expedition against Aratta

E812785

The "expedition against Aratta" is an ancient Sumerian epic narrative recounting Enmerkar’s legendary campaign to subdue the distant, wealthy land of Aratta through diplomacy, magic, and divine favor.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
expedition against Aratta canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Sumerian epic
ancient Mesopotamian literary work
mythological narrative
associatedWithCulture Sumerian civilization
linked to: Sumer
associatedWithDeity Enki
Inanna
associatedWithRegion southern Mesopotamia
containsElement magical spells
prayers to deities
ritual speech
culturalRole example of early Near Eastern epic tradition
depictsLocation mountainous land of Aratta
linked to: Aratta

temple of Inanna in Uruk
linked to: temple of Inanna
depictsRuler Enmerkar, king of Uruk
linked to: Enmerkar
describesEvent attempt to subdue Aratta
campaign of Enmerkar against Aratta
featuresCharacter Enmerkar
Inanna
lord of Aratta
messenger of Enmerkar
hasGenre epic poetry
myth
hasLanguage Sumerian
hasMainCharacter Enmerkar
hasSetting Aratta
Uruk
hasTheme conflict between cities
diplomacy
divine favor
kingship
magic
submission of foreign lands
literaryFunction exaltation of Inanna’s power
legitimation of Uruk’s supremacy
praise of Enmerkar
narrativeMode third-person narrative
partOfTradition Enmerkar and Aratta cycle
preservedOn cuneiform tablets
relatedWork Enmerkar and En-suhgir-ana
linked to: Enmerkar

Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta
Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird
linked to: Lugalbanda epics

Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave
timeOfOrigin Early second millennium BCE (approximate literary composition)
usesMotif boasting and challenge exchanges
divinely sanctioned kingship
long-distance diplomacy
magical incantations
writingSystem cuneiform

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Enmerkar notableWork expedition against Aratta