The Mesopotamian Shakespeare. World’s first author, Enheduanna. There are very few women in ancient history who made their mark on the world with the full moral support of their fathers. Sargon the Great (of Akkad) was considered great for many reasons, but an unofficial reason I’m going to talk about in this blog post (which echoes Fathers Day, albeit belatedly) is that he might have even been a great dad to his daughter, Enheduanna. Dubbed by scholars “Shakespeare of Sumerian Literature,” (just in time for Shakespeare outdoor events!)
Enheduanna began her journey as an Akkadian princess and wound up being the world’s first named author. Some even consider her the world’s first feminist. In her essay “Enheduanna, Daughter of King Sargon. “Enheduanna represented a strong and creative personality, an educated woman, and one who fulfilled diverse roles in a complex society, not unlike women’s aspirations today.” An ornament It is through her ordainment that Enheduanna got her name. The Shakespeare of Sumerian Literature. The Mesopotamian Shakespeare. The Enheduanna Society. BAPLAR: Babylonian and Assyrian Poetry and Literature: An Archive of Recordings: SOAS. Babylonian and Assyrian Poetry and Literature: An Archive of Recordings This website collects recordings of modern Assyriologists reading ancient Babylonian and Assyrian poetry and literature aloud in the original language.
It is the first undertaking of its kind, and accordingly some explanation of its aims is called for. It is intended to serve several purposes, some for Assyriologists, and some for the wider public. First, it aims to foster interest among students of Babylonia and Assyria in how these civilisations’ works of verbal art were read aloud in the past, and how they should be read aloud today.
Second, it provides a forum in which scholars who have theories about Babylonian and Assyrian pronunciation, metre, etc. can present a concrete example of how their theories sound in practice. Third, as a record of the ways in which contemporary scholars read Babylonian and Assyrian, it will some day serve a historical function. About the recordings Contact: E-mail: mw51@soas.ac.uk.
The world's first literary masterpiece. Gold rosette . Most of the artifacts displayed on this page are from the Royal Tombs of Ur. A cuneiform tablet is not a great rarity; more than half a million are known to exist. About 97% of the tablets are classified as "Administrative" (receipts, ledgers, inventories, etc.; the Sumerians invented formal accounting).
These tablets are recognizable by the numbers at the beginning of the lines. They usually deal with mundane matters such as the amount of grain rations issued to workers or the number of sheep and goats donated to a temple. Tablet #36 was originally classified as "Administrative", but on closer examination, the first thing noticeable about it is: "no numbers". Three percent of five-hundred-thousand is still a lot of tablets. Part of a lid to a small box. A friend of mine recently asked me why I consider this tablet to be such a masterpiece. Enlarge . As for the brevity of the composition: it's a poem, not prose. The gold helmet of a warrior king. Silver bull-headed lyre . Sources of Early Akkadian Literature. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. 1-4.
On the day when in heaven and earth the fates had been decided, Lagaš raised its head high in full grandeur, and Enlil looked at Lord Ninĝirsu with approval. In our city there was perfection. 5-9. The heart overflowed with joy, Enlil's heart, a river in flood, overflowed with joy. The heart overflowed with joy, and just as the Tigris brings sweet water, so Enlil , whose will is an enormous flood, sparkling and awe-inspiring, came to a sweet decision: 10-16. 17-23. 24-32. 33-38. 39-51. 52-63. 64-67. 68-79. 80-89. 90-100. 101-109. 110-114. 115-123. 124-131. 132-133.