Browsing by Author "Coetzee, Akira"

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    Enheduanna, priestess, princess and poet: a historical study of the ‘world’s first author’ and her iconic poetry
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2024-03) Coetzee, Akira; Cornelius, Izak; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Ancient Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis examines the life and work of Enheduanna of Akkad (c. 2334–2279 BCE), who besides holding a powerful cultic position as entu (high priestess), has been attributed with the title of ‘world’s first author’. This research investigates whether she played an important role, what can be gleaned about her life from her texts, and what influence these have had on both her direct as well as contemporary reception. Additionally, I investigated why she has been overlooked as a pivotal figure and whether there are any other instances of female authorship comparable to her. Even though Enheduanna is recorded as the first identifiable author by name, there have been few studies on her and her work. This study firstly highlights her importance as an entu priestess by looking at the various roles of priestesses as they relate to her, what her position entailed and how this influenced the later Mesopotamian cult. Following this, Enheduanna is discussed in relation to her writings, and each of her longer texts is analysed and interpreted. The analysis of these texts has uncovered and expanded on significant historical, mythological and personal information regarding Enheduanna’s life. This culminates in a discussion on what all this conveys regarding her impact during her lifetime and her contemporary reception as a religious figure, an influential author and a woman. Through a nuanced application of feminist theories of power, agency and oppression, the results indicate that her involvement in the cult was crucial in facilitating powerful religious roles for women. However, her influence on authorship outweighs even that significance, as the research indicates that her texts can be read as “self-writing”, not only providing information on mythic and historical thinking, but also her authorial voice. This thesis concludes that Enheduanna has been overlooked even though she is highly significant, both in her capacity as a religious icon with agency and in her immense abilities as an author. Furthermore, this research identifies other women who occupied similar cultic positions and also authored texts. Questions for further research identified in this thesis are a full study on the categorisation of autobiographical texts within a West Asian literary corpus, further studies on the instances of female self-writing, and an additional look into whether the depiction of Inanna within Enheduanna’s texts is limited to her because she was a woman representing a female deity.