An Afternoon with Margaret Beaumont

Margaret will be talking to us on:

Enheduana : Princess, Priestess and Poet

The World’s First Author

c. 2300 BCE a Sumerian priestess wrote hymns praising Inanna, the goddess of love, war, sexuality and political power which were preserved by Babylonian scribes and used by worshippers for centuries. Enheduana was the daughter of Sargon, king  of Akkad and served as high priestess in Ur before losing her position during a rebellion against her father. She wrote her hymns to try to influence the goddess to help her regain her position. Her name was revered for centuries, and her works give insight into both the religion and politics of ancient Mesopotamia, speaking of reverence, love and loss, power and despair. This talk will examine the life and times of a woman who should be known as the world’s first named author.

Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Empire 

a Messiah for Judah

Few rulers have been accorded the title ‘The Great’, but Cyrus, ( c. 600 – 530 BCE) the founder of the Achaemenid empire was respected by his contemporaries not only for his military successes but also for his magnanimity and political astuteness as eventual ruler of most of the states of the ancient Near East. After his conquest of Babylon he repatriated those Jews who had been captive there and assisted them in their efforts to build a new temple in Jerusalem. According to the Bible he was awarded the title of ‘messiah’ for this act, the only gentile in history to  be so named. The circumstances of his death remains a mystery, but his name continues to be revered in modern Iran and his tomb a site of pilgrimage.

Image credit:Wikimedia Commons