Memorization and the Transmission of Sumerian Literary Compositions
It is widely recognized that nearly all preserved copies of Sumerian literary compositions were copied by apprentice scribes as part of their training in the Sumerian language.
Alphabetic Imperialism?: A Cross-Cultural Glimpse into the Evolution of Writing
I will take the reader through a brief comparison of the writing systems of Sumer and Japan, noting points of commonality
A Journey Into the Land of No Return: Death Attitudes and Perceptions of Death and Afterlife in Ancient Near Eastern Literature
While death anxiety and death acceptance are present in all four groups, death anxiety is most prevalent in regard to a fear of untimely or tragic death, or in regard to regret of having no or few progeny.
The Concept of God/the Gods as King in the Ancient Near East and the Bible
The first section of this paper will survey some of the texts which archeologists have found in the ancient Near Eastern world to see how men describe their gods. Because the ancient world had so many gods, because of the large number of texts and because of the complexity of trying to reproduce an accurate conceptualization of a term like “god,” there will be no attempt to present a total picture of each god, during each period, as it was seen by each different class group within the society.
Virginity in Ancient Mesopotamia
‘A virgin body has the freshness of secret springs, the morning sheen of an unopened flower, the orient luster of a pearl on which the sun has never shone. Grotto, temple, sanctuary, secret garden – man, like the child, is fascinated by enclosed and shadowy places not yet animated by any consciousness, which wait to be given a soul: what he alone is to take and to penetrate seems to be in truth created by him.’
Understanding Gilgamesh: his world and his story
Understanding Gilgamesh – brokenly – is to understand life brokenly. The Epic of Gilgamesh is the narrative of life.