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
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
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,
O Inanna, praise!
歷史開始於古代美索不達米亞
「美索不達米亞」一詞，希臘文義為兩條河，即底格里斯河和幼發拉底河之間的地方，其他大抵為北起托魯斯山脈，南至波斯灣，地質肥沃，人類定居於此甚早，是古文明的發祥地之一。
西元前4000-3000年起，許多民族在美索不達米亞平原建立政權。政權與文化的更迭，因而締造了多元而璀璨的文明。約在西元前2900年間，原居住於土耳其、伊朗高地的蘇美人（Sumerian)進入兩河流域南部，從聚落逐漸擴大為城邦政體，發明了楔形文字，建立宏偉的神廟、殿堂、神像、雕刻、石碑與華麗的祭器等等；為解決兩河流域定期泛濫，蘇美人興建了良好的水利系統。
梁啟超在其寫於1900年的《二十世紀太平洋歌》中，認為“地球上古文明祖國有四：中國、印度、埃及、小亞細亞是也”。
其後北方閃族的阿卡德人(Akkadian)崛起，征服了蘇美城邦，建立阿卡德王國；但由於內部戰爭頻頻，政權難以維繫，於西元前2191年亡於波斯游牧民族。一世紀後，蘇美人奪回政權，但又於西元前2000年前後被閃族的阿摩瑞提人(Amorites)征服，建立了古巴比倫王朝(Babylonian
Dynasty)。
古巴比倫王朝統治時期，文治、武功都達於顛峰；國王漢摩拉比(Hammurabi,1728-1686BC)曾制定堪稱西方最完備的法典—《漢摩拉比法典》。
西元前1500年左右，底格里斯河上游的亞述人(Assyrians)崛起，並迅速擴張到黑海及地中海區域，締造了亞述帝國(Assyrian
Empire)。亞述人承繼蘇美文化，擅長建築，並將高度尚武文化表現在藝術作品上。
亞述帝國之後，米提人(Medes)和加爾底亞人(Chaldens)於西元前612年建立新巴比倫王國；然而過了沒多久又於西元前539年被波斯帝國(Persian Empire)所滅。
兩河流域歷史發展概表
Chronological
Table
時期
|
南美索不達米亞
|
北美索不達米亞
|
World events
世界事件
|
10000BC
|
中石器時代文化
|
中石器時代文化
埃及、南歐地區
|
|
8000BC
|
中石器時代文化
北歐
|
||
7000BC
|
新石器時代
|
||
6000
5000
|
Pre-Historic Ubaid culture 史前歐貝德文化
(5500-4000)
|
Pre-Historic
(5000-4000)史前北部歐貝德文化
|
|
4000
|
Early and Middle Uruk Periods烏魯克前期、中期
(4000-3500)
|
Tepe Gawra culture
高拉土丘文化
|
Megalithic cultures of
西歐巨石文化
|
3500
|
Late Uruk Period烏魯克晚期
(3500-3100)
|
紐格萊奇墓，位於愛爾蘭東北部的米斯郡，是博因河河曲地區的一座通道式墳墓。是愛爾蘭最為著名的史前墳墓之一。是世界文化遺產博因河河曲考古遺址的一部分。
|
|
3000
2500
|
Early Dynastic Period
(Sumerian city states)
(3100-2390)早王朝時期
|
Ninevite 5 culture
尼尼微第五文化
|
Great Pyramid of Cheops
胡夫金字塔
beginning of
卡內克(Camac)巨石大道
英格蘭巨石陣
|
Akkadian (Sargonic)薩爾貢 Kingdom阿卡德時期
(2390-2210)
|
Taya culture
|
||
Neo-Sumerian Period新蘇美爾時期
Gudea of Lagas古地亞，拉格什第二王朝
Third Dynasty of Ur (2168-2050)烏爾第三王朝
|
|||
2000
|
Isin and Larsa kingdoms
(2073-1819)「伊辛—拉薩爾時期」
|
||
Old Babylonian Period
(1950-1651)古巴比倫時期
(Hammurabi of Babylon, 1848-1806)巴比倫國王漢謨拉比
|
Old Assyrian Period
(Samsi-Adad Ⅰ,1869-1837)
古亞述時期
|
||
1500
|
Middle Babylonian (Kassite) Period中巴比倫時期喀西特人
(1651-1157)
|
Completion of
|
|
(1500-1350)米坦尼王國
胡利安人
|
|||
Middle Assyrian Period
(1350-1000)中亞述時期
|
Akhenaten/ 古埃及第十八王朝法老：阿肯那頓Tutankhammun
古埃及新王國時期第十八王朝法老：圖坦卡頓
|
||
1000
|
Neo-Babylonian Empire
(625-539)新巴比倫
|
Neo-Assyrian Empire
(883-612)新亞述時期
|
Hallstatt/
(Celtic) culture
居爾特文化
First Olympiad 776
Foundation of
第一屆奧林匹克
|
500
|
Persian (Achaemenid) Empire (550-331)波斯帝國，阿契美尼德王朝
|
Beginning of Maya culture
馬雅文化
|
|
Alexander the Great (331-323)
亞歷山大大帝征服巴比倫
|
|||
Hellenistic Period (Seleucid Empire)希臘化時期，塞琉古帝國
(305-64)
|
|||
BC/AD
|
Parthian(Arsacid)Empire
安息帝國（帕提亞）
|
(126BC-227AD)
|
Great Wall of Chian 214BC
中國萬里長城
|
Sasanian Empire 薩珊王朝(226-651AD)
|
|||
Advent of Islam 636
伊斯蘭哈里發王國
|
|||
