instance, the rites of the birth goddess, Nintur, involved female celebrants, including
the a-tu, who held the staff, the tu, who brought the gathered waters, and the làl-e-sˇà-
ga, the midwife who sat in a holy place (see most recent discussion of these priestesses
in Huber Vulliet 2010 : 141 – 143 ). In contrast, the celebrations of the goddess Inana
involved transgendered and transvestite cultic personnel.
Four ranks are indicated in Table 12. 1 : (A) titular sacerdotal clergy, (B) performative
actors in cult ritual, (C) liturgical cantors and musicians, and (D) female votaries.
Titular sacerdotal clergyThe upper echelon of the temple hierarchy consisted of those ecclesiastics who were
chosen by the gods through divination. There are six titles of holders of this rank in the
temple: en, lagar, eresˇ-digˆir, isˇib, lú-mah
̆
and egi-zi(-an-na)(see Table 12. 1 ).En
The apex of the Sumerian clerical hierarchy was occupied by the en, whose gender
generally depended on that of the deity. If the deity was female, the enwas male, and
vice versa. The enwas considered the spouse of the deity and this metaphorical
relationship expressed the harmony of the divine and human worlds in his/her person.
The antiquity of this title as solely a clerical office is not clear on the evidence of
the archaic and Early Dynastic texts. In the human world, en-ship consisted of two
types: royal en-ship and priestly en-ship.^1 The origin of the religious title is unknown.
While it has been suggested that it came into being from a possible split, so that in
certain cases the title was purely religious and at other times purely political (Steinkeller
1999 : 115 – 117 ), such cannot be proven. Early evidence is meagre. There is one Early
–– Joan Goodnick Westenholz ––Table12.1Sumerian ecclesiastic hierarchy (titular sacerdotal clergy)Ritual Role Primary Religious Center Secondary Religious CenterMain Temple Secondary Temple Main TempleA. Titular en eresˇ-digˆir eresˇ-digˆir / NIN
Sacerdotal lagar
Clergy isˇib egi-zi egi-zi
lú-mah
̆
lú-mah
̆lú-mah
egi-zi-mah ̆B. Performative gudu 4 / gudu 4 -abzu gudu 4 gudu 4
Actors in Cult Ritualsisˇib isˇib isˇib
sˇita
nu-èsˇ
susbu
C. Liturgical Cantors nar nar nar
and Musicians gala gala gala
D. Female Votaries lukur lukur lukur