The First Curator Was a Woman
The Ishtar Gate of Babylon. Image Source
Written by Story Pennock
Museum doors open, cool air swallows you. Scholars clack through the gallery, centuries sail past, didactics meekly beckon for attention, and in this whirl of knowledge in culture, who pauses to ask, “Why?”
Where did it all begin?
It is 530 BCE, 2,530 years ago; democracy is still 1000 years from being created. The Neo-Babylonian empire proudly stands in Mesopotamia - modern-day Iraq - and approaches its end.
By 530 BCE, Mesopotamia had undergone several shifts in power, even transitioning between different cultures and languages. A devoted scholar, the last emperor Nabonidus sought to preserve and reinvigorate Babylonian culture; he reintroduced the role of high priestess and, most importantly - to art history enthusiasts at least - he was an archeologist who raised the first curator: high priestess to the god Sin, princess, and academic Ennigaldi-Nanna.
Ennigaldi-Nanna restored, catalogued, and curated Mesopotamian pieces, some of which were 1,500 years old when unearthed and are today 4,000 years old. They sat in a room of the Giparu complex, or high priestesses’ palace (Weadock, 113). These artifacts held writing in three languages: Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian. For reference, Sumerian may have been the scholarly language, whereas Akkadian and Babylonian were the standard. Its modern equivalent would be writing a didactic in Latin, English, and Spanish. The didactic presence suggests that these pieces were not mere booty but rather something of cultural heritage for studying. Some theorize that the room served as a public museum, which is unlikely as it was a part of Ennigaldi’s palace: strangers filtering through the room would pose a security threat. What is more likely is that she used these objects as a resource for her students, a select group of elite women training to be scribes. Wolley’s writings may corroborate this, as in the room adjacent to the museum, he found “circular clay tablets of the school exercise type” (Woolley, 17).
The building itself was built into history; Nabonidus raised it atop “early dynastic [...] [and] Ur foundations” (Weadock, 106), making the original edifice upwards of 2,000 years old when it was redone. This makes sense as Nabonidus created the building to “revive the office of Entu [high priestess] after hundreds of years of oblivion” (Weadock, 101). The best way to revive history is to integrate it with the present; thus, Nabodinus surrounded Ennigaldi with renovated ruins, antiquities, and ancient practices, appointing her as history’s vessel for the future.
Ultimately, this museum and its practices disappeared into obscurity until the 20th century. Between that time, people independently built up historical collections and invented the modern institution of museum-hood. Museum development across millennia speaks to the intrinsic human need to preserve, hoping that posterity will reconstruct us - and our histories - from our objects.
Story Pennock is a college student and co-founder of the Rosebud News. As her name would suggest, she loves telling stories and giving her unsolicited opinion about literature, history, and current events. Her pastimes include going to museums, reading, researching historical fashion, playing guitar, listening to Brit-pop and maintaining her Duo Lingo Italian/Turkish/Portuguese streak (just dont ask her to say anything other than nouns).
Sources Used:
Penelope N. Weadock. “The Giparu at Ur.” Iraq, vol. 37, no. 2, 1975, pp. 101–28. JSTOR, doi.org/10.2307/4200011. Accessed 23 Sept. 2023.
“Ur Excavations Ix. the Neo Babylonian and Persian Periods : Woolley, Leonard, Sir, 1880-1960; Mallowan, M. E. L : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, 1 Jan. 1962, archive.org/details/ur-excavations-ix.-the-neo-babylonian-and-persian-periods/page/n25/mode/2up.