Who was the world's first author? - Soraya Field Fiorio

翻译人员: Pooi Ling Ng 校对人员: Yanyan Hong

4,300 years ago in ancient Sumer,

4,300 年前，在古老的苏美尔，

the most powerful person in the city of Ur was banished to wander the vast desert.

乌尔市最有权势的人 被放逐到浩瀚的沙漠中流浪。

Her name was Enheduanna.

她的名字叫恩赫杜安娜 （Enheduanna）。

She was the high priestess of the moon god and history’s first known author.

她是月神的大祭司， 也是历史上第一位知名作家。

By the time of her exile, she had written 42 hymns and three epic poems—

在她流亡之时，她已经写了 四十二首赞美诗和三首叙事诗——

and Sumer hadn’t heard the last of her.

而苏美尔和她的缘分未尽。

Enheduanna lived 1,700 years before Sappho,

恩赫杜安娜生活的年代 比萨福（Sappho）早了 1,700 年，

1,500 years before Homer,

比荷马（Homer）早了 1,500 年，

and about 500 years before the biblical patriarch Abraham.

在圣经中的先祖亚伯拉罕 （Abraham）早了约 500 年。

She was born in Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers,

她出生于底格里斯河和幼发拉底河之间的 美索不达米亚平原，

and the birthplace of the first cities and high cultures.

也是第一批城市 和高级文化的发源地。

Her father was King Sargon the Great, history’s first empire builder,

她的父亲是萨尔贡大帝 (King Sargon the Great) ，

也是历史上第一位帝国建造者。

who conquered the independent city-states of Mesopotamia under a unified banner.

他征服了美索不达米亚的独立城邦， 为它们挂上了统一的旗帜，

Sargon was a northern Semite who spoke Akkadian,

萨尔贡是讲阿卡德语的北方塞米特人，

and the older Sumerian cities in the south viewed him as a foreign invader.

而南部旧城的苏美尔人 则把他视为外国入侵者。

They frequently revolted to regain their independence,

他们经常起义以恢复独立 和破坏他的新王朝。

fracturing his new dynasty.

To bridge the gap between cultures,

为了弥合文化之间的鸿沟，

Sargon appointed his only daughter, Enheduanna, as high priestess

萨尔贡任命了他的独生女, 恩赫杜安娜——

in the empire’s most important temple.

作为帝国最重要的圣殿中的高级女祭司。

Female royalty traditionally served religious roles,

女皇族传统上是担任宗教角色，

and she was educated to read and write in both Sumerian and Akkadian,

她受过苏美尔语和阿卡德语的 读写教育，还懂得数学计算。

and make mathematical calculations.

The world's first writing started in Sumer as a system of accounting,

世界上最早的文字是在 苏美尔开始的会计系统。

allowing merchants to communicate over long distances with traders abroad.

它使商户可以与国外 贸易商进行长途交流。

Their pictogram system of record keeping developed into a script

他们的象形文字记录 保存系统——

在恩赫德安娜出生前 大约 300 年已发展成手写稿。

about 300 years before Enheduanna’s birth.

This early writing style, called cuneiform,

这种早期的书写风格称为楔形文字。

was written with a reed stylus pressed into soft clay to make wedge-shaped marks.

它是用一根芦苇笔针压入 软黏土中制成楔形标记。

But until Enheduanna,

但是在恩赫德安娜之前，

this writing mostly took the form of record keeping and transcription,

这本书主要采取记录 保存和转录的形式，

rather than original works attributable to individual writers.

而不是归因于个别作家的原创作品。

Enheduanna’s Ur was a city of 34,000 people with narrow streets,

恩赫德安娜的乌尔市是 一个拥有三万四千人的城市，

街道狭窄，有多层楼的 破房，粮仓，和灌溉。

multi-storied brick homes, granaries, and irrigation.

As high priestess, Enheduanna managed grain storage for the city,

作为高级女祭司，恩赫德安娜 管理着该市的粮食储存，

oversaw hundreds of temple workers, interpreted sacred dreams,

监督了数百名庙宇工人， 诠释了神圣的梦，

and presided over the monthly new moon festival

并主持每月的新月节和庆祝春分的仪式。

and rituals celebrating the equinoxes.

Enheduanna set about unifying the older Sumerian culture

恩胡杜安娜着手将古老的苏美尔 文化与新的阿卡德文明相统一。

with the newer Akkadian civilization.

To accomplish this, she wrote 42 religious hymns

为了实现这一目标，

她写了42 篇将这两种神话 结合在一起的宗教赞美诗。

that combined both mythologies.

Each Mesopotamian city was ruled by a patron deity,

美索不达米亚的每个城市 都由一个守护神统治，

so her hymns were dedicated to the ruling god of each major city.

因此她的赞美诗献给了 每个主要城市的统治神。

She praised the city’s temple, glorified the god’s attributes,

她称赞了这座城市的神殿， 荣耀归功于神灵，

and explained the god’s relationship to other deities within the pantheon.

并解释了神与万神殿内其他神灵的关系。

In her writing, she humanized the once aloof gods—

在她的著作中，她使曾经 超然的众神变得更像人——

now they suffered, fought, loved, and responded to human pleading.

他们会受苦，斗争，爱， 并回应人类的请愿。

Enheduanna’s most valuable literary contribution

恩赫杜安娜最有价值的文学贡献——

was the poetry she wrote to Inanna, goddess of war and desire,

是她写给战争和欲望女神 伊安娜（Inanna）的诗歌，

the divinely chaotic energy that gives spark to the universe.

伊安娜也是带给宇宙火花 的一股神圣的混乱能量。

Inanna delighted in all forms of sexual expression

伊安娜喜爱各种形式的性表达，

and was considered so powerful that she transcended gender boundaries,

一般认为她强大到 可以超越性别界限，

as did her earthly attendants, who could be prostitutes, eunuchs or cross-dressers.

她在尘世的侍者也一样，

这些人包括妓女，太监， 或是喜爱奇装异服的人。

Enheduanna placed Inanna at the top of the pantheon as the most powerful deity.

恩赫杜安娜将伊安娜 放在万神殿的最顶端，

并称之为最强大的神灵。

Her odes to Inanna mark the first time an author writes using the pronoun “I,”

她对伊安娜的颂歌是史上首次 有作家用 “我” 这个代名词，

and the first time writing is used to explore deep, private emotions.

也是第一次通过写作来 探索深刻、私人的情感。

After the death of Enheduanna’s father, King Sargon,

在恩赫杜安娜的父亲， 萨尔贡国王去世后，

a general took advantage of the power vacuum and staged a coup.

一位将军在权力空虚之际， 乘虚而入，发动了政变。

As a powerful member of the ruling family, Enheduanna was a target,

作为统治家族的有力成员， 恩赫德安娜被当作针对目标，

and the general exiled her from Ur.

将军将她从乌尔市驱逐出境。

Her nephew, the legendary Sumerian king Naram-Sin,

她的侄子，传说中的苏美尔国王， 纳拉姆-辛（Naram-Sin），

ultimately crushed the uprising and restored his aunt as high priestess.

最终镇压了起义， 并恢复了他的姑姑为大祭司的身份。

In total, Enheduanna served as high priestess for 40 years.

总体而言，恩赫杜安娜 担任大祭司已有 40 年。

After her death, she became a minor deity,

她在去世后成为了一个小神灵，

and her poetry was copied, studied, and performed throughout the empire

她的诗歌在整个帝国中

不断被复制、研究和表演了 500 多年。

for over 500 years.

Her poems influenced the Hebrew Old Testament,

她的诗影响了《希伯来旧约》，

the epics of Homer, and Christian hymns.

《荷马史诗》和《基督教赞美诗》。

Today, Enheduanna’s legacy still exists,

如今，恩赫杜安娜的遗著仍然留存

on clay tablets that have stood the test of time.

在经受了时间考验的泥板上。