Kesh Temple Hymn
One of the oldest surviving works of literature, a Sumerian hymn praising the temple of Kesh. Tradition links the Temple Hymns to Enheduanna, but this hymn predates her.
- Original byline
- Anonymous
- Published
- Date not recorded
- Form
- Poems
- Authorship
- Disputed: Enheduanna is a candidate, not a fact
- Attribution source
- Wikidata P50; the hymn predates Enheduanna and her association is with the later Temple Hymns compilation
- Reason for anonymity
- Unrecorded
- Copyright
- Public domain
- Reference
- Wikipedia · Wikidata
The authorship story
The Kesh Temple Hymn survives in copies from Abu Salabikh dating to around 2500 BCE, which makes it, with the Instructions of Shuruppak, a candidate for the oldest literature in the world. It praises the temple of the goddess Nintud at Kesh in ecstatic, formulaic verse that scribes kept copying for a thousand years. The priestess Enheduanna, history's first named author, is traditionally credited with the later collection of Sumerian Temple Hymns, and her name is sometimes attached to this text; the Kesh hymn is older than she is, and her connection to it is disputed in scholarship. The oldest poem we can read is anonymous.
Questions readers ask
Who wrote Kesh Temple Hymn?
The authorship of Kesh Temple Hymn is disputed. Enheduanna is a documented candidate, but the attribution has never been established, and this entry does not state it as fact.
Can I read Kesh Temple Hymn for free?
Kesh Temple Hymn is in the public domain, though this site has not yet verified a free full-text source for it.
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