Enmerkar
Sumerian ruler credited with founding Uruk and inventing writing.
Enmerkar was a Sumerian ruler who lived around 2750 BC. According to tradition, he built the city of Uruk and ruled for 420 years. Literary sources say he led military campaigns against the land of Aratta. Sumerian legend credits him with inventing writing. The earliest known story about the invention of writing describes how Enmerkar, called the Lord of Kulaba, pressed clay and placed words on it like a tablet because a messenger could not repeat a long message. Before this, words had not been put on clay.
The tradition that Enmerkar founded Uruk likely dates to the Jemdet Nasr period (3100–2900 BC), as recorded in the Ad-gi4 list. This lexical list names Enmerkar and his wife Enmerkarzi as builders of a town and bringers of agriculture. A bilingual version of this list found at Nineveh shows the tradition survived into the first millennium BC. Although poems claim Enmerkar had divine descent, he was not deified like his successors Lugalbanda and Gilgamesh. Those two kings appear in god lists from Shuruppak and received offerings during the Ur III period (2112–2004 BC). Enmerkar was remembered only as the founder and first king of Uruk.
Some scholars look for historical truth in the stories about Enmerkar and Aratta. An archaic tablet from Uruk bearing the title "Lord of Aratta" suggests the traditions may have some basis in reality. There are also suggestions that Enmerkar and his administration may have been the first to put cuneiform on clay tablets. However, writing may have existed before Enmerkar on other materials, since the Lord of Aratta understood the message. Assyriologist Dina Katz argues that trying to find a historical explanation for the legend undermines the claim that Enmerkar invented the clay tablet and writing, and weakens the narrative's ideological purpose. She says the poem presenting writing as an invention by the founder of the first Sumerian city after the flood is a political and ethnic statement.
During the reign of Naram-Sin of Akkad, the king accused Enmerkar of not recording his experience on a stele. As a result, Naram-Sin held Enmerkar responsible for a military defeat and the destruction of Akkad.
The Matter of Aratta is a group of four Sumerian narrative poems. They describe how Enmerkar won supremacy over the legendary city of Aratta through nonmilitary means to gain the favor of the goddess Inanna. The cycle originat
- floruit
- c. 2750 BC
- field
- Ruler
- nationality
- Sumerian
- known_for
- Founder of Uruk, inventor of writing (legendary), campaigns against Aratta
- reign_length
- 420 years (attributed)
Lore & Background
Enmerkar is remembered as the founder and first king of Uruk, a tradition dating from the Jemdet Nasr period (3100–2900 BC) as found in the Ad-gi4 list. The lexical list mentions Enmerkar and his wife Enmerkarzi as the builders of a town and the bringers of agriculture. Despite his proclaimed divine descent in poems, Enmerkar was not deified as were his successors Lugalbanda and Gilgamesh.
A group of four narrative poems, the Matter of Aratta, deals with Enmerkar's winning supremacy over the legendary city of Aratta through nonmilitary means to win the favor of the goddess Inanna. In one poem, Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, Enmerkar invents writing when a messenger complains that messages have become too long to remember. The poem states: 'Because the messenger's mouth was heavy and he couldn't repeat (the message), the Lord of Kulaba (Enmerkar) patted some clay and put words on it, like a tablet. Until then, there had been no putting words on clay.'
Reader's Guide
Enmerkar's significance lies in his legendary role as the inventor of writing, a claim preserved in the earliest known story about writing's invention. This narrative served a political and ethnic purpose, as assyriologist Dina Katz argues: the poem claiming writing as an invention by the founder of the first Sumerian city after the flood is a political and ethnic statement. The Matter of Aratta cycle, originating in the Ur III period (2112–2004 BC), was a political movement of the Third Dynasty of Ur to consolidate themselves as the legitimate heirs of Uruk's ancient rulers. Some scholars have sought historical basis for Enmerkar's deeds, citing an archaic tablet from Uruk recording the title 'Lord of Aratta,' but Katz warns that such attempts invalidate the legendary account's ideological purpose. During the reign of Naram-Sin of Akkad, the king accused Enmerkar of not recording his experience on a stele, holding him responsible for a defeat in war and the devastation of Akkad. Later Greek legend identified Enmerkar with the grandfather of Gilgamos (Gilgamesh), and historian David Rohl has claimed parallels between Enmerkar and the biblical figure Nimrod.
Did You Know?
- Enmerkar is credited in Sumerian legend as the inventor of writing, based on the earliest known story about writing's invention.
- Despite his divine descent in poems, Enmerkar was not deified as were his successors Lugalbanda and Gilgamesh.
- During the reign of Naram-Sin of Akkad, the king accused Enmerkar of not recording his experience on a stele, holding him responsible for a defeat in war.
- Historian David Rohl has claimed parallels between Enmerkar and the biblical figure Nimrod.
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