Bodily Matters: The Lifecycle of an Ancient Woman

10/03/24 • 16 min

In a time when society is thinking passionately about bodily rights and who gets to make decisions about women’s bodies, Season 2 turns to history. Women in the ancient world mattered, and so did their bodies—maybe learning about them can give us new questions as we face our own world.

In our season intro episode, meet an ancient high-priestess of Ur and the first known author in human history: Enheduanna. Climb Mount Sinai with the Christian pilgrim Egeria. These two women and the records they left behind offer a personal glimpse into embodied moments of religious experience. And they help us set the stage for the season ahead.

Episode show notes: https://www.womenwhowentbefore.com/episodes/bodily-matters
Women Who Went Before is written, produced, and edited by Emily Chesley and Rebekah Haigh.
The podcast theme music is composed and produced by Moses Sun.
Season 1 Episode 0 intro music is licensed from Krux Music Publishing Limited.
This podcast is sponsored by the Center for Culture, Society, and Religion, the Program in Judaic Studies, the Stanley J. Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies, and the Committtee for the Study of Late Antiquity at Princeton University.
Views expressed on the podcast are solely those of the individuals, and do not represent Princeton University.

10/03/24 • 16 min

Women Who Went Before - Bodily Matters: The Lifecycle of an Ancient Woman

Transcript

Narrator: Yes, I took up my place in the sanctuary dwelling,
I was high priestess, I, Enheduanna.
Though I bore the offering basket, though I chanted the hymns,
A death offering was ready, was I no longer living?
I went towards the light, it felt scorching to me,
I went towards shade, it shrouded me in swirling dust.
A slobbered hand was laid across my honeyed mouth,
What was fairest in my nature was turned to dirt.
O Moon-god Suen, is this Lugalann

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