innovation.
Scribal canon. The hymn was copied for 500+ years in scribal schools, making it one of the most widely diffused texts of the ancient Near East.

Sources & Citations

Sumerian text & English translation: ETCSL 4.07.2 — “The exaltation of Inana (Inana B)” — composite text and translation by Jeremy Black et al. (Oxford, 1998–2006).
Critical edition: Annette Zgoll, Der Rechtsfall der En-ḫedu-Ana im Lied nin-me-šara (AOAT 246, Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 1997).
Earlier edition: William W. Hallo & J. J. A. van Dijk, The Exaltation of Inanna (Yale Near Eastern Researches 3; Yale, 1968).
Accessible translation: Betty De Shong Meador, Inanna, Lady of Largest Heart: Poems of the Sumerian High Priestess Enheduanna (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000) — modern translation with extensive commentary (copyrighted).
Material context: Disk of Enheduanna, Penn Museum CBS 16665.
Wikipedia: Enheduanna and Nin-me-šara