Reading Sumerian Poetry

An international authority on Sumerian culture, Jeremy Black here provides an introduction to the world's oldest poetry. Sumer, in southern Iraq, was the first literate culture in civilization, dating as far back as 2500 b.c. Its literature, which is made up almost entirely of poetry, was lost for nearly two millennia; rediscovery and decipherment of the ancient texts 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. Acknowledging the fragmentary nature of Sumerian poetry, he turns what might be considered a serious obstacle to the enjoyment of the literature into an asset. The book features Black's complete English translations of Lugalbanda, a narrative poem about the eponymous hero and his encounter with a monstrous bird, and its sequel, Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave. 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.

"This excellent book does just what the author had hoped for and intended to do: it provides a sound and indispensible introduction to a difficult subject that conveys a fair idea of the extent, complexities and subtleties of Sumerian poetry thereby demonstrating his acute sensitivity to the nuances of critical theory and practice. For this solid accomplishment, and for being courageous enough to take the first step, he has our profound thanks. Almost every page provokes thoughtful comment."—A.J. Ferrara, University of Pennsylvania. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 61:4, October 2002

Jeremy Black is University Lecturer in Akkadian and a Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. He has published several works on Sumerian and Babylonian literature and religion.