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bethehart's review
slow-paced
4.0
I liked it for what it was. I never heard of Enheduana but I wanted to and this book was GREAT at breaking down her works. It did make me realize that while Enheduanna was amazing in her accomplishments… I don’t think she and I would get along at all today. Which is amazing in the grand scheme of things because that’s how informative her writing is about her time and herself.
ana_fontes's review
5.0
“What would the history of Western literature look like if it began not with Homer and his war-hungry heroes but with a woman from ancient Iraq, who sang her hymns to the goddess of chaos and change?”
The most bright essay on the life and work of Enheduana, the mythical high priestess of Nanna in Ur and most ancient known literary author.
In this new translation from cuneiform, danish assyriologist Sophus Helle brings back the echoes of Old Akkadian hymns, through which we’re invited to delve into the culture, religion and politics of the successive Mesopotamian empires and their surprisingly intricate relation with literature and poetry.
Songs of chaos, exile, climate change, war, violence, gender roles issues and much more, resonate today with dark exactness, eerily close to us almost 5000 years later, making “Enheduana an ideal sounding board for reflecting on future directions.”
Songs of chaos, exile, climate change, war, violence, gender roles issues and much more, resonate today with dark exactness, eerily close to us almost 5000 years later, making “Enheduana an ideal sounding board for reflecting on future directions.”
This critical edition is carefully annotated and followed by several essays, chronology and glossary. Using a simple and approachable language (Helle made the effort of avoiding the most technical academic jargon or, when unavoidable, presenting the reader with clear definitions, quite easy to understand), this book is highlighted by the clear enthusiasm and passion for the topic, contagious for the reader.
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