Ennigaldi-Nanna

Ennigaldi-Nanna (Babylonian cuneiform: En-nígaldi-Nanna),[1] also known as Bel-Shalti-Nanna[a] and commonly called just Ennigaldi,[3][4] was a princess of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and high priestess (entu) of Ur.

He conducted extensive excavations, included more allusions to past rulers in his writings than most other kings, and is the earliest known person in history to attempt to chronologically date archaeological artifacts.

[14] The entu was devoted to the moon-god Sin (known as Nanna in Sumerian times) and was the highest-ranking priestess in the country, supposedly divinely elected by the god himself and revealed through omens.

[15] Nabonidus was supposedly inspired to restore the office after a partial lunar eclipse in 554 BC, which he interpreted as an omen, and the find of a stele created by Nebuchadnezzar I showing the investiture of that king's daughter as entu.

[14] As entu, Ennigaldi would have devoted much of her religious time in the evenings to worship of Sin in a small blue room on top of the Ziggurat of Ur.

[15] The most important part of the religious role of the entu was to serve as the human wife of the god Sin and to perform rites relating to this sacred marriage.

The entu also had to pray for the life of the king, who served as the living embodiment of Babylonia's prosperity, and had to provide comfort and adornment for the goddess Ningal, Sin's divine consort.

[12] The change in government does not appear to have impacted Ennigaldi's position in Ur since she c. 530 BC[5][6][7][17] founded a museum containing artifacts from past Mesopotamian civilizations, located about five hundred feet southeast of the ziggurat.

[20] Among the items on display were artifacts that had once belonged to Nebuchadnezzar II,[18] a ceremonial mace-head, a Kassite boundary stele (kudurru), as well as a statue of Shulgi, a famous Sumerian king of Ur (r. 2094–2046 BC), which had been carefully restored to preserve the inscriptions on it.