Reading Sumerian Poetry

Download or read book Reading Sumerian Poetry written by Jeremy A. Black and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An authority on ancient Mesopotamian culture, Jeremy Black here provides an introduction to the world's oldest poetry. Sumer, in southern Iraq, was the first literate civilization, with writing dating back as far as 3100 B.C. Its extensive poetic literature was lost for nearly two millennia; rediscovery and decipherment of the ancient writings began in the nineteenth century. Black is fully aware of the difficulties of applying modern literary methods to the study of ancient literature, emphasizing theoretical problems that arise from contemporary expectations of a unitary text. Looking closely at the imagery in the Lugalbanda poems, Black perceives in them a rich and sophisticated poetic imagination and technique, which, far from being in any sense "primitive," are so complex as to resist modern literary analysis.

Download or read book Reading Sumerian Poetry written by Jeremy Black and published by Athlone Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No Marketing Blurb

Download or read book The Harps that Once-- written by Thorkild Jacobsen and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1987-01-01 with total page 526 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sumerian, the oldest language known, is represented by hundreds of thousands of clay tablets inscribed in the cuneiform writing system. Most of the tablets are devoted to mundane matters- ration lists, annual accounts, deeds, contracts- but a substantial number contain examples of perhaps the earliest poetry extant. In this volume, the eminent Assyriologist Thorkild Jacobsen presents translations of some of these ancient poems, including a number of compositions that have never before been published in translation. "What a wonderful bouquet; a gift to us all from a master Sumeriologist, a singer of human achievement, and a lover of words. Jacobsen needs no introduction and this work is special, and should be found in the home of all human and literate persons. It gives access to the mind of ancient Mesopotamia in a manner rarely duplicated heretofore ... Jacobsen has chosen widely from Sumer's rich literature- myth, epics, hymns, boasts, epithalamia, love songs, lamentations, fables- nad has presented us with perspective renderings". Jack M. Sasson, Religious Studies Review.

Download or read book Inanna, Lady of Largest Heart written by Enheduanna and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Around 2,300 BC Enheduanna was high priestess to the moon god Nanna at his temple in Ur, a position she held for almost forty years. This volume translates Enheduanna's three devotional poems to the goddess Inanna accompanied by an extensive commentary and discussion which places these highly personal and unique expressions within the context of Sumerian culture and religion. The author highlights the importance of the poems and the princess for our understanding of the place of women in Near Eastern society and religion.

Download or read book The Literature of Ancient Sumer written by Jeremy A. Black and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2004 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sumerian is the oldest written language of ancient Iraq, first written down some 5,000 years ago. Its literature, encompassing narrative myths, lyrical hymns, proverbs and love poetry, provides a stimulating insight into the world's first urban civilization. This is a comprehensive collection.

Download or read book A Sumerian Reading-Book written by C.J. Gadd and published by Рипол Классик. This book was released on 1924 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Princess, Priestess, Poet written by Enheduanna and published by . This book was released on 2009-08 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Living in 2300 BCE, Sumerian high priestess Enheduanna became the first author of historical record by signing her name to a collection of hymns written for forty-two temples throughout the southern half of ancient Mesopotamia, the civilization now known as Sumer. Each of her hymns confirmed to the worshipers in each city the patron deity's unique character and significance. The collected hymns became part of the literary canon of the remarkable Sumerian culture and were copied by scribes in the temples for hundreds of years after Enheduanna's death. Betty De Shong Meador offers here the first collection of original translations of all forty-two hymns along with a lengthy examination of the relevant deity and city, as well as an analysis of the verses themselves. She introduces the volume with discussions of Sumerian history and mythology, as well as with what is known about Enheduanna, thought to be the first high priestess to the moon god Nanna, and daughter of Sargon, founder of one of the first empires in human history.