The use of trans as an umbrella term allows us to encompass a variety of identities, including those from history. And even modern non-binary people often don’t identify as transsexual. However, people such as two spirits from North America and hijra from India have traditions dating back into antiquity. The Western concept of the transsexual relies in part on medical technology not available to the ancients.
We must be careful not to impose modern ideas of identity on the ancient world. However, many of these commentators, especially those from the twentieth century and earlier, may not have seen any difference between such cross-dressers and other trans people who identify strongly as female and seek to live as such for their entire lives. This has led commentators to state that Inanna’s temples employed “transvestites.” Can we cite these comments as evidence for the existence of trans people in the earliest human civilization? That rather depends upon what we mean by “trans people.” In modern parlance the term “transvestite” would usually refer to people who identify as male but wear women’s clothing at times for various reasons. The ascending kurgarra priests raise their swords before you. The men adorn their left side with women’s clothing. The women adorn their right side with men’s clothing. They decorate the napes of their necks with coloured scarfs. The male prostitutes comb their hair before you. One well known text of similar antiquity to Enheduanna’s work describes a religious festival held in honour of Inanna. Do we have any evidence of actual gender transition in Sumerian society? A possible interpretation might be simply, “To make a man meek and a woman brave are yours, Inanna.” Besides, the actions of gods belong in the realm of myth, not real life. Translators of ancient languages wisely tend towards literal renderings so as to avoid interpretation, but Enheduanna’s words might be referring to gender stereotypes. In others it is a misunderstanding of references to the appearance of Inanna’s astronomical aspect, the planet Venus. In some cases this is probably no more than gender performance, an indication of her might. There have been suggestions that Inanna has been described as bearded. Some commentators have even described her as androgynous, though this appears to be a misunderstanding of the source material made by people unfamiliar with gender theory. Inanna, who became, or merged with, Ishtar in the successor civilizations of Babylon and Assyria, is a fascinating character who is often described as liminal, paradoxical or contradictory. Enheduanna (3rd from right) as depicted on the Disk of Enheduanna ( Wikimedia Commons)
Enheduanna is the earliest known example of someone signing their name to a literary work. They are part of her poem, Passionate Inanna, which she wrote in the 23rd Century BCE. Those are the words of Enheduanna, High Priestess of the Moon in the Sumerian city of Ur. To turn a man into a woman and a woman into a man are yours, Inanna. To destroy, to create, to tear out, to establish are yours, Inanna. To make footpath and trail go in the right direction, to make the going good are yours, Inanna. To open high road and byroad, safe lodging on the way, helping the worn-out along are yours, Inanna. To dart aimlessly, to go too fast, to fall, to get up, to sustain a comrade are yours, Inanna. To run fast, to slip away, to calm, to pacify are yours, Inanna, Without your consent, no destiny is determined, the most ingenious solution finds no favour.
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