Events

She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia, ca. 3400–2000 B.C. at The Morgan Museum & Library

Wall plaque with priest before the goddess Ninhursag, Girsu (modern Tello). Photo: Musée du Louvre/Ali Meyer.
October 26, 2022
6 p.m.

The exhibition presented a comprehensive selection of artworks, some coming directly from the Louvre, that captured rich and shifting expressions of women’s lives in ancient Mesopotamia during the 3rd millennium B.C. These works bear testament to women’s roles in religious contexts as goddesses, priestesses, and worshippers as well as in social, economic and political spheres as mothers, workers, and rulers. One particularly remarkable woman who wielded considerable religious and political power was the high priestess and poet Enheduanna (ca. 2300 B.C.), the earliest-named author in world literature.

 

The tour was by Sidney Babcock, world-renowned specialist in the ancient seals of Mesopotamia. He is the Jeannette and Jonathan Rosen Curator and Department Head of Ancient Near Eastern Seals and Tablets at the Morgan Library & Museum.

 

RSVP required.