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The Me (Divine Decrees)

By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.

Description

The offices Inanna took from Enki

The Sumerian poem Inanna and Enki: Inanna visits Enki in Eridu, drinks with him in the Abzu, and carries off the me — the decrees and offices of culture: kingship, crafts, music, priestly roles, and a long named list of skills. She loads them on her Boat of Heaven and brings them to Uruk. The me are not a single tablet you can photograph; they are powers that can be spoken, listed, and stolen. First-millennium copies preserve an older Sumerian composition. Enki's hangover and failed chase belong to the same poem.

Primary Sources

“Inanna received the me from Enki in Eridu, loaded them on the Boat of Heaven, and brought the arts of civilization to Uruk.”
Inanna and Enki (Sumerian)(c. 2nd millennium BCE copies of an older composition)

Powers & Abilities

CivilizationKingshipSacred Arts