Two New Sumerian Texts Involving The Netherworld and Funerary Offerings (original) (raw)
2009, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische …
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Abstract
1 I would like to thank Walther Sallaberger for his extensive feedback on conjunction with this article. I am solely responsible for its content. 2 I was unable to locate a record of who made this join in the Babylonian Section.
Key takeaways
- by Jeremiah Peterson 1 -Berkeley In this article, an unpublished and unplaced Sumerian literary fragment that appears to describe the witnessing of various deities involved with the netherworld and an unpublished distribution text provisioning, among other things, the use of ghee in conjunction with the funerary offerings of the g u 2 -e n -n a official at Old Babylonian Nippur, are treated.
- ≠ k u r u m 6 sˇu m 2 -m u g˜a 2 -e i g i i n -g˜a [ l 2 …] 6H) a n -n a m u l nim-m [ a ] -sˇe 3 g a l -a n -z u a n -n a du-x[…] 7H) f k a r j d e r e sˇ-k i -g a l -[ l a ? ]
- This line is evocative of contexts such as Enki and the World Order 370: 14 i n m u -n a -d u b b u l u g -g a m u -u n -s i -s i "He (Enki) surveyed the plots, furnishing them with boundary stakes."
- A previously unpublished distribution text from Old Babylonian Nippur contains another reference to the k i -s i 3 -g a (Akkadian kispu (m)), "funerary offering," which appears to be destined for a deceased and unnamed g u 2 -e n -n a official or officials.
- Fish to be used for a k i -s i 3 -g a offering, which were acquisitioned by Damiqtum, an economically prominent individual who held the title l u k u r /naditu (m) and was associated with the g u 2 -e n -n a functionary, 23 are mentioned in CBS 7627 (Rim-Sîn I 31) lines 12-13.
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On the Time of Composition of the Hitherto Undated Sumerian Myths
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The paper points out several similarities in the myths Enki and the World Order, Enki's Journey to Nippur and Enki and Inanna, which seem to reflect the material or ideology also present in the Isin era royal poetry and inscriptions. The objective is not to claim that all the mythological ideas present in the analysed texts had to be created in the Isin period. Large part of the mythological motives used in these myths probably have their origins going back already to the mythology of the Early Dynastic period. The major Sumerian myths are all full of ancient mythological motives which were accessible through written records as well as by their presence in oral folklore or story-telling. However, in addition to the almost precisely datable city-laments, several Sumerian myths also might have originated from the mythological thinking of the Isin period. Mythological motives and sometimes almost identical textual parallels and ideological aspects lead to the conclusion that the myths Enki and the World Order, Enki's Journey to Nippur and Enki and Inanna are most probably Isin time compositions reflecting the ideology and ideological needs of that dynasty and its priests and officials. The chronology of historical Mesopotamian texts is relatively easy to determine since the royal inscriptions and royal hymns, as well as many other literary and official texts, often also mention the name of the ruler
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Buried History is the annual journal of the Australian Institute of Archaeology. It publishes papers and reviews based on the results of research relating to Eastern Mediterranean, Near Eastern and Classical Archaeology, Epigraphy and the Biblical text, and the history of such research and archaeology generally for an informed readership. Papers are refereed in accordance with Australian HERDC specifications. Opinions expressed are those of the authors concerned and are not necessarily shared by the Australian Institute of Archaeology.
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