Annotated bibliography

The deeds and struggles of Gilgamesh, legendary king of the city-state Uruk in the land of Sumer, have fascinated readers for millennia. They are preserved primarily in the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the most well-known pieces of Mesopotamian literature. Studying the text draws us into an orbit that is engaging and thrilling, for it is a work of fantasy and legend that addresses some of the very existential issues with which contemporary readers still grapple. We experience the excitement of trying to penetrate the mind-set of another civilization, an ancient one—in this instance, a civilization that ultimately gave rise to our own.

The studies gathered here all demonstrate Tzvi Abusch s approach to ancient literature: to make use of the tools of literary, structural, and critical analysis in service of exploring the personal and psychological dimensions of the narration. The author focuses especially on the encounters between males and females in the story. The essays are not only instructive for understanding the Epic of Gilgamesh, they also serve as exemplary studies of ancient literature with a view to investigating streams of commonality between ancient times and ours [Publisher’s blurb].

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

1. Die Kulturarbeit im Atramhasīs im Vergleich zur biblischen Urgeschichte (1980).

2. »Ihr werdet sein wie Gott«. Gen 3,1-7 auf dem Hintergrund des alttestamentlichen und des sumerisch-babylonischen Menschenbildes (1993).

3. Das Motiv für die Sintflut im Atramhasīs-Epos (1999).

4. Ludlul bēl nēmeqi - eine Lehrdichtung zur Ausbreitung und Vertiefung der persönlichen Mardukfrömmigkeit (1988).

5. Der sozialgeschichtliche Hintergrund des Hiobbuches und der »Babylonischen Theodizee« (1981).

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

This small book is significant for our topic for one particular reason: Dante was facing a major transformation in the culture of Italy as the colloquial language was taking the place of Latin, especially for poetry, and here he provides a framework, historical and theoretical, within which to assess this phenomenon. The situation is in some ways comparable to that of early Mesopotamia, where new linguistic and literary forms were crystallizing: while there was no theoretical treatment of it, there was the kind of awareness that guaranteed the coherence of the whole scribal effort. [Dante never finished his manuscript, and this may be due to the fact that the treatment he had selected had become too “scholastic” for him. He had followed closely the standard manuals of rhetoric, and there was little left, there, for his creative and original thinking. It was as if he felt that there was not room for his “alta fantasia” (as he says, in an altogether different context, at the culmination of the Commedia: “All’alta fantasia qui mancò possa”). It is interesting to note that the De vulgari eloquentia stops at the point where the “canzone” is being described as the highest form of poetry. Since the text is aimed at provinding a theoretical scaffolding for his own poetry, where is there room now for a description of the “Divine Comedy,” which so fully transcends the confines of the “canzone”?].

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2017

In his introduction, Alster reviews earlier definitions of the category of wisdom, giving particular relevance to Lambert, Van Dijk, Gordon, Edzard and Assman. He stresses the “existential attitude” rather than its quality as a “genre” [in this he follows my argument in Buccellati 1981 Wisdom, which he quotes on p. 18a]. Here are the relevant passages (italics mine):

• Wisdom is a term that covers a number of existential or intellectual attitudes. Or, rather, wisdom is not only an attitude, but a number of very different attitudes that may come to light in literary works belonging to various text types, or genres. ... We might, therefore, consider to abandon the generic term "wisdom literature," but this does not in any way mean that wisdom becomes an obsolete concept (p. 21b)
• It is not possible to identify precisely those texts that deserve the designation "wisdom literature" in Sumerian. ... Fundamentally, wisdom is here considered an existential attitude rather than a genre designation (p. 24 ab)
• The aim of the present work is not to revive an outdated concept of "wisdom literature," but, on the contrary, the aim is to redefine "wisdom" as an existential attitude permeating certain texts, limiting it to the relatively few texts (p. 21a).
• In this study, "wisdom" is not in itself considered a usable genre designation, but "wisdom" is retained as a useful label that may be used to characterize a number of text types (p. 21 b).
• [...] how the Mesopotamians understood the world, whether from a social, ethical, existential, or speculative point of view, or even as an early type of philosophy [...] two contrasting underlying existential attitudes come to light. These are a conservative, traditional outlook versus a critical approach. I find these to be existential attitudes, rather than strict formal criteria, decisive for inclusion under the heading "wisdom literature".

[Alster distinguishes between a conservative or traditional type of wisdom and a critical type (pp. 25 and 30), which in some ways correspond to the two trends («filoni») I call “popular” and “intellectual”].

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

SAACT 7 presents a new edition of Ludlul Bel Nemeqi, “the Babylonian poem of the righteous sufferer.” This edition, based on all known tablets of the poem, offers the most complete text of Ludlul to date. Building on a half century of research and discovery, the editors incorporate previously unknown lines of the poem and establish the proper ordering of the material in Tablet IV. The edition includes an extensive introduction, the reconstructed text in cuneiform and transliteration, a translation, and a glossary and sign list. Assyriologists and biblical scholars alike will welcome this long overdue edition of “the Babylonian Job” [Publisher’s blurb].

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

PDF available here.

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

PDF available here.

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

PDF available here.

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

This paper analyses a famous text of the Mesopotamian literature known as Babylonian Theodicy, which is close to the Biblical composition regarding Job. The author leads the reader through an analysis of the conceptual scheme of the composition, underlining the dialogic form of the text, involving a discussion between the suffering man (called by his interlocutor as na’du ibru, ‘honoured friend’) and a sage (called in Akkadian āšišu).

Several questions are presented by the ‘friend’, followed by an answer given by the ‘sage’. In general, the ‘sage’ answers question by question, revealing in sum that the only solution to fight all the aforementioned evils are two virtues: piety and humility, based on faith in gods’ willing.

Nevertheless (and that is the topic of the present contribution) the ‘friend’ stresses the apathy (‘abulia’) of the general people towards the suffering condition of the simple man (a topic that recalls many other wisdom composition, such as the aforementioned Book of Job, but also some Egyptian text, such as the Dispute between a man and his Ba (see here for a preview by J.P. Allen); the ‘sage’ provides the ‘friend’ with a theological explanation for such a human behaviour: the gods, indeed, creating mankind, gave to each man «as heredity forever not the truth, but the falseness» (p. 162), from the original Akkadian sarrāti u lā kīnāti išrukūšu (line 280).

On p. 163 the author offers a discussion about the compositive unity of the poem, presenting a first section of questions and answers, a turning point (an acme) of reflections on the human condition, and a third, conclusive, part where the ‘sage’ embeds the pains of his ‘friend’, communicating the universality of the human condition of suffering, underlining how the origins of all the evils is the apathy (or a lack in empathy [for this topic, see e.g. Buccellati, Kelly Buccellati 2014]) of the humankind: the only possible solution is to trust gods’ good-willing.

An appendix (pp. 165-178) offers a formal and thematical analysis of the composition.

– Marco De Pietri, 2022

The author begins with a presentation of the figure of Adapa, «summoned by Anu for having ‘broken the wing of the South wind’ (ša Šūti kappaša ištebir, 11 f.)» (p. 61). Adapa’s father, the god Ea, advises his son about to avoid Anu’s wrath. Adapa presents himself to Anu in mourning garb and the god become favourable to Adapa; nevertheless, Ea also advised his son not to accept deadly bread or water from Anu; however and unexpectedly, Anu offers to Adapa not the bread and water of death, but those of life; notwithstanding, Adapa remembers his father’s admonition and does not accept Anu’s gifts.

The author advances five explanations of Adapa’s refusal, and points out that whatever the explanation could be, this is the only Babylonian myth where the phenomenon of faith is present.
On pp. 64 ff., the author moves to compare the figure of Adapa with that Adam (see mostly Gen. 3): both Adapa and Adam «are faced with the prohibition of partake a certain food»; «the occasion to circumvent the prohibition coincides in both cases with a temptation coming from a third party, supernatural in character» (Ea and God); «both traditions present the culprit as summoned directly by god into his presence»; and «a specific similarity which remains to be stressed is the presumed ignorance of the events on the part of god».

The author also stresses a basic difference between the two stories: «The main difference between Adapa and Adam is that the former remains obedient, whereas the latter betrays his trust. In this respect, Adapa calls to mind other Biblical figures». Buccellati continues with a comparison between Adapa and heroes of other Mesopotamian stories, sketching the character of men of faith, facing specific “tests of faith”: Ut-napištim and Atram-ḫasīs, compared to Noah (see mostly Gen. 6-7), but also displaying some differences, and with Abraham (see mostly Gen. 12).

Here are the conclusions: «Abraham too was called … to abandon his land and his home …; his response was given in the darkness and was based on faith toward the divine source of the command – and thus made him the prototype of the man of faith for a long and lasting religious tradition. … In Mesopotamia, on the other hand, the notion of faith remained much less pervasive than in the Biblical tradition. … They [i.e., all the aforementioned figures] reflect basic dimensions of a religious sensitivity which, though receiving its classical expression in the Biblical tradition, was not wholly alien from the surrounding ancient Near Eastern cultures» (pp. 65-66).

[The author presents in this paper a comparison between Mesopotamian and Biblical figures, focusing on the topic of the ‘man of faith’, stressing a basic difference in personal sensitivity: while Biblical figures totally obey to the God’s will, the Mesopotamian ones are more forced by the gods to be persuaded to follow their orders, sometimes refusing to respect their commands.]

– Marco De Pietri, 2020

This paper deals with a theoretical insight into the main principles of stylistic analysis of ancient texts, namely those written Akkadian. The starting point of the discussion moves from a precise statement on the definition of the term ‘style’.

PDF available here. Abstract available here.

– Marco De Pietri, 2022

The paper presents a description of the Mesopotamian pantheon as an ‘open’ and ‘closed’ system at the same time. This basic dichotomy is exemplified by means of some specific features of Mesopotamian wisdom literature (and also cultic practices), involving the topics of ‘fate’, ‘destiny’, ‘theodicy’, and ‘revelation’.

– Marco De Pietri, 2022

In this paper, the author suggests a cultic setting for the Sumerian story of the Descent of Inanna (p. 7).

In the first paragraph, the itinerary of Inanna’s journey is reported, describing the geographical framework of her peregrination towards Kutha, the residence of the Netherworld gods and her coming back to the city of Uruk. The author proposes to recognise a physical, geographical journey, starting from Uruk (through Larsa, Bad-Tibira, Umma, Zabalam, Adab, Nippur, Kish, and probably Akkad) and leading the goddess northwards to the city of Kutha, located to the north of Akkad (see Map on p. 4).

The second paragraph deals with the possible interpretation of such an itinerary as a cultic journey regarding the renewal of the goddess’ statue (following a suggestion by Paul Gaebelein).

Hence the conclusion: «Within these limitations, we may conjecture further on a possible Sitz im Leben for the assumed ritual. This may have been an annual renewal ceremony, which may have been a part of the regular, recurrent caring of the goddess, and might have originated in response to the breaking of a given statue, whether accidental or through enemy intervention» (p. 6).

– Marco De Pietri, 2020

PDF available here.

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

The aim of this volume is «to provide a description of Babylonian which may serve both as a systematic theoretical statement of the structure of the language, and as a guide towards a better understanding of the textual record» (p. VIII). The Grammar analyzes mostly Old Babylonian in a synchronic way, but it also quotes examples from later periods when Old Babylonian instances are lacking; it is also enriched by several sections which refer to the historical background of specific phenomena.

PDF available here

Review by N.J.C. Kouwenberg in BiOr 55/1-2 (1998)

See also the companion website

– Stefania Ermidoro, 2020

A structural and synchronic analysis of Old Babylonian grammar.

PDF available here

Review by N.J.C. Kouwenberg in BiOr 55/1-2 (1998)

See also the companion website

– Marco De Pietri, 2022

A structural and synchronic analysis of Old Babylonian grammar.

PDF available here

Review by N.J.C. Kouwenberg in BiOr 55/1-2 (1998)

See also the companion website

– Marco De Pietri, 2022

PDF available here.

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

See also the companion website.

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

See also the companion website.

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

In A Critique of Archaeological Reason, Giorgio Buccellati presents a theory of excavation that aims at clarifying the nature of archaeology and its impact on contemporary thought. Integrating epistemological issues with methods of data collection and the role and impact of digital technology on archaeological work, the book explores digital data in order to comprehend its role in shaping meaning and understanding in archaeological excavation.

Wider description available here. See also the companion website.

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2017

PRESENT BOOK

See also the companion website.

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2017

The reference book of Giorgio Buccellati about Hebrew and Mesopotamian spirituality.

– Marco De Pietri, 2023

«There are two major strands in the Mesopotamian wisdom tradition. A popular one (proverbs and folk stories) reflects what we may call a zero degree reflection on the human condition, whereas a scribal tradition hails from a more detached intellectual effort at defining this human condition especially in its moments of greater fragility. Both may be seen as a form of knowledge: reaching for a realistic assessment of what we know about ourselves. As such, it has an epistemic dimension, one that we can appreciate all the more if we compare it with myths on the one hand, which may be seen epistemologically as an idealization of nature, and epics on the other, which may be seen as an idealization of the human past. The paper develops in some detail this contrast between idealization and realism, with reference to specific texts that illuminate this shared, if differently oriented, epistemic effort» (Author’s abstract).

See full text

DOI

– Marco De Pietri, 2024

«The eighteen articles collected in this volume are the results of the international workshop, “Teaching Morality in Antiquity: Wisdom Texts, Oral Traditions, and Images,” held at the Bibliotheca Albertina of the University of Leipzig between November 29th and December 1st, 2016. During the workshop, fruitful discussions on diverse issues related to the theme “wisdom texts and morality” developed regarding biblical wisdom texts and their parallels from the ancient Egypt, ancient Mesopotamia, and the ancient Levant – more specifically: moral messages and rhetoric in wisdom texts; questions of theodicy; and many more. Contributors: Jan Assmann, Noga Ayali-Darshan, Daniel Bodi, Yoram Cohen, Izak Cornelius, Jan Dietrich, Yitzhaq Feder, Judith E. Filitz, Edward L. Greenstein, Dominick S. Hernandez, Enrique Jimenez, Thomas Kruger, Alan Lenzi, Alexandra von Lieven, Herbert Niehr, T.M. Oshima, Karolina Prochownik, Ludger Schwienhorst-Schonberger» [book description].

– Marco De Pietri, 2022

Cohen traces the evolution of the attitude towards divine retribution through its inception during the Sumerian civilization to its culmination amid the post-Kassite period, citing an increasing nihilism reflective of extensive socio-economic inequality. Through close readings and subsequent critiques of interpretations by four scholars, as well as an investigation into the socio-political climate of the Kassite/Post-Kassite period, Cohen wishes to debunk the notion that historical circumstances were the underlying impetus in the development of wisdom literature.

Thorkild Jacobsen likens the intellectual development of questioning the nature of the divine to the evolution of a child into adulthood. He suggests that at the earliest stage, man’s relationship with the divine is like that of a child who sees its parents without flaw. Upon maturity, it realizes a growing deception, or more so, inability, for the gods to reign righteously - considering the unjust nature of society and retribution. Jacobsen rationalizes this development from an evolutionary perspective, a combination of the transition from communal to individual worship and historical realities. The despair inherent to wisdom texts is reflective of the Assyrian domination of the Near East, which saw an increasingly lawless, less civilized society. 

W.G. Lambert cites the arrival and socialization of the Amorites as a factor in the emergent theology of the problem of theodicy. The rising intellectual nihilism reflected in literature during the Kassite period was circumstantial to the failing conditions of Babylon under Kassite rule. 

Whether social conditions were reflected in religious doctrine was the concern of Rainer Albertz, who conflates ideology in the Book of Job with the Babylonian Theodicy. Transformations in religious ideology were congruous to a Post-Kassite weakening state during the Second Dynasty of Isin, which experienced many invasions and increasing economic instability. Albertz reconciled the newfound wealth of a rising neo-nobility with an increase in doubt towards the validity of the gods divine order, in his view most apparent in the Babylonian Theodicy. 

Karel van der Toorn detects a shift in the psyche of Babylonia which manifested after the emergence of the “nouveau riche”. This new class of nobility caused a social rift which saw concepts of divine justice transform into the dualism of wicked and righteous. This social transformation birthed the nihilism apparent in the Babylonian Theodicy. However, van der Toorn also postulates the genesis of a “counter-dogma” evident in texts such as Enmeduranki. He suggests that this was a last-ditch attempt to aggrandize Mesopotamian wisdom, endowing it with ancient roots to increase its validity. 

Cohen rebukes the evolutionary model of the development of social thought as reactionary, which he suggests is convenient and dismissive of complex phenomena. He broadens the definition of theodicy to include the sufferer’s point of view as relevant and non-consequential. Historical and textual evidence is found to be insufficient for the supposition that social conditions influenced nihilistic attitudes. Cohen illustrates that Mesopotamian wisdom literature had a long-standing history of questioning the nature of the divine, suggesting the tradition to be inherent of Mesopotamian culture. The problem of Theodicy is far more complex than previous scholarship inferred and cannot be reduced to the response of a particular historical event or the fruit of social evolution.

The economic status and abandonment of urban centers during the First Dynasty of Babylon was not reflective of a failing state. Cohen suggests that due to a lack of textual evidence from the Kassite period, socio-political commentary is premature and speculative. Similarly, Post-Kassite Babylonia, although stricken with many afflictions, was not as disastrous as previous scholarship inferred. The negative outlook towards this period developed as a result of the emergence of a neo-nobility, explicitly mentioned in the Babylonian Theodicy, which gained wealth from land/entitlement grants and tax exemption. However, Brinkman warns that the inference of a weak state during the Kassite period, citing kudurrus as a source of information, is faulty and inconsistent with other known sources. Cohen argues the documentary evidence is insufficient to conclude that Babylonian society was in a state of despair following the collapse of the First Dynasty of Babylon through the Post-Kassite period, and thus the literature produced in that time-frame is not reflective of social transformations or theological reactions. 

The questioning of philosophical tradition, divine retribution and nihilistic attitudes towards general social conditions has a long-standing history in Mesopotamia, in both Sumerian and Akkadian texts. This genre of literature co-existed with religious texts that expressed exaltation towards the gods and state. Cohen goes on to cite examples from Sumerian and Akkadian texts that exemplify the longevity of a philosophical tradition of examining the nature of divine retribution. He finds that what is perceived as nihilism by modern scholarship is actually an understanding by the ancient authors that the gods may have never been concerned with the behavior of people; they are exclusively driven by the promise of offerings. Thus the relationship one has with the divine is one of mutual concession. Even then, the fate of humanity is unpredictable, as is expressed in literature where a sufferer is plagued by misfortune despite being well-versed in the necessary rituals to expel it. The inferred nihilism is reflective of the inability to understand the actions of the gods. Cohen notes the scribal traditions of later periods were endowed with a rich corpus of ideas to build upon, and developed the critique of divine retribution as well as the condition of the sufferer more finely over time, thus concluding his argument.

A succinct overview of the perception of wisdom literature from past scholars. Cohen offers new insight into Mesopotamian literary tropes and their historical influences.

– Iman Nagy, 2020

“[Lettura del 1957, poi riprodotta nell’«Approdo letterario», gennaio-marzo 1958, e lo stesso anno, senza note, nel volume Secoli vari della Libera Cattedra di Storia della Civiltà fiorentina, Firenze, Sansoni].”

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

An important article, which offered the first detailed formal analysis of Ludlul, in function of a “critical appreciation of [the ancient poet’s] genius” (p. 130). Foster focuses here on the way in which the author/protagonists foregrounds his involvement in the action. But the article goes well beyond that goal by articulating a sophisticated method of literary analysis, pointing to many other aspects such as “the intricate parallelism, the ornamented and recondite language, the symmetrical scheme of the text” (p. 123). With regard to his current topic, Foster describes four major means of self-reference.

(1) Overt self-reference (pp. 124a-125b). – The poet’s “self-naming is done with a characteristic twist: the author is addressed by name in a dream in the third person, and thus does not introduce himself directly. In fact, this is the most remote modulation of self-naming to be found in all Mesopotamian tradition.” Foster goes on to describe the significant role of the personal pronoun and of verbal forms in the first person, and points to the role of “patterning” in the use of the same verbal forms.

(2) Distancing (p. 125b). – This entails the “use of second and third person to refer to the first person speaker” (p. 123). It is not frequent in Ludlul, but since it is rare in Akkadian poetry to begin with, it provides “a further measure of the poet’s inventivenes.”

(3) Choice of verb forms (p. 126). – An interesting case is made for the way in which different verbal forms may affect the self-referntial mode: the poet “uses the present to draw the reader into the time of his discourse. Since he uses the present in moments of introspection and in statements about his feelings, or for vivid narration, and, insofar as the present tense and autobiographical narrative are inherently contradictory, one can assign the present tense of the verb particular self-referential.” Examples are given both for the alternation of preterite/present and for the use of T-stem verbal forms.

(4) Poetic devices (pp. 126b-130). A. Rhyme and assonance. Through a detailed analysis of two sections of the poems that show an internal unity of their own, Foster shows some very significant patterns of rhyma and assonance, e.g. ipparku, iprud, arpud and islit, išhit, piritti. There is also an equally evident patterning of verbal forms, to which “a level of contiguous dimensional logic is added”: by this he means that there is a marked sequentiality in the topics presented (Marduk > personal gods > protetctive spirits > vitality > physical strength) [in Pensiero I also use this as a criterion for analysis]. All of this heightens the sense of self-referentiality on the part of the poet.

B. Cinematics. This topic is very promising, but Foster can unfortunately deal with here only cursorily, but very effectively. Analyzing the section where the poet describes the action of seven people who conspire against him (i 59-64), he shows the surprising dynamics of the action, where “the reader is plunged … into the midst of the talk” through a very adroit and unexpected use of verbal forms. He rightly defines this passage as “one of the most remarkable episodes in Akkadian poetry” (p. 128b).

C. Deliberate self-reference. Foster suggests that the poet is actually reserved in the way it uses self-reference: “self effacement on all levels of discourse from morphemics to outer form of the whole text is the very means by which it attains its personal quality, and serves to convey its message of submission and uncertainty subliminally as well as expressly” (p. 130). The mechanisms used are primarily “supra-segmental,” meaning that they are often implicit, so that “one is struck by the sparing use of the inherently self-referential devices and the increased impact they thereby acquire” (p. 129a)

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

This volume collects the English translation of many texts, representative of the richness of ancient Akkadian literature.

After a general Introduction on the topic, including a presentation of Semitic languages (focusing of course on Akkadian), a history of the research and excavations, and the major sources (including a noteworthy paragraph on poetry and prose), the author displays the texts in chronological order (from the Archaic Period, ca. 2300-1850 BC, until the Late Period, ca. 1000-100 BC), grouping the texts thematically.

[Third edition: Foster 2005 Muses].

– Marco De Pietri, 2022

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

This volume collects the English translation of many texts, representative of the richness of ancient Akkadian literature.

After a general Introduction on the topic, including a presentation of Semitic languages (focusing of course on Akkadian), a history of the research and excavations, and the major sources (including a noteworthy paragraph on poetry and prose), the author displays the texts in chronological order (from the Archaic Period, ca. 2300-1850 BC, until the Late Period, ca. 1000-100 BC), grouping the texts thematically.

[Third edition of Foster 1996 Muses].

– Marco De Pietri, 2022

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

«These original essays study ritual language and parallelism (the strict ordering of words and phrases in alternative, duplicate form). The introduction puts the topic in historical perspective and what was once viewed as a composition form unique to ancient Hebrew is now seen as a feature common to literatures around the world. Here is the first book to compare in detail living traditions of parallel composition. Yet, despite the diversity of languages discussed by the contributors, their materials are drawn from a single cultural area still unknown to most specialists: Eastern Indonesia. All the essays contain original texts with translations and with detailed commentary on both content and context» [Publisher’s blurb].

«[…] it is difficult to provide a convincing theoretical synthesis, especially as the interests of the contributors are not primarily linguistic but ethnographic. While all of the authors present texts with facing translations, the focus is on the cultural content and the social context of the production and reception of these texts, rather than on their poetics. – The only explicitly linguistic treatment is Kuipers’s elegant analysis of a Weyewa prayer. Focusing on units of discourse he terms “stanzas” and “scenes,” Kuipers shows how the structure of the prayer resembles the structure of a social visit. Each “scene” manifests a temporal and thematic unity, indicated by the predominance of certain particles. Other textual divisions are marked by shifts in topic and style, and the use of pauses and connectives. (Similar observations are made by Forth, Lewis, and Fox.) Kuipers’s discussion suggests that the stress by native speakers on couplets as the defining feature of ritual language has led analysts to ignore less overtly recognized linguistic structures which enrich our understanding of the meaning and function of ritual speech» [from a review by Margaret Wiener, Am. Antrop. 91, p. 820).

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

[See also this website with singular entries of texts published in this volume.]

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

This book offers a new, recent English translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh, including both Akkadian and Sumerian versions (for the latter, see also texts 1.8.1.1 and followings on ETCSL). In two appendices, the author discusses the methodology he applied in translating the texts from the original tablets (Appendix 1, pp. 209-221) and offers a complete and updated (up until 2000) list of other editions of the same Epic (Appendix 2, pp. 226-228).

[For a wider translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh, including also the transliteration of the Akkadian text and the facsimile of the cuneiform tablets, cf. George 2003 Gilgamesh.]

PDF available here

– Marco De Pietri, 2022

This book offers a complete philological English edition, including pictures and facsimiles of the cuneiforms tablets, together with the transliteration of the Akkadian texts, of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

[For a briefer edition of the Epic of Gilgamesh, with the English translation of the text, only, cf. George 2000 Epic]

PDF preview of Volume 1 available here

PDF preview of Volume 2 available here

– Marco De Pietri, 2022

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

«The importance of proverbs for understanding a people has been long known; as Francis Bacon put it, “The genius, wit and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs.” To quote a modern writer, proverbs “are the safest index to the inner life of a people. With their aid we can construct a mental image of the conditions of existence, the manners, characteristics, morals and Weltanschauung of the community which used them. They present us with the surest data upon which to base our knowledge of Volkspsychologie”» (from author’s Introduction, p. 1).

This paper collects some Sumerian proverbs exemplifying the subtle wisdom literature of ancient Mesopotamian people, with a look on Sumerian everyday life or, even more worthy, on their way to interpretate events and behaviours of their daily experience.

PDF available here

– Marco De Pietri, 2022

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

PDF available here

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

PDF available here Cf. Mes-Pol, Excerpt of Jacobsen 1970

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

PDF available here

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

PDF available here

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

This volume retraces the paths in the development of the concept of religion in ancient Mesopotamia, from the 4^th to the 2^nd millennium BC.

An Epilogue (pp. 221-240) offers an overview on the second-millennium main religious achievements and provides the reader with some glimpses on later first-millennium religious developments.

Cf. also Excerpt on Mes-Rel

– Marco De Pietri, 2022

This volume collects the English translations of some Sumerian hymns to gods and goddesses, providing the reader with a useful commentary to the texts.

– Marco De Pietri, 2022

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

PDF available here Abstract available here

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

This book presents the English translation of many texts included under the modern label of “Mesopotamian wisdom literature”; we speak about ‘modern label’, since the existence in antiquity of a specific ‘wisdom genre’ is currently still debated.

After an Introduction and a Time chart, the author offers the English translation of the following ‘wisdom text’: “The Poem of the Righteous Sufferer (Ludlul bēl nēmeqi)”, the Babylonian Theodicy”, “Precepts and Admonitions”, “Preceptive Hymns”, The Dialogue of the Pessimism”, “Fables or Contest Literature”, “Popular Sayings”, and “Proverbs”.

The volume is complemented by critical and philological notes, lists of word discussed and translated tablets, and facsimiles of the cuneiform original texts.

PDF preview of 1996 reprint available here

– Marco De Pietri, 2022

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

A recent edition of the Babylonian creation myths, including the Enūma elīš.

– Marco De Pietri, 2023

See also Excerpt on Mes-Rel.

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

PDF available here

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

After a theoretical discussion about the very concept of prayer in Mesopotamia, the volume collects many Akkadian prayers and hymns, of different ‘genres’: šuilla-prayers, namburbi, dingiršadibba-prayers, eršaḫunga-prayers, tamitū-prayers, ‘Gottesbriefe’, royal prayers, and hymns.

The book represents a useful source for a comparison between Mesopotamian prayers and Biblical texts, specifically with the Psalter.

PDF available here

– Marco De Pietri, 2022

The central thesis is that the ancient author, a scribe (ummānu) who was probably an exorcist (āšipu), wrote Ludlul “serving the interests of the official ritual experts among whom this poem seems to have originated” (p. 39): given the occasional failure of the divinatory system, how could the professionals of that system defend themselves? What kind of “damage control” could they effect in order “to avert any potential professional consequences … from their clients or among their own ranks”? (p. 39). One goal of the poem is to do just that (though the author stresses that this interpretation by no means excludes others, p. 40, n. 10).

After reviewing the central role of the sovereignty of Marduk as the “unrivaled high god of the pantheon” (p. 41), Lenzi discusses the topic of the professional failure of the system, with ample references to the relevant passages in the text: the ancient author questions, “in perhaps the starkest terms in all of Akkadian literature, humanity’s ability to discern the divine will accurately” (p. 49f).

He then addresses the issue of the deliverance through dreaming. As he says, “including a series of dreams in the poem gave the author of Ludlul an opportunity to use, in a highly artificial, tendentious and emphatic manner, an acceptable medium of revelation that could occur outside of the official ritual system” (p.55). The dreams offer “the final conceptual element to understanding the poem’s broader ideological purpose” (p. 58). Noting that “the use of divine representatives appearing in dreams to perform ritual actions is not at all the usual manner in which gods effected healing in the broad scheme of the Mesopotamian ritual system” (p. 58), Lenzi suggests that this was done to account “for the possibility of healing outside of the normal ritual channels” (p. 60): the two unnamed the figures appearing in the dreams are probably minor deities, possibly the personal deities of the sufferer, brought back, as it were, by Marduk, while the two named figures are exorcists.

The conclusion (p. 62) addresses the question about the audience, which consisted especially of scholars whom the text wanted to reassure: “Mesopotamian scholarship circumscribed a very exclusive group with extremely strong ideological notions about their value and importance to the king, society and cultural tradition broadly considered. As with any group, a crack in its ideological foundation would need to be patched carefully to guarantee the perpetuation of the group’s social position and cultural significance. Ludlul would have effectively achieved this purpose with regard to ritual failure by assuring scholars that the ritual system did indeed work even in extraordinary cases. Their occasional failures or frustrations were not due to their incompetence or the inadequacy (or falsehood) of their ritual system, the poem assured” (p.63).

As an appendix (pp. 63-66), Lenzi adds a comparison with Job. Here the problem is not divination, bu th the fact that “Job’s suffering runs against the grain of a generally accepted idea about righteousness and retribution, an idea that was developed in various ways in numerous biblical texts” (p. 64), and the answer is found in the initial vision of the heavenly council: “It is as if the author is himself a prophet, sharing his visions ofthe divine throne room with his audience” (p. 65).

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

Following a suggestion by Reiner 1985 Thwarts, Lenzi shows in detail how “the author of Ludlul connected the name of the gates and the description of what the sufferer received at each by way of applied translations of the Sumerian gate names, sound plays on the words and syllables comprising the names of the gates (homonymy/etymology), graphic plays on the cuneiform signs with which the names are written (etymography), and in at least one case a mythological interpretation based on the gate’s name” (p. 734). He analyzes in detail the method the ancient scribe used, showing that he was not consistent in his approach: “In some lines he uses each part of the gate’s name to derive the description in the second half of the line. In others, he ignores some elements in the name to arrive at his description. And in still others he uses elements in the name of the gate twice.” (p. 734; see also p.748f).

Interesting for our concerns are the remarks about the limits of hermeneutics. Lenzi is very cautious in defining the method he uses in defining the “hermeneutical scribal techniques employed in the service of literary composition” (p. 736), without excessive expectations: “As with any interpretation of a literary work, we can never be certain that we have adequately or properly divined the author’s thoughts” (p. 735). Proceding on this basis, the author gives a detailed phiolological analysis of each of the gates, stressing the different degrees of plausibility in eaach interpretation.

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

A comparison of Ludlul with the prayers tieed to incantation rituals, for which a specific methodological aim is set: “analogical comparative” instead of a “diffusionist perspective” (p.70). [This is analogous to my approach based on the description of structural contrast. Lenzi speaks of a “structural comparison” on pp. 69, 73, 75, and of “contrast” in a comparison on p. 84 an 98.].

1. Comparison. Ludlul is compared with six structural elements of the prayers.

• (1) Invocation (p.71). A doxology, which in Ludlul is retrospective whereas in teh prayers it anticipates divine action.

• (2) Self-presentation (p.73). In the prayers, the supplicant introduces himself by giving the name of his personal deities, which is missing in the introduction of Ludlul. [I would stress more the contrast: the poet cannot mention his personal deities because they have abandoned him, or have been prevented from assisting him.].

• (3) Lament (p.74). Divine anger and the “general inability to communicate effectively with the divine realm” constitutes the “fountainhead from which all other laments pour forth” (p.75), and is found in the prayers with similar language. Lenzi notes that in Ludlul it is not said that the personal deities are angry with the sufferer (p.76). The comparisons relating to the sufferings of the protagonists are found often verbatim the prayers, of which many examples are given. Rather than from a common source, it seems more likely that “Ludlul is following the form and language of incantation-prayers” (p.81).

• (4) Supplicant’s actions (p.82). In Ludlul the supplicant does not turn to Marduk for help, and the reason is that “Marduk is not a slave to the ritual apparatus; he is above it. He will restore people to health. But he will do so whenever he pleases” (p. 83, see 33 for more). Ritual actions are also mentioned in Ludlul, but “instead of wishing the gods to accept his ritual practices, Shubshi-meshre-Shakkan expresses doubt that his acts could garner divine approval. Thus, again, we see a structural feature appropriated into the poem but filled with content that significantly differs from what is used in incantation-prayers” (p.86).

• (5) Petition. This feature, regular in the payers, is missing altogether in Ludlul (p. 87). [This is relevant for my argument, because it stresses the impersonal character of Marduk as the icon of fate.]

• (6) Petition granted (p.87) is a feature of Ludlul that parallels closely what in the prayers is the request moment.

2. Interpretation.

• 2.1. Within Mesopotamia. This is an important methodological section of the article. There are great similarities in language between Ludlul and the prayers, but they appear within a context that is structurally different. [Lenzi’s statement that “we see many structural similarities between Ludlul and the structural elements of the incantation-prayer genre. But each element incorporated into the text of Ludlul has also been modified in some way,” p.94f, does not seem correct to me: the similarties are precisely not structural, but only contingent.] The major mechanism if “transformation by incorporation, … a hallmark of literary creativity in Meospotamia…” (p.95). Significant examples are Gilgamesh, the use of Enūma elīš in Sennacherib, and the Aluzinnu text where the author “creates signals to the reader that intend to bring whole formulaic genres to mind. [He] purposefully deploys these in the new literary context for a quite different purpose from those of the original, rather serious genres, namely, parody and mockery” (p. 96). Two methodological issues pertain to allusion and to intertextuality (p. 96f), which in the case of Ludlul allusions to the prayers may be assumed to be intentional. The purpose is didactic. [Lenzi’s case is strengthened by my interpretation of Marduk as an icon of fate.]

• 2.2. Beyond Mesopotamia. The biblical thanksgiving psalms include “a brief narrative that includes the recounting of the past distress from which the celebrant has been delivered” (p.98). More important is the book of Job, which is here considered to illuminate a Mesopotamian text, rather than the other way around as is normally the case [which is my approach as well, here and in Buccellati 2012 Quando.] Referring to Westermann 1981 Job, the “interrelationship between the Book of Job and the individual laments” (p.99) is stressed, meaning that the laments have influence Job, as is the case in Lenzi’s interpretation of Ludlul. “Ludlul and the Book of Job, despite many differences, are both ultimately iconic narratives that demonstrate the same concept: the proper human response to inscrutable, divine sovereignty” (p.100). “For everything else that the allusion to the language of prayer may be doing in each of these compositions, it is also maintaining the central premise in each: divine sovereignty” (p.101).

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

This masterpiece in the introduction to Near Eastern culture, and specifically to Babylonian culture, devotes some chapters to the structure of Mesopotamian literature.

PDF available here.

– Marco De Pietri, 2022

In the nineteenth century, De Sanctis was a central figure in establishing a critical approach to Italian literature. He developed a theory of criticism that emerges from his monographic analysis of individual authors, and that took shape especially in his very influential history of Italian literature (1870-71). Orvieto studies the various phases of De Sanctis’ work, and what is of relevance to our concerns is the “alternating unfolding of modifications in the relationship between content and form” (p.156), to which Orvieto returns with regard to each of the main periods of De Sanctis actitivty. Interesting, for example, is his statement that for De Sanctis “the nervous center of critical inquiry is without doubt the ‘situation’, which … ‘determines the representation’” (p. 242, my transaltions), where situation can be read as “perception” and represetnation as “voice.”

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

A substantial case is made for the need to assume an additional tablet between tablets 3 and 4 of the (modern) canonical organization. This is then the system followed in Oshima 2014 Sufferers. [While the arguments given seem conclusive on the philological side, it is difficult to see how a whole tablet would be devoted to the argument that is already broached in tablet 3. Nevertheless, I do follow Oshima in assuming such an additional tablet.]

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

After reviewing in detail previous explanations of the tropos of noise, in particular overpopulation and rebellion, and especially in relationship to Atram-hasīs (pp. 273-77) and Enūma elīš (pp. 277-80), Oshima suggests, with reference to Moran, Machinist and Batto, that “noise is simply the result of human activity” (p. 280). Sleeplessness is seen in fact as a disease, and it was with the utmost care that Mesopotamians would seek to avoid causing annoyances to the gods – so that, for instance “before approaching the gods, they were careful to avoid eating foods like leeks and garlic, in order not to give off an odour unpleasant to the deities” (p. 285).

Get Moran, Machinist, Batto

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

This volume includes a critical text edition and a wide commentary of two of the most important Mesopotamian wisdom texts, namely the Ludlul bēl nēmeqi and the so-called Babylonian Theodicy.

[For another translation of these texts, cf. Foster 2005 Before.]

PDF preview here

– Marco De Pietri, 2020

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

The “Dolce Stil Nuovo” is a major movement at the beginning of Italian literature, which was the humus out which Dante Alighieri grew. The nature of this movement has been at the center of the critical debate in recent years, and the author describes in detail and with great clarity the nature of the problems faced (esp. pp. 22-28). Two points are relevant for our concerns.

The first is the very nature of the “movement,” which cannot properly be described as a “school” in the sense of an organized structural whole, but rests nevertheless on a specific awareness of its own constitutive elements. “These poets do not form a group that is ideologically homogenous, but they recognize each other in some fixed points, for example, the sensitivity of the heart and the richness of the inner self … translated in an expressive lucidity.” There is a commonality of intents that ties them together: “The heightened epistemological value of poetry and the discovery of the inner self imply a deepening especially of the scientia de anima, whether scientific or theological. And it is especially the subtlety, i. e. its intellectualistic and philosophical character, that constitute a defining and well accepted aspect of the new poetry” (both passages on p. 27, my translation).

The second is the “scribal” tradition, i. e., the way in which the very early manuscritp tradition (in the foreforont of recent critical studies) has recognized the identity of thei movement by gathering the relevant poems in discrete entities called “collettori,” i. e., collections limited to the poems of the “school.”

[Both points are relevant because they describe a fluid movement (a “tradition” as I have called the wisdom movement), which is rooted in the awareness of the scribes in our case, and the poets (who were not so by profession) in the case of the Stil Nuovo.]

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

An important overview, where Reiner offers some interesting insights into the nature and value of a proper literary analysis.

In connection with Ludlul, there is an important statement about formal analysis: «Deshalb möchte ich statt einer Zusammenfassung des Inhalts dieser Texte ihre literarische Form mehr im Detail als üblich analysieren. Es scheint mir der einzige Weg, durch geordnetes Aufführen des Belegmaterials die Plattheit allgemeiner Behaup- tungen über die “literarischen Qualitäten” oder die “Werte” des betreffenden Werkes zu vermeiden. Auf dieser Basis köonnen wir schließlich Partei ergreifen für oder gegen jene, die in dem Werk literarische Werte finden. Ein gutes Beispiel für die widersprüchlichen Ansichten ist folgendes: » – and here she quotes the two contrasting statements (which are actually relatively marginal) by Oppenheim 1964 Mesopotamia, p. 272 f.: «Technically the composition [of Ludlul] is primitive. No attempt is made to structure the overlong complaints or to prepare for the denouement with transitional passages or suggestions of the inner development of the sufferer, which might well be expressed in a prayer addressed to Marduk». Of course, passages of this sort may have been part of fragments now lost to us and by Lambert 1960 Wisdom, p. 26f.: «As literature, the originality of the work [Ludlul] lies in the overall design rather than in its parts.... One legitimate ciriticism of the style is that the abundance of verbiage blunts the edge of the argument».

She then proceeds with a formal analysis of the subdivisions in Ludlul’s second tablet, based on the occurrence of verbal forms of the first person singular in first position.

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

Small in size and preliminary in nature, this is a major work in literary structural analysis. Because of its importance, I will give a detailed summary of relevant portions of this monograph.

Chapter VI. “This year and into the next …”. The second tablet of Ludlul bēl nēmeqi: intricate texture of a learned poem.

A particularly detailed analysis is given of Tablet II of 33 = (Ludlul), one of the best examples of its kind in this field. Reiner describes first the notion of tablet (which she says might be called “canto,” see presently), the strophe and the distich. The division into 10 line units of the poetic texts, and the division into tablets with equal number of lines each in the hymns, shows an awareness for the metrical dimension, even though these divisions do not necessarily match the structure of the text as we understand it. (On p. 102 she says that the term “cantos” might be used to refer to the tablets into which a cuneiform text is divided (with specific reference to the Divine Comedy in note 5). It is significant that the term “canto” has thus been introduced into the scholarly discourse. However, the division into tablets does hardly ever relate to a true structural or compositional aspect of the text.)

The “higher-level units” cannot be called “stanzas” because they are of uneven length, and she uses the term “strophe” (implying that this would fit the unevenness in length). Besides criteria based on content, these strophes are formaly marked by the recurrence of a verbal form in the first person (beginning with the vowel a) not only in the first verse, but also in line initial position, which goes against the rule of Akkadian syntax.

A second criterion (p. 105f.) is that these first verses are also “marked on the sound level,” because they contain, in one case, “a cumulation of sounds,” such as r, d and t, all “apical and alveolar consonants that occur altogether seven times in one verse). Other verses show different patterns, which she explains in detail.

A third formal criterion is the “pattern of … inner organization”: to this, she devotes the most attention (pp. 106-113), analyzing each of the seven strophes in turn.

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

The range and effectiveness of an emotional vocabulary is studied within the context of a translation from one to another emotional community.

“The central premise is that of the stability of emotional representation and categorization across cultures. If emotions are to a great extent culturally defined, and therefore unstable and shifting, how does one translate emotional behaviour for an audience that conceives those emotions (or the literary representation of a particular emotion) differently?” (p. 162).

An analysis of the translation of a saga by Chrétien de Troyes into Norse shows that there is, in the translation, “a tendency to reduce emotional exhubernace” (p. 167), resulting in “a general and overall reduction in emotional vocabulary,” this vocabulary consisting of “emotion words” that “indicate a presumed feeling” (p. 164). In other words, “the Norse translation reveals less of the emotional life of the characters” (p. 165). Interestingly, then, “the emotive words … have been eliminated in the translation …, yet the underlying emotional reality is nevertheless present in the scene” so that “rather than being expressed, … these emotions have to be inferred from the text” (p. 166). Instead of words, “internal emotions are frequently translated into actions, exhibited through involuntary physical reactions (reddening, swelling or sweating” (p. 167).

This is revealing of the actual import of emotive expression: instead of an explicit verbalization, the emotion must be “inferred though contextualization,” resulting in a form of “public masking” of the emotion (p. 168). This makes us think about the “function of emotional representation,” because the lack of externalization is in itself a form of externalization: “once the intent is to deflect emotional communication, the discourse can no longer be considered emotive” (p. 169). This externalization also takes the form of physical gestures or “embodiment,” which entails a “representational enactment of emotion” (p. 172). Such embodied emotions, or “coded performances” (p. 173), project a social “mask” that need not match exactly the interior feelings. [The detail in Gilgamesh where his deeply felt interior emotion of sorrow is expressed through a wailing similar to that of a professional mourner (34) can be seen in this light as indicative of a special interior disposition: his sorrow was so deep that it in fact was like that of the embodied external act; interiority, in this case, perfectly matched what the mask would dictate.]

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2017

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2017

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2017

«The focus of the following investigation is on the two Akkadian terms pukku and mikkû and their respective Sumerian counterparts. The analysis of the tangible texts, in the center of which is the Sumerian poetry Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Underworld, shows that both terms refer to a stick ball game that has been practiced since the second half of the third millennium and thus represent the oldest evidence of this sport. The game, which was practiced as a team sport in an agonal context, was played in open places and ended with a specific sign of victory» [translation from the original German abstract on p. 9, by mDP].

– Marco De Pietri, 2020

This entry of the RlA is entirely devoted to the analysis of the concepts of ‘sport’ and ‘game’ in ancient Mesopotamian and neighbouring cultures. Here briefly the topics of each paragraph: 1) terminology; 2) sporty disciplines; 2.1) wrestling; 2.2) running competition; 2.3) stickball game; 2.4) equestrian sport; 2.5) archery; 2.6) bull jump/bull game; 3) sport and festival; 3.1) in Mesopotamia; 3.2) for the Hittites; 4) sport and funeral ceremonies; 5) athletes; 6) sport as a royal attribute; 7) competition and disputation; 8) game.

As for literature specifically, the contribution mentions some literary texts from Syro-Mesopotamia/Anatolia (I quote here from the original titles given in the RlA): Heirat des Gottes Mardu; The Fields of Ninurta; Fluch über Akkade; Lugalbanda-Epos; zweikampf zwischen Mot und Baal; Gilgameš, Enkidu und die Unterwelt; Gilgameš’s Tod; Traktat des Kikkuli; Gurp-aranzaḫ-Mythos; Enmerkar und der Herr von Aratta; Enmerkar und Ensuḫgirana; Rituals for Inanna/Ištar (Inninšagura, Išstar-Bagdad); Inannas Erhöhung; Götteradressbuch; KI.LAM and AN.TAḪ.ŠUM Hittite festival texts (just to quote the most important ones).

Available online at this link.

– Marco De Pietri, 2020

[Cf. also Lenzi 2015 Language.]

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

«Generations of Feeling is the first book to provide a comprehensive history of emotions in pre- and early-modern Western Europe. Charting the varieties, transformations, and constants of human sentiments over the course of eleven centuries, Barbara H. Rosenwein explores the feelings expressed in a wide range of “emotional communities,” as well as the theories that served to inform and reflect their times. Focusing particularly on groups within England and France, chapters address communities as diverse as the monastery of Rievaulx in twelfth-century England and the ducal court of fifteenth-century Burgundy, assessing the ways in which emotional norms and modes of expression respond to, and in turn create, their social, religious, ideological, and cultural environments. Contemplating emotions experienced “on the ground” as well as those theorized in the treatises of Alcuin, Thomas Aquinas, Jean Gerson, and Thomas Hobbes, this insightful study offers a profound new narrative of emotional life in the West» [Publisher’s abstract].

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

PDF available here

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

The website offers the text (in Akkadian and English translation) along with a reading of the Atrahasis poem: «Beach soundscapes and choral works sung from portions of the ancient flood myth poem Atra-Hasis. Written nearly 4000 years ago, the Babylonian Atra-hasis is an iconic poem with an eternal message for mankind. It tells the story of how a thoughtless mankind weighs heavily upon the earth, such that the gods are forced to act. They first send forth a great sickness, then a great famine. But when neither of these can quiet the noise and chaos of humans, they are forced to send forth a great flood to wash away mankind.» (from website).

– Marco De Pietri, 2023

This website offers many ancient texts of the Ancient Near East: «This site aims to make information about the ancient poet Enheduana freely available, offering tools and resources to anyone wishing to learn more about her..» (from website).

– Marco De Pietri, 2023

«The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature is based at the University of Oxford. Its aim is to make accessible, via the World Wide Web, over 400 literary works composed in the Sumerian language in ancient Mesopotamia during the late third and early second millennia BC.

At this site you will find a catalogue of these works, together with a Sumerian text, English prose translation and bibliographical information for each composition» (website description).

– Marco De Pietri, 2023

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

– Giorgio Buccellati, 2016

«Akkadian, i.e. Babylonian and Assyrian, literature, documented on cuneiform tablets from Ancient Mesopotamia, forms (together with Sumerian and Egyptian literature) the oldest written literary corpus of mankind. In the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE (c. 2400–1100), Akkadian literature encompassed many different literary genres: hymns, lamentations, prayers to various gods, incantations against different diseases, demons and other sources of evil, love-lyrics, wisdom literature (proverbs, fables, riddles), as well as epics and myths - roughly 900 different compositions (Summer 2019). Many of these compositions are not yet published in satisfactory modern editions or are scattered throughout a large number of publications. SEAL is an ongoing project which started in 2007. It aims to compile an exhaustive catalogue of Akkadian literary texts from the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE, to present this corpus in such a way as to enable the efficient study of the entire early Akkadian corpus in all its philological, literary, and historical dimensions. Many of the editions in SEAL rely on new collations and photographs.» (from website).

– Marco De Pietri, 2023

The official website of the archaeological site of Urkesh/Tell Mozan: «Urkesh, today a small village known as Tell Mozan, was a major political and religious center of the Hurrians – an elusive population of the ancient Near East. Our excavations have shown that they had developed a strong urban civilization, at the very dawn of history, some 6000 years ago. A temple dominated the ancient skyline, at the top of a built-up terrace that rivalled the nearby mountains. A large royal palace, currently under excavation, has yielded written evidence that has allowed us to identify the ancient city» (from website).

– Marco De Pietri, 2020