The World’s Oldest Love Poem
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Prior to this time, the Bible was considered the oldest book in the world and The Song of Songs from the Bible (also known as The Song of Solomon) the oldest love poem.
Interestingly, the expeditions sent to historically corroborate the stories from the Bible did precisely the opposite.
When Layard excavated the actual site of Nineveh in 1846-1847 CE he discovered the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (reigned 668-627 BCE) and the cuneiform texts, which were then translated by the legendary George Smith, made it clear that the story of the Fall of Man and The Great Flood and Noah’s Ark were not original compositions of the authors of the Book of Genesis but were pre-existing Mesopotamian tales which were re-worked by later Hebrew scribes.
The Song of Songs, dated to the 6th-3rd centuries BCE, could no longer be considered the oldest love poem once The Love Song for Shu-Sin (written c.2000 BCE) was discovered.
When it was found, the cuneiform tablet of The Love Song for Shu-Sin was taken to the Istanbul Museum in Turkey where it was stored in a drawer, untranslated and unknown, until 1951 CE when the famous Sumerologist Samuel Noah Kramer came across it while translating ancient texts. Kramer was trying to decide what works to translate next when he found the love song in the drawer. He describes the moment in his work History Begins at Sumer:
The little tablet numbered 2461 was lying in one of the drawers, surrounded by a number of other pieces. When I first laid eyes on it, its most attractive feature was its state of preservation. I soon realized that I was reading a poem, divided into a number of stanzas, which celebrated beauty and love, a joyous bride and a king named Shu-Sin (who ruled over the land of Sumer close to four thousand years ago). As I read it again and yet again, there was no mistaking its content. What I held in my hand was one of the oldest love songs written down by the hand of man (245).
The poem was not just a love poem, however, but a part of the sacred rite, performed each year, known as the “sacred marriage” in which the king would symbolically marry the goddess Inanna, mate with her, and ensure fertility and prosperity for the coming year. Kramer writes:
The scholar Jeremy Black, also well respected for his work with Mesopotamian texts, interprets the poem along the same lines. Black writes:
This is one of several love songs composed for this king which articulate a belief in his very close and personal relationship with the goddess of love. In some songs of this type, the king’s name seems to have been merely substituted for that of Dumuzi [Inanna’s celestial lover in myth]. Almost certainly they were performed in the context of certain religious rituals which have been referred to as the `sacred marriage’ but the precise details are unknown. The belief that the king could in some sense actually have sexual intercourse with the goddess is intimately connected to the belief in the divinity of the kings of this period (88-89).
It is likely that the king, in having sexual relations with one of Inanna’s priestesses, was thought to be having sex with the goddess herself but, as Black notes, the details of the sacred marriage ritual are unknown. While the recitation of the poem by the `bride’ served a religious and social function in the community by ensuring prosperity, it is also a deeply personal and affectionate composition, spoken in the female voice, concerning romantic and erotic love.
Shu-Sin reigned as king in the city of Ur from 1972-1964 BCE according to what is known in scholarly circles as the `short chronology’ but, according to the `long chronology’ used by some scholars, reigned 2037-2029 BCE. The poem, therefore, is dated according to either 1965 BCE or 2030 BCE but is most often assigned a general date of composition at around 2000 BCE. Shu-Sin was the younger son of Shulgi of Ur (reigned 2029-1982 BCE) who was the last great king of the Ur III Period (2047-1750 BCE).
According to the historian Stephen Bertman, besides this poem, “Shu-Sin was also the male lead in a series of erotic poems in Akkadian written in dialogue form similar to the later biblical Song of Songs“ (105). Long before the biblical narratives were set down, then, the Mesopotamians were writing the `first drafts’ of some of the most influential works in world history.
The archaeological work done in Mesopotamia in the 19th century CE completely changed the way history, and the world, could be understood.
Once upon a time, the ancient past stopped with the Bible and the version of history presented in the biblical narratives.
Following the discovery of Mesopotamia’s ancient past, history was enlarged, deepened, and humanity’s story became much more complex and interesting.
The literature of ancient Mesopotamia provided the first forms of world literature, the first expressions of human emotion and experience and, among them, the experience of romantic love and passion through the world’s oldest love poem.
Bridegroom, dear to my heart,
Goodly is your beauty, honeysweet,
Lion, dear to my heart,
Goodly is your beauty, honeysweet.You have captivated me, let me stand tremblingly before you.
Bridegroom, I would be taken by you to the bedchamber,
You have captivated me, let me stand tremblingly before you.
Lion, I would be taken by you to the bedchamber.
Bridegroom, let me caress you,
My precious caress is more savory than honey,
In the bedchamber, honey-filled,
Let me enjoy your goodly beauty,
Lion, let me caress you,
My precious caress is more savory than honey.Bridegroom, you have taken your pleasure of me,
Tell my mother, she will give you delicacies,
My father, he will give you gifts.Your spirit, I know where to cheer your spirit,Bridegroom, sleep in our house until dawn,
Your heart, I know where to gladden your heart,
Lion, sleep in our house until dawn.You, because you love me,
Give me pray of your caresses,
My lord god, my lord protector,
My Shu-Sin, who gladdens Enlil‘s heart,
Give my pray of your caresses.
Your place goodly as honey, pray lay your hand on it,
Bring your hand over like a gishban-garment,
Cup your hand over it like a gishban-sikin-garmentIt is a balbale-song of Inanna.
Bibliography
- Anonymous. The Bible. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2006.
- Bertman, S. Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. Oxford University Press, 2003.
- Black, J. The Literature of Ancient Sumer. Oxford University Press, 2006.
- Durant, W. Our Oriental Heritage. Simon & Schuster, 1954.
- Kramer, S. N. History Begins at Sumer. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1988.
- Kriwaczek, P. Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization. Thomas Dunne Books, 2010.
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Mark, J. J. (2014, August 13). The World’s Oldest Love Poem. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/article/750/the-worlds-oldest-love-poem/
Chicago Style
Mark, Joshua J.. “The World’s Oldest Love Poem.” World History Encyclopedia. Last modified August 13, 2014. https://www.worldhistory.org/article/750/the-worlds-oldest-love-poem/.
MLA Style
Mark, Joshua J.. “The World’s Oldest Love Poem.” World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 13 Aug 2014. Web. 26 Jun 2021.