Content area
Full Text
Abstract
This is the story of the first scientist in human history; a women who was called the Shakespeare of the ancient world and who gave us the calendars used to date religious holidays.
Introduction
MANY PEOPLE, when asked to name an early scientist who is a woman, say Hypatia (Hy-pa-ti'-a). She lived in Alexandria, Egypt around 400 CE. Actually they are about 2700 years too late! Women have been active in science since the beginning of written history. So cast your thoughts backward in time to 4300 years ago - the time of Sumer (an ancient civilization in southern Mesopotamia - modern Iraq). Writing had not been around for very long (developed c. 3000 BCE).
En Hedu'anna was the chief astronomer priestess of the ancient city of Ur. She lived c. 2300 BCE. This is her story, the first scientist in ancient history whose name we know and writings we have. Note that she was not called a 'scientist'. That term did not come into general use until the mid-19th century. So who we call a scientist today was earlier known as an astronomer/mathematician, philosopher, or priestess. Those who were 'scientists' were also part of the religious structure. Religion was deeply embedded in the culture.
Science has been the business of women ever since the time of En Hedu'anna. Certainly, though, women (and men) were questioners and thinkers long before that. Most myths, religions, and history place the beginnings of agriculture, laws, civilization, mathematics, calendars, time keeping, and medicine into the hands of women. And the mythology is so very rich. The stories form our common wealth. But whether it was the Goddess of Wisdom or War or Love she was lost to the historical record yet kept strong in the dreams and myths of all peoples.
Ur and Sumer
Ur was situated south of Bagdad (in modern day Iraq), just north of where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers split from each other. The plains in southern Mesopotamia regularly flooded from the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers, which may have given rise to the Mesopotamian and biblical great flood stories. The word Mesopotamia means between the rivers (the rivers meaning the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers). Figure 1 illustrates several ancient cities in Mesopotamia.