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 ⓘ