I, Enanedu, en-priestess of the god Nanna, (predestined) from the holy womb (for)
the great fate of the office of an en(and) the nobility of heaven, beloved of the heart,
on whose body the goddess Ningal by (her own) hand has put the radiance of the
office of en, ornament of Ekisˇnugal [temple of Nanna], who rivals high heaven,
ornament of the Agrun [temple of Ningal, see below], bright light coming forth for
the nation, holy suited for the tiara of the office of en, truly chosen for the rites and
lustration ceremonies of divinity, reverent princess who stands for the lustration
ceremonies at the lofty laver of the palace.
(Frayne RIME 4 299– 301 , 4. 2. 14. 20 lines 1 – 9 )The second phase is the liminal period, the novitiate, in which the novice is to learn
the rituals that she will be called upon to perform. Since no texts have yet been found
that even allude to this training phase, it might be assumed that the sacred traditions
were transmitted orally. Two terms that are mentioned in the inscriptions of these
priestesses that might relate to this period are the purification rituals ˇu-luhs
̆
and those
of the divine-given me-principles of human society together with the divine ordi-
nances, the ground plan of heaven and earth, the ˆisˇ-hg
̆ur. In the words of Enh
̆eduana,
she was en me-kù-kù-ge-ésˇ pà-da‘the en-priestess chosen for the holy me’ (ISET 1 216
L ii 5 ’, see Westenholz 1989 : 556 Text C) and in the words of Enanedu: [me-gˆi]sˇ-h
̆ur [é-
kisˇ-n]u-gál-sˇè [sˇu-du 7 – du 7 –]me-en‘I am the one who perfects the meand gˆisˇ-h
̆urfor
the Ekisˇnugal (the temple of Nanna in Ur)’ (Frayne RIME 4 224– 231 , 4. 2. 13. 15 Frgm.
3 : 9 ’). Knowledge of these divine offices may have been acquired during this period,
probably from the current occupant of the office.
The third phase, the incorporation of the en-priestess into the sacred world, is
attested both in administrative and in literary texts. Administrative texts record
disbursements made on the day or days of the celebration of the entrance of the en-
priestess into the gˆipar, the place that will be her ecclesiastic residence. A handful of
archival texts can be connected with the ordination ceremonies of the enof Nanna of
Ur as well as the en-priestesses of Nanna of Karzida, the quay of Ga’esˇ, a small town
on the outskirts of the city of Ur.
Two en-priestesses of Nanna of Karzida were installed during the reign of king
Amar-Suena of the Third Dynasty of Ur ( 2046 – 2038 BC): Enagaziana (En-àga-zi-an-
na‘En, the true tiara of heaven’) in his second year and En-dNanna-Amar-Suenara-
kiagˆana(En-dNanna-Amar-Suena-ra-ki-ágˆ-an-na‘En: Nanna loves highly(?) Amar-
Suena’) in the eighth year of Amar-Suena. Piecing together the information provided
in laconic administrative texts, we can reconstruct the events of their installation in
office. The celebration ceremonies of the investiture of Enagaziana, the first en-priestess
of Nanna of Karzida, extended over a period of at least seven days (from day 23 to day
30 ) during the harvest month. The beginning was marked by the new en-priestess
festively entering the city and leading ten head of female livestock, one white cow and
nine black ewes. After having taken up residence in the city, the en-priestess entered the
temple of Gula, the goddess of healing, where she remained for the first four days. On
the fourth day (the 27 th of the month), the en-priestess performed the ki-dUtu-rites,
possibly at the rising of the sun (or said facing east), which involved invocations and
sacrifices of male animals – a bull, ram and billy goat as the siskur-offerings. In all
likelihood, these rites were designed to bring about the ritual purification of the new
priestess. Following these sacrifices, she observed the ki-du-du-rites which included
–– Joan Goodnick Westenholz ––