Skip to main content

Enheduana: Princess, Priestess, Poetess (Routledge Ancient Biographies) by Alhena Gadotti: A Book Review

Enheduana: Princess, Priestess, Poetess (Routledge Ancient Biographies)

Author: Alhena Gadotti

Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography

Publisher: Routledge

Publication Date: May 2, 2025

Pages: 132

Source: Personal Collection 

Synopsis: Enheduana: Princess, Priestess, Poetess offers the first comprehensive biography of Enheduana, daughter of Sargon of Agade and one of the most intriguing, yet elusive, women from antiquity.


     Royal princess, priestess, and alleged author, Enheduana deserves as much attention as her martial relatives. A crucial contributor to her father’s military ambitions, Enheduana nonetheless wielded religious and economic power, as evidenced by primary and secondary sources. Even more interestingly, Enheduana remained alive in the cultural memory of those who came after her, so much so that works attributed to her were integrated into the scribal curriculum centuries after her death. This book aims to situate Enheduana in her own historical context, allowing readers to gain a better understanding of this enigmatic figure, her roles as princess, priestess, and poetess, and the tumultuous times in which she lived.


     This book is suitable for students, scholars, and the general reader interested in the history of the ancient Near East, ancient literature, and women in the ancient world.


     My Review: Enheduana is generally considered to be the world’s first recorded author. She was the daughter of King Sargon of the Akkadian Empire. She was the High Priestess of Nanna in the city of Ur. She wrote religious poetry. In this first biography of Enheduana, it examined Enheduana’s role in the Akkadian empire. It also highlights her literary achievements.


     I was ecstatic when this book came out. There has never been a biography of Enheduana before, and I wanted to see what this new biography would be like. I have written a history article of Enheduana and read her poems. Therefore, I couldn’t wait to read more about it in detail and gain a lot of new information. This was a very short biography, which is a little over a hundred pages. However, as short as it was, it was very drawn out. In fact, Enheduana: Princess, Priestess, and Poetess did not focus much on Enheduana. Instead, it was mostly about the men in her life. 


     Enheduana: Princess, Priestess, and Poetess was also filled with many speculations and conjectures. One example is what Enheduana must have been like as a princess and what education she may have received (if she received any at all). Another example is what her possible duties as high priestess may have been like. Therefore, there was not much factual information about her. The author also speculates that Enheduana did write poetry but doesn’t believe that she was the author of the poems attributed to her. She believes that in the poems attributed to her, she was a traditional character. All of her speculations are not backed up with solid evidence. 


     Overall, this was a very comprehensive but disappointing biography. There is not much information about Enheduana, and this biography evidently shows that she is a difficult subject to write about. I have to admit that I found more information about Enheduana in academic journals than this biography gave me. Enheduana: Princess, Priestess, and Poetess was easy to understand, but the numerous speculations proves that the author almost leaned closer to historical fiction than nonfiction. In fact, this work would have been better as a historical fiction novel instead of a nonfiction work. Therefore, Enheduana: Princess, Priestess, and Poetess is interesting because it is the first biography written about her. However, I suggest you skip this book and read her poems. You will learn more about Enheduana and her place in the ancient world in Sophus Helle’s book Enheduana: The Complete Poems about the World’s First Author. I do believe that Enheduana should be paid more attention. Hopefully, there will be more studies on her in the future!


Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts: The True Story of The Bondwoman's Narrative by Gregg Hecimovich: A Book Review

  The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts: The True Story of the Bondwoman’s Narrative Author: Gregg Hecimovich Genre: History, Nonfiction, Biography  Publisher: Ecco Release Date: 2023 Pages: 430 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: A groundbreaking study of the first Black female novelist and her life as an enslaved woman, from the biographer who solved the mystery of her identity, with a foreword by Henry Louis Gates Jr.       In 1857, a woman escaped enslavement on a North Carolina plantation and fled to a farm in New York. In hiding, she worked on a manuscript that would make her famous long after her death. The novel, The Bondwoman’s Narrative, was first published in 2002 to great acclaim, but the author’s identity remained unknown. Over a decade later, Professor Gregg Hecimovich unraveled the mystery of the author’s name and, in The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts, hefinally tells her story.   ...

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn: A Book Review

The Rose Code Author: Kate Quinn Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Harper Collins Release Date: 2021 Pages: 635 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: 1940, Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire.        Three very different women are recruited to the mysterious Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes.       Vivacious debutante Osla has the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses – but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, working to translate decoded enemy secrets. Self-made Mab masters the legendary codebreaking machines as she conceals old wounds and the poverty of her East-End London upbringing. And shy local girl Beth is the outsider who trains as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts.       1947, London.        Seven years after they first meet, on the eve of the roya...

The King's Jewel by Elizabeth Chadwick: A Book Review

The King’s Jewel Author: Elizabeth Chadwick Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance Publisher: Sphere Release Date: 2023 Pages: 456 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Wales, 1093.      The warm, comfortable family life of young Nesta, daughter of Prince Rhys of Deheubarth, is destroyed when her father is killed and she is taken hostage. Her honour is further tarnished when she is taken as an unwilling concubine by King William's ruthless younger brother Henry, who later ascends the throne under suspicious circumstances.      But it is Nesta's marriage that will really change the course of her life. Gerald FitzWalter, an ambitious young knight, is rewarded for his unwavering loyalty to his new King with Nesta's hand. He is delighted, having always admired her from afar, but Nesta's only comfort is her return to her beloved Wales. There, she cannot help but be tempted by the handsome, charismatic and danger...