Download or read book Myths from Mesopotamia written by Stephanie Dalley and published by Oxford Paperbacks. This book was released on 2000 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The stories translated here all of ancient Mesopotamia, and include not only myths about the Creation and stories of the Flood, but also the longest and greatest literary composition, the Epic of Gilgamesh. This is the story of a heroic quest for fame and immortality, pursued by a man of great strength who loses a unique opportunity through a moment's weakness. So much has been discovered in recent years both by way of new tablets and points of grammar and lexicography that these new translations by Stephanie Dalley supersede all previous versions. -- from back cover.
Download or read book Greek Myths and Mesopotamia written by Charles Penglase and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-10-04 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the Mesopotamian influence on Greek mythology in literary works of the epic period, concentrating in particular on journey myths. A major contribution to the understanding of the colourful myths involved.
Download or read book The God Ninurta written by Amar Annus and published by State Archives of Assyria. This book was released on 2002 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The current investigation has been divided into three main chapters. In the first two chapters, the primary focus is the relationship between Ninurta and kingship. The first chapter gives a diachronic overview of the cult of Ninurta during all historical periods of ancient Mesopotamia. This chapter shows that the conception of Ninurta's identity with the king was present in Mesopotamian religion already in the third millennium BC. Ninurta was the god of Nippur, the religious centre of Sumerian cities, and his most important attribute was his sonship to Enlil. While the mortal gods were frequently called the sons of Enlil, the status of the king converged with that of Ninurta at his coronation, through the determination of the royal fate, carried out by the divine council of gods in Nippur. The fate of Ninurta parallels the fate of the king after the investiture. Religious syncretism is studied in the second chapter. The configuration of Nippur cults left a legacy for the religious life of Babylonia and Assyria. The Nippur trinity of the father Enlil, the mother Ninlil, and the son Ninurta had direct descendants in the Babylonian and Assyrian pantheon, realized in Babylonia as Marduk, Zarpanitu, and Nabu, and as Assur, Mullissu, and Ninurta in Assyria. While the names changed, the configuration of the cult survived, even when, from the eighth century BC onwards, Ninurta's name was to a large extent replaced by that of Nabu. In the third chapter various manifestations or hypostases of Ninurta are discussed. Besides the monster slayer, Ninurta was envisaged as farmer, star and arrow, healer, and tree. All these manifestations confirm the strong ties between the cult of Ninurta and kingship. By slaying Asakku, Ninurta eliminated evil from the world, and accordingly he was considered the god of healing. The healing, helping, and saving of a believer who was in misery was thus a natural result of Ninurta's victorious battles. The theologoumenon of Ninurta's mission and return was used as the mythological basis for quite a few royal rituals, and this fact explains the extreme longevity of the Sumerian literary compositions Angim and Lugale, from the third until the first millennium BC. Ninurta also protected legitimate ownership of land and granted protection for refugees in a special temple of the land. The "faithful farmer" is an epithet for both Ninurta and the king. Kingship myths similar to the battles of Ninurta are attested in an area far extending the bounds of the ancient Near East. The conflict myth on which the Ninurta mythology was based is probably of prehistoric origin, and various forms of the kingship myths continued to carry the ideas of usurpation, conflict, and dominion until late Antiquity.
Download or read book Mesopotamian Myths written by Matt Clayton and published by . This book was released on 2020-01-19 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book includes two captivating manuscripts: Mesopotamian Mythology: A Captivating Guide to Ancient Near Eastern Myths Sumerian Mythology: Captivating Myths of Gods, Goddesses, and Legendary Creatures of Ancient Sumer and Their Importance to the Sumerians
Download or read book Mesopotamian Gods Goddesses written by Britannica Educational Publishing and published by Britannica Educational Publishing. This book was released on 2014-01-01 with total page 115 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mesopotamian religion was one of the earliest religious systems to develop withand in turn influencea high civilization. Followed by the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians, Mesopotamian religion and mythology reflected the complexities of these societies and has been preserved in remnants of their cultural, economic, and political institutions. This absorbing volume provides a glimpse of the cradle of civilization by examining Mesopotamian religious and mythological beliefs as well as some of the many gods and goddesses at the core of their stories and also looks at epicssuch as that of Gilgameshand other aspects of Mesopotamian life.
Download or read book Mythology of Mesopotamia written by History Brought Alive and published by . This book was released on 2021-10-19 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Empires rose and fell along the banks of the Tigris & Euphrates, whilst a civilization as yet unsurpassed emerged... Discover Myths, History & More From The World's Most Ancient Civilization! Mesopotamia, the land "between two rivers" was an ancient region located in modern-day Iraq and parts of Iran, Syria, and Turkey. From the founding of Eridu in the sixth millennium BCE to the fall of Babylon in the first, the history of Mesopotamia spans almost 5,000 years. It was not only the earliest but also the greatest civilization in human history. Sumerians, Assyrians, Akkadians, and Babylonians were just some of the associated cultures. For a long time, the only way to understand their history has been through dense academic sources. This is in part due to the huge time frame and the lack of easily understood ancient sources. Such inaccessibility of information means that few know little about it. As such, it is essential to bring their knowledge and history into the light, allowing everyone to benefit from the fascinating insights of the very first human civilization. Inside this book you will discover; Introduction to the Sumerians, Assyrians, Persians & Babylonians. Epics & mythological stories, including the famous Epic of Gilgamesh, The Babylonian Creation Myth, The Enuma Elish & many more. Sargon of Akkad (Saddam Hussein celebrated this great Akkadian emperor with lavish festivities) How Mesopotamia laid foundations for human civilization - technology, laws, education, languages & more. Learn about civilizations such as The Land of Ur (home to Biblical characters) Old Babylon - fascinating insights from one of the most famous ancient cities. Why the introduction of a syllabic writing system was one of the largest contributors to the fall of Mesopotamia. And much, much more... Whether you're an ancient history enthusiast or just a reader looking to add to their knowledge...Inside you will discover a wealth of cultural history, mythology and more from in this book.
Download or read book Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta written by Samuel Noah Kramer and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-01-03 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Gods Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia written by Jeremy Black and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 1992-05-01 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ancient Mesopotamia was a rich, varied and highly complex culture whose achievements included the invention of writing and the development of sophisticated urban society. This book offers an introductory guide to the beliefs and customs of the ancient Mesopotamians, as revealed in their art and their writings between about 3000 B.C. and the advent of the Christian era. Gods, goddesses, demons, monsters, magic, myths, religious symbolism, ritual, and the spiritual world are all discussed in alphabetical entries ranging from short accounts to extended essays. Names are given in both their Sumerian and Akkadian forms, and all entries are fully cross-referenced. A useful introduction provides historical and geographical background and describes the sources of our knowledge about the religion, mythology and magic of "the cradle of civilisation".
Download or read book The Ancient Orient written by Wolfram von Soden and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 1994 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book represents the first comprehensive, interdisciplinary presentation of ancient Near Eastern civilization. The author's study includes treatments of the history of language and systems of writing, the state and society, nutrition and agriculture, artisanry, economics, law, science, religion and magic, art, music, and more.
Download or read book Mesopotamia written by Captivating History and published by . This book was released on 2019-12-14 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ancient Sumerians In a Nutshell The History of the Epic Get a sense of how Ur came to existence, how it grew, reached its zenith, fell, re-rose, and ultimately perished until it The Assyrians Arrive in Mesopotamia: The Early Assyrian Period The Land of the Babylonians Who Are the Persians? The History of Human Population in Iran
Download or read book Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia written by Jean Bottéro and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A well written guide to Mesopotamian religion by one of the world's foremost Assyriologists. Bottero studies the public and private relationships between the people and the divine, their cosmology, hymns and prayers, rituals, myths and magic.
Download or read book Mesopotamian Mythology written by Scott Lewis and published by Classical Mythology. This book was released on 2018-10-12 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do you know that the Mesopotamians did not believe in life after death? Or that their Queen of the Underworld and their arrogant God of War and Pestilence had an epic love story? In this collection, you will enjoy the epic stories of Ancient Mesopotamia that echoed through other great works like the Bible and the Odyssey. The Sumerian belief system offers a fascinating insight into the lives of these ancient people as they struggled to establish the first empires of man. Some of the fantastic stories included are: - The Epic of Gilgamesh: The adventure of Gilgamesh, a tyrannical king who is blessed with a true friend and companion, Enkidu. As they set out to make their names, the young men encounter demons, gods and goddesses, and death. It is the first recorded hero's epic! - Creation Myths: The Ancient Mesopotamians had a vivid idea of their origins. Learn how they saw their role in the cosmos and interpreted events in their lives. - The Descent of Ishtar: No good collection of myths would be complete without a trip to the Underworld. In this myth, the Queen of Heaven is not content with her lot and seeks to gain the power of the Underworld as well. - The Epic of Etana - One of the original action-adventure stories is the story of Etana. Through divine providence, Etana is elevated from shepherd to king but cannot conceive an heir. With help from the gods and a less than honorable giant eagle, he seeks to find the plant that will let his wife bear him a child. - Ereshkigal and Nergal: Stories of star-crossed lovers are common enough, but the Mesopotamian version has a unique twist. Ereshkigal and Nergal are the most unlikely of bedfellows! And so much more! These stories and many more are compiled in story form in Mesopotamian Mythology: Classic stories from the Sumerian Mythology, Akkadian Mythology, Babylonian Mythology and Assyrian Mythology. Get your copy and dive into this fascinating world today!
Download or read book Sumerian Mythology written by Simon Lopez and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2019-05-03 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do you know that the Sumerians believed that: The moon was actually a god child conceived unintentionally by the God Enlil and a maid? Or that humans were first created to do the chores on earth for the Gods and Goddesses? The ancient Sumerians lived a difficult life, and this is reflected in their myths. However, also reflected in their stories is their love for justice and the values which they most supported, among them beauty, honor, and truthfulness. Some of the stories included are: How the world, the moon, mankind and animals were created The retelling of the Epic of Gilgamesh: the legend of the very first hero in history Ninurta and the slaying of the demon Asag The Myths of Kur: the Dragon Conqueror Inanna's journey to the underworld And many other amazing tales! Get this book and discover the fascinating world of Sumerian Mythology today!
Download or read book Ancient Mesopotamia written by A. Leo Oppenheim and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2013-01-31 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This splendid work of scholarship . . . sums up with economy and power all that the written record so far deciphered has to tell about the ancient and complementary civilizations of Babylon and Assyria."—Edward B. Garside, New York Times Book Review Ancient Mesopotamia—the area now called Iraq—has received less attention than ancient Egypt and other long-extinct and more spectacular civilizations. But numerous small clay tablets buried in the desert soil for thousands of years make it possible for us to know more about the people of ancient Mesopotamia than any other land in the early Near East. Professor Oppenheim, who studied these tablets for more than thirty years, used his intimate knowledge of long-dead languages to put together a distinctively personal picture of the Mesopotamians of some three thousand years ago. Following Oppenheim's death, Erica Reiner used the author's outline to complete the revisions he had begun. "To any serious student of Mesopotamian civilization, this is one of the most valuable books ever written."—Leonard Cottrell, Book Week "Leo Oppenheim has made a bold, brave, pioneering attempt to present a synthesis of the vast mass of philological and archaeological data that have accumulated over the past hundred years in the field of Assyriological research."—Samuel Noah Kramer, Archaeology A. Leo Oppenheim, one of the most distinguished Assyriologists of our time, was editor in charge of the Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute and John A. Wilson Professor of Oriental Studies at the University of Chicago.
Download or read book Secrecy and the Gods written by Alan Lenzi and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Secrecy and the Gods is a comparative mythological study of the human reception and treatment of divine secret knowledge in ancient Mesopotamia and biblical Israel. The human royal council was the social model for ancient ideas about divine knowledge being secret - just as human kings had secrets so too did the gods. Diviners who received this knowledge from the gods in an on-going, ad hoc manner were an essential link between the divine assembly and the human royal council for whom such knowledge was intended. Scribes eventually adapted the ad hoc divinatory means of receiving divine communications to their culturally significant texts. By discursively asserting a historical connection between themselves and unique mediators with a close divine affiliation (the apkallus and Moses), the scribes constructed myths that legitimated their texts as divine revelation and claimed these were received in history through normal scribal channels. In this manner, scribes fixed the secret of the gods permanently among humans in textualized form that valorized their own position within society. Although the origin of divine secret knowledge was rooted in a common mythological idea of the divine assembly, its treatment was quite distinct. The Mesopotamians guarded divine secret knowledge through various scribal means, including the attachment of a Geheimwissen colophon to certain tablets (treated exhaustively), whereas biblical Israel published it openly. The contrast in treatment of divine secret knowledge was directly related to different mytho-political self-understandings: Mesopotamia's imperial aspirations versus biblical Israel's vassaldom. As vassals to Yahweh, the divine imperial king, the kings of Judah and Israel as presented in the biblical material were not to formulate secret orders; they were only to obey them.
Download or read book The Treasures of Darkness written by Thorkild Jacobsen and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1976-01-01 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: " ... No one can plausibly deny that the religious development of the peoples of Canaan (and indeed of all the ancient world around the eastern Mediterranean to the Indus river) were affected by the cultural and religious developments in Mesopotamia, the centre of the region, and a fertile region second to none known in the world, on a par with the Nile, around which another major civilization arose. This is a text of history of Mesopotamia in its own right. By the time history gets back this far, the lines become very blurred, rather like parallel lines intersecting on the horizon. Literature, religion, archaeology, sociology, psychology -- all of these disciplines become intertwined in Jacobsen's text as he looks at Sumerian society. The book is organized with an introduction, then according to time divisions of fourth, third, and second millennia, then concludes with an epilogue into the first millennium, during which the Bible as we know it (and most ancient history such as is commonly known occurred) came to be"--Amazon.com.
Download or read book Myth and History written by Jean Holm and published by Burns & Oates. This book was released on 1994 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Considerable work has been done on the European exploration of myth, first in the Renaissance and then in the nineteenth century. This book covers an area that is new territory by looking at ways in which this work can contribute to an understanding of the primacy of myth in religious life. The authors examine the idea of 'mythistory' - the complex relationship in religions between myth and history - and explore the different ways in which religious storytelling is related to the particular enterprise of storytelling that is called history.
