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

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Yanyan Hong

4,300 years ago in ancient Sumer,

四千三百年前，在古時的蘇美，

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

烏爾城中最有權力的人

被放逐到浩瀚的沙漠中流浪。

Her name was Enheduanna.

她叫做安海度亞娜 (Enheduanna)。

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

她是月神的高級女祭師， 也是有史以來的第一位作家。

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

到她被放逐的時候，

她已經寫了四十二首讚美詩 和三首敘事詩——

and Sumer hadn’t heard the last of her.

而蘇美和她的關係還有後續。

Enheduanna lived 1,700 years before Sappho,

安海度亞娜所屬的年代比 莎芙 (Sappho) 早了一千七百年，

1,500 years before Homer,

比荷馬 (Homer) 早了一千五百年，

and about 500 years before the biblical patriarch Abraham.

比聖經的創始人亞伯拉罕 (Abraham) 早了五百年。

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

她生在底格里斯河和幼發拉底河 之間的美索不達米亞平原，

and the birthplace of the first cities and high cultures.

最早的城市和高度 文化都發源於此。

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

她的父親是薩爾貢大帝， 歷史上第一位建立帝國的人，

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

他征服了美索不達米亞的獨立城邦，

全都掛上統一的旗幟。

Sargon was a northern Semite who spoke Akkadian,

薩爾貢是北方的閃族人， 說的是阿卡達語，

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

南方較古老的蘇美城市 將他視為外國入侵者。

They frequently revolted to regain their independence,

他們經常反叛， 想要重新取得獨立，

fracturing his new dynasty.

破壞他的新王朝。

To bridge the gap between cultures,

為了讓不同文化能融合，

Sargon appointed his only daughter, Enheduanna, as high priestess

薩爾貢指派獨生女安海度亞娜

到帝國最重要的神殿 擔任高級女祭師。

in the empire’s most important temple.

Female royalty traditionally served religious roles,

傳統上，女性王室成員 要扮演宗教的角色，

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

她受過的教育讓她會 讀、寫蘇美文和阿卡達文，

and make mathematical calculations.

還會做數學計算。

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

世界上最早的寫作 始於蘇美的會計體制，

allowing merchants to communicate over long distances with traders abroad.

讓商人可以和國外的交易人 進行長距離溝通。

Their pictogram system of record keeping developed into a script

他們在做記錄時所用的象形圖 後來發展成為手寫稿，

about 300 years before Enheduanna’s birth.

那是安海度亞娜 出生前約三百的事。

This early writing style, called cuneiform,

早期的書寫風格叫做楔形文字，

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

用蘆稈來撰寫，壓在軟土上，

製造出楔形的標記。

But until Enheduanna,

但，到安海度亞娜之前，

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

這種書寫幾乎都是 用來做記錄和抄寫，

rather than original works attributable to individual writers.

而不是個人作家 可以掛名的原創作品。

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

安海度亞娜所在的烏爾， 有三萬四千居民，街道狹窄，

multi-storied brick homes, granaries, and irrigation.

有多層樓的磗房、穀倉，和灌溉。

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

身為高級女祭師，安海度亞娜 要為城市管理穀物的貯存，

oversaw hundreds of temple workers, interpreted sacred dreams,

監督數百名神殿工人， 詮釋神聖的夢，

and presided over the monthly new moon festival

還要主持每個月舉辦的新月祭

and rituals celebrating the equinoxes.

以及讚頌春分和秋分的儀式。

Enheduanna set about unifying the older Sumerian culture

安海度亞娜開始著手 將比較古老的蘇美文化

with the newer Akkadian civilization.

和比較新的阿卡達文明統一。

To accomplish this, she wrote 42 religious hymns

為了達成這個目標， 她撰寫了四十二首讚美詩，

that combined both mythologies.

內容結合雙方的神話。

Each Mesopotamian city was ruled by a patron deity,

每座美索不達米亞城都有個守護神，

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

她以讚美詩獻給每個大城的守護神。

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

她讚美大城的神殿，榮耀歸於神，

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

並解釋那位神和諸神殿中 其他神之間的關係。

In her writing, she humanized the once aloof gods—

在她的作品中，她讓曾經 非常遙遠的神變得更像人——

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

祂們會受苦、爭吵、愛， 且會回應人類的請願。

Enheduanna’s most valuable literary contribution

安海度亞娜最有價值的文學貢獻

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

就是她為伊南娜 (Inanna) 所寫的詩， 伊南娜是掌管戰爭與慾望的女神，

the divinely chaotic energy that gives spark to the universe.

一股神聖的混亂能量， 帶給宇宙火花。

Inanna delighted in all forms of sexual expression

伊南娜喜愛各種形式的性慾表現，

and was considered so powerful that she transcended gender boundaries,

一般認為她強大到 可以超越性別的界線，

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

她在凡間的侍者亦是如此， 這些人包括妓女、

閹人，或喜扮異性者。

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

安海度亞娜把伊南娜放在 眾神之首，是最強大的神。

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

她為伊南娜所寫的頌詩是史上第一次

有作家用「我」這個代名詞。

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

也是第一次，透過作品 來探索深刻、私人的情緒。

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

安海度亞娜的父親 薩爾貢大帝過世後，

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

一名將軍在權力空缺之際 趁虛而入，發動政變。

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

安海度亞娜是統治家族中 很有權力的成員，自然成為目標，

and the general exiled her from Ur.

將軍將她從烏爾放逐。

Her nephew, the legendary Sumerian king Naram-Sin,

她的姪子，傳奇的蘇美國王 納拉姆辛（Naram-Sin）

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

最終鎮壓住起義， 恢復姑姑大祭司的身分。

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

安海度亞娜總共擔任 四十年的大祭司。

After her death, she became a minor deity,

她死後變成了一個小神，

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

在整個帝國中，她的詩作 不斷被複製、研讀、演出，

for over 500 years.

至少五百年。

Her poems influenced the Hebrew Old Testament,

她的詩作影響了希伯來舊約、

the epics of Homer, and Christian hymns.

荷馬的史詩，及基督教的讚美詩。

Today, Enheduanna’s legacy still exists,

安海度亞娜的遺產至今仍然留存

on clay tablets that have stood the test of time.

在經過時間考驗的泥土板上。