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Akkadian literatureis theancient literaturewritten in theAkkadian language(Assyrian and Babylonian dialects) inMesopotamia(AssyriaandBabylonia) during the period spanning theMiddle Bronze Ageto theIron Age(roughly the 23rd to 6th centuries BC).[1][2]

Drawing on the traditions ofSumerian literature,theBabylonianscompiled a substantial textual tradition of mythological narrative, legal texts, scientific works, letters and other literary forms.

Literature in Akkadian society[edit]

Most of what we have from the Babylonians was inscribed incuneiformwith a metal stylus on tablets of clay, calledlaterculae coctilesbyPliny the Elder;papyrusseems to have been also employed, but it has perished.[3]

There were libraries in most towns and temples; an oldSumerianproverb averred that "he who would excel in the school of the scribes must rise with the dawn." Women as well as men learned to read and write, and in Semitic times, this involved a knowledge of the extinctSumerian language,and a complicated and extensive syllabary. The Babylonians' very advanced systems of writing, science and mathematics contributed greatly to their literary output.[3]

Many works of Akkadian literature were commissioned by kings who had scribes and scholars in their service. Some of these works served to celebrate the king or the divine, while others recorded information for religious practices or medicine. Poetry, proverbs, folktales, love lyrics, and accounts of disputes were all incorporated into Akkadian literature.[4]

Relation to other ancient literatures[edit]

Cardiff Castle(Wales). Castle apartments: Library (1870s) -Allegory of Assyrian literature(relief byThomas Nicholls).

A considerable amount of Babylonian literature was translated from Sumerian originals, and the language of religion and law long continued to be the old agglutinative language of Sumer. Vocabularies, grammars, and interlinear translations were compiled for the use of students, as well as commentaries on the older texts and explanations of obscure words and phrases. The characters of the syllabary were all arranged and named, and elaborate lists of them were drawn up.[3]

Assyrianculture and literature came from Babylonia, but even here there was a difference between the two countries. There was little in Assyrian literature that was original, and education, general in Babylonia, was mostly restricted to a single class in the northern kingdom. In Babylonia, it was of very old standing. Under the second Assyrian empire, whenNinevehhad become a great centre of trade,Aramaic— the language of commerce and diplomacy — was added to the number of subjects that the educated class was required to learn.[3]

Under theSeleucids,Greekwas introduced into Babylon, and fragments of tablets have been found with Sumerian and Assyrian (i.e. Semitic Babylonian) words transcribed into Greek letters.[3]

Notable works[edit]

According toA. Leo Oppenheim,the corpus of cuneiform literature amounted to around 1,500 texts at any one time or place, approximately half of which, at least from the first millennium, is extant in fragmentary form, and the most common genres included (in order of predominance) are omen texts,lexical lists,ritual incantations, cathartic and apotropaic conjurations, historical and mythological epics, fables and proverbs.[5]

Annals, chronicles and historical epics[edit]

The Assyrian dialect of Akkadian is particularly rich in royal inscriptions from the end of the 14th century BC onward, for example the epics ofAdad-nārārī,Tukulti-Ninurta,andŠulmānu-ašarēdu IIIand the annals which catalogued the campaigns of the neo-Assyrian monarchs. The earliest historical royal epic is, however, that ofZimri-Lim(c. 1710–1698 BCshort) ofMari.Similar literature of the middle Babylonian period is rather poorly preserved with a fragmentary epic of theKassiteperiod, that ofAdad-šuma-uṣurand ofNabû-kudurrī-uṣur IandMarduk.[6]

The chronicle traditional is first attested in the compositions of the early Iron Age which hark back to earlier times, such as theChronicle of Early Kings,theDynastic Chronicle,Chronicle Pand the AssyrianSynchronistic History.A series of fifteen neo to lateBabylonian Chronicleshave been recovered which narrate the period spanningNabû-nasir(747–734 BC) toSeleucus III Ceraunus(243–223 BC) and were derived from the political events described inBabylonian astronomical diaries.

Humorous literature[edit]

Exemplars of comical texts span the genres of burlesque to satire and include humorous love poems and riddles. “At the cleaners” is a tale of the dispute between an insolent scrubber and his client, a “sophomoric fop” who lectures the cleaner in ridiculous detail on how to launder his clothes, driving the exasperated cleaner to suggest that he lose no time in taking it to the river and doing it himself.[7]TheDialogue of Pessimismwas seen as a saturnalia by Böhl, where master and servant switch roles, and as a burlesque by Speiser, where a fatuous master mouthes clichés and a servant echoes him. Lambert considered it a musing of a mercurial adolescent with suicidal tendencies.[8]

TheAluzinnu( “trickster,” a jester, clown or buffoon) text, extant in five fragments from the neo-Assyrian period concerns an individual,dābibu, ākil karṣi,“character assassin,” who made a living entertaining others with parodies, mimicry, and scatological songs. ThePoor Man of Nippurprovides a subversive narrative of the triumph of the underdog over his superior[9]whileNinurta-Pāqidāt's Dog Biteis a school text of a slapstick nature.[10]

Laws[edit]

The earliest Akkadian laws are the “Old Assyrian Laws” relating to the conduct of the commercial court of a trading colony in Anatolia, c. 1900 BC. TheLaws of Eshnunnawere a collection of sixty laws named for the city of its provenance and dating to around 1770 BC. TheCode of Ḫammu-rapi,c. 1750 BC, was the longest of the Mesopotamian legal collections, extending to nearly three hundred individual laws and accompanied by a lengthy prologue and epilogue. The edict ofAmmi-Saduqa,c. 1646 BC, was the last issued by one ofḪammu-rapi’s successors.

The Middle Assyrian Laws date to the fourteenth century BC, over a hundred laws are extant fromAssur.The Middle Assyrian Palace Decrees, known as the “Harem Edicts,” from the reigns ofAššur-uballiṭ I,c. 1360 BC, toTukultī-apil-Ešarra I,c. 1076 BC, concern aspects of courtly etiquette and the severe penalties (flagellation, mutilation and execution) for flouting them. The Neo-Babylonian Laws number just fifteen, c. 700 BC, probably fromSippar.[11]

Mythology[edit]

One of the most famous of these was theEpic of Gilgamesh,[3]which first appears in Akkadian during the Old Babylonian period as a circa 1,000 line epic known by its incipit,šūtur eli šarrī,‘‘Surpassing all other kings,’’ which incorporated some of the stories from the five earlier Sumerian Gilgamesh tales. A plethora of mid to late second millennium versions give witness to its popularity. The Standard Babylonian version,ša naqba īmeru,‘‘He who saw the deep,’’ contains up to 3,000 lines on eleven tablets and a prose meditation on the fate of man on the twelfth which was virtually a word-for-word translation of the Sumerian “Bilgames and the Netherworld.” It is extant in 73 copies and was credited to a certainSîn-lēqi-unninni[12]and arranged upon an astronomical principle. Each division contains the story of a single adventure in the career ofGilgamesh,king ofUruk.The whole story is a composite product, and it is probable that some of the stories are artificially attached to the central figure.[3]

Another epic was that of the "Creation"Enûma Eliš,whose object was to glorifyBel-Mardukby describing his contest withTiamat,the dragon of chaos. In the first book, an account is given of the creation of the world from the primeval deep, and the birth of the gods of light. Then comes the story of the struggle between the gods of light and the powers of darkness, and the final victory of Marduk, who clove Tiamat asunder, forming the heaven from half of her body and the earth from the other. Marduk next arranged the stars in order, along with the sun and moon, and gave them laws they were never to transgress. After this, the plants and animals were created, and finally man. Marduk here takes the place ofEa,who appears as the creator in the older legends, and is said to have fashioned man from clay.[3]

The legend of Adapa, the first man — a portion of which wasfoundinthe record-officeof the Egyptian kingAkhenatonatTell-el-Amarna— explains the origin of death. Adapa, while fishing, had broken the wings of the south wind, and was accordingly summoned before the tribunal ofAnuin heaven. Ea counselled him not to eat or drink anything there. He followed this advice, and thus refused the food that would have made him and his descendants immortal.[3]

Among the other legends of Babylonia may be mentioned those ofNamtar,the plague-demon; ofErra,the pestilence; ofEtanaand ofAnzu.Hades, the abode ofEreshkigalorAllatu,had been entered byNergal,who, angered by a message sent to her by the gods of the upper world, ordered Namtar to strike off her head. She, however, declared that she would submit to any conditions imposed on her, and would give Nergal the sovereignty of the earth. Nergal accordingly relented, and Allatu became the queen of the infernal world. Etana conspired with the eagle to fly to the highest heaven. The first gate, that of Anu, was successfully reached; but in ascending still farther to the gate ofIshtar,the strength of the eagle gave way, and Etanna was dashed to the ground. As for the storm-god Anzu, we are told that he stole the tablets of destiny, and therewith the prerogatives ofEnlil.God after god was ordered to pursue him and recover them, but it would seem that it was only by a stratagem that they were finally regained.[3]

Omens, divination and incantation texts[edit]

The magnitude of omen literature within the Akkadian corpus is one of the peculiar distinguishing features of this language's legacy. According to Oppenheim, 30% of all documents of this tradition are of this genre.[13]Exemplars of omen text appear during the earliest periods of Akkadian literature but come to their maturity early in the first millennium with the formation of canonical versions. Notable among these is theEnuma Anu Enlil(astrological omens),Šumma ālu(terrestrial omens),Šumma izbu(anomalous births),Alamdimmû(physiognomic omens), andIškar Zaqīqu(dream omens). It is among this genre, also, that theSakikkū (SA.GIG)“Diagnostic Handbook” belongs.

The practice ofextispicy,divination through the entrails of animals, was perfected into a science over the millennia by the Babylonians and supporting texts were eventually gathered into a monumental handbook, theBārûtu,extending over a hundred tablets and divided into ten chapters.[14]Divination, however, extended into other fields with, for example, the old Babylonianlibanomancytexts, concerning interpreting portents from incense smoke,[15]being one and Bēl-nadin-šumi's omen text on the flight paths of birds, composed during the reign ofKassitekingMeli-Šipak,being another exemplar.[16]

Incantations form an important part of this literary heritage, covering a range of rituals from the sacred,Maqlû,"burning" to counter witchcraft,Šurpu,“incineration” to counter curses,Namburbi,to preempt inauspicious omens,Utukkū Lemnūtu(actually bilingual), to exorcise “Evil Demons,” andBīt rimki,or “bath house,” the purification and substitution ceremony, to the mundane,Šà.zi.ga,“the rising of the heart,” potency spells, andZu-buru-dabbeda,“to seize the ‘locust tooth’,” a compendium of incantations against field pests.[17]

Wisdom and didactic literature[edit]

A particularly rich genre of Akkadian texts was that represented by the moniker of “wisdom literature,” although there are differences in opinion concerning which works qualify for inclusion.[18]One of the earliest exemplars was theDialogue between a Man and His Godfrom the late Old Babylonian period. Perhaps the most notable were thePoem of the Righteous Sufferer(Ludlul bēl nēmeqi) and theBabylonian Theodicy.Included in this group are a number of fables or contest literature, in varying states of preservation, such as theTamarisk and the Palm,theFable of the Willow,Nisaba and Wheat(kibtu), theOx and the Horse(Inum Ištar šurbutum, “When exalted Ishtar” ), theFable of the Fox,and theFable of the Riding-donkey.[19]

W. G. Lambertand others include several popular sayings, and proverbs (both bilingual and Babylonian) together with theLament of a Sufferer with a Prayer to Marduk,Counsels of Wisdom,Counsels of a Pessimist,andAdvice to a Princein this genre. “A Dialogue between Šūpê-amēli and His Father” (Šimâ milka) is a piece of wisdom literature in the manner of a deathbed debate from the Akkadian hinterland.[18]There are also Akkadian translations of earlierSumerianworks such as theInstructions of Shuruppakwhich are often considered belonging to this tradition.

Disputation poems[edit]

Main article:Akkadian disputations

The Akkadian disputation poem or Akkadian debate, also known as the Babylonian disputation poem, is a genre of Akkadian literature in the form of adisputation.They feature a dialogue or a debate involving two contenders, usually cast as inarticulate beings such as particular objects, plants, animals, and so forth. Extant compositions from this genre date from the early 2nd millennium BC, the earliest example being theTamarisk and Palm,to the late 1st millennium BC. These poems occur in verse and follow a type of meter called 2||2 orVierheber,which is the same meter found in some other Akkadian texts like theEnuma Elish.[20]

Other genres[edit]

Besides the purely literary works, there were others of varied nature, including collections of letters, partly official, partly private. Among them the most interesting are the letters ofHammurabi,which have been edited byLeonard William King.[3]

List of works[edit]

The following gives the better-known extant works, excluding lexical and synonym lists.

Abnu šikinšu •Adad-nārārī I Epic •Adad-šuma-uṣur Epic •Adapa and Enmerkar •Adapa and the South Wind •Advice to a Prince •Agushaya Hymn •Alamdimmû •Aluzinnu text •Ardat-lili •Asakkū marṣūtu •Ašipus' Almanac(or Handbook) •At the cleaners •Atra-ḫasīs •Autobiography of Adad-guppī •Autobiography of Kurigalzu •Autobiography of Marduk •Babylonian Almanac •Babylonian King List •Babylonian Theodicy •Bārûtu •Birth legend of Sargon •Bīt mēseri •Bīt rimki •Bīt salā’ mê •Bullussa-rabi’s Hymn to Gula •Catalogue of Texts and Authors •Chronicle of Early Kings •Chronicle of the Market Prices •Chronicle of reign of Šulgi •Chronicle P •Code of Hammurabi •Consecration of a priest •Counsels of a Pessimist •Counsels of Wisdom •Crimes and Sacrileges of Nabu-šuma-iškun •Curse of Akkad •Cuthean Legend of Naram-Sin •Dialogue between a Man and His God •Dialogue of Pessimism •Dingir.šà.dib.ba •Donkey Disputation •Dream of Kurigalzu •Dynastic Chronicle •Dynastic Prophecy •Dynasty of Dunnum(Harab Myth) •Eclectic Chronicle •Edict of Ammi-Saduqa •Egalkuraspells •Elegies Mourning the Death of Tammuz •Enlil and Sud •Enuma Anu Enlil •Enûma Eliš •Epic of Anzu •Epic of Gilgameš •Epic of the Kassite period •Epic of Nabû-kudurrī-uṣur •Epic of the plague-god Erra(Erra and Išum) •Etana •Fable of the Fox •Fable of the Riding-donkey •Fable of the Willow •Girra and Elamatum •Great Prayer to Šamaš •Great Prayer to Nabû •Great Revolt Against Naram-Sin •Harem Edicts •Hemerology for Nazi-Maruttaš •Hymn to Ištar ( “Ištar 2” ) •Hymn to Ninurta as Savior •Hymn to the Queen of Nippur •Ḫulbazizi •Inana's Ascent •Iqqur Ipuš •Iškar Zaqīqu •Ištar’s hell ride •Kalûtucatalogue •KAR 6 •Kataduggû •Kedor-laomer texts •Kettledrum rituals •King of Battle(šar tamḫāri) •Ki'utu •Labbu myth •Lamaštu •Lament of a Sufferer with a Prayer to Marduk •Laws of Eshnunna •Lipšur litanies •Ludlul bēl nēmeqi •Maqlû •Marduk's Address to the Demons •Marduk Prophecy •Middle Assyrian Laws •Mîs-pî •Moon god and the cow •Mukīl rēš lemutti •MUL.APIN •Muššu'u •Na'id-Šihu Epic •Nabonidus Chronicle •Namburbi •Namerimburrudû •Neo-Babylonian Laws •Nergal and Ereškigal •New year ritual-Akitu procession •Nigdimdimmû •Ninurta-Pāqidāt's Dog Bite •Nissaba and the Wheat •Ox and the Horse •Palm and Vine •Pazuzu •Poor Man of Nippur •Prophecy A •Qutāru •Recipes against Antašubba •Religious Chronicle •Royal inscription of Simbar-Šipak •Sag-gig-ga-meš(Muruṣ qaqqadi) •Sakikkū •Salmānu-ašarēdu III Epic •Synchronistic History •A Syncretistic Hymn to Ištar •Șēru šikinšu •Šammu šikinšu •Šar Pūḫî •Šà.zi.ga •Series of Ox and Horse •Series of the Fox •Series of Ox and Horse •Series of the Poplar •Series of the Spider •Šēp lemutti •Story of the Poor, Forlorn Wren •Šu'ila •Šulgi Prophecy •Šumma ālu •Šumma amēlu kašip •Šumma immeru •Šumma Izbu •Šumma liptu •Šumma sinništu qaqqada rabât •Šurpu •Tākulturitual texts •Tamarisk and Palm •Tamītu Oracles •Tašritu hemerology •Tukulti-Ninurta Epic •Tu-ra kìlib-ba • The therapeutic seriesUGU(Šumma amēlu muḫḫašu umma ukāl) •Uruhulake of Gula •Uruk King List •Uruk Prophecy •Ušburruda •Utukkū Lemnūtu •Verse Account of Nabonidus •Vision of the Netherworld •Walker Chronicle •Weidner Chronicle •Zimri-Lim Epic •Zi-pà incantations •Zisurrû(Sag-ba Sag-ba) •Zu-buru-dabbeda

See also[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • Shin Shifra(2008).Words as Magic and the Magic in Words.Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, The Israeli Ministry of Defence Press (inHebrew). These are transcriptions of Shifra's discourses on literature of the Ancient Near East, first broadcast as a "University on the Air" course on the IsraeliArmy Radio.

References[edit]

  1. ^Wilson, Epiphanius (1 June 2006).Babylonian and Assyrian Literature.Echo Library.ISBN9781406804898– via Google Books.
  2. ^Silvestro Fiore, Voices from the Clay: The Development of Assyro-Babylonian Literature. U. of Oklahoma Press.
  3. ^abcdefghijkOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Babylonia and Assyria".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 99–112.
  4. ^Lenzi, Alan (2020-01-10). "Introduction".An Introduction to Akkadian Literature: Contexts and Content.Penn State Press.ISBN978-1-64602-030-0.
  5. ^A. Leo Oppenheim (1977).Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization.University Of Chicago Press. pp.16–17.ISBN9780226631868.
  6. ^Jack M. Sasson (2005). "Comparative Observations on the Near Eastern Epic Traditions". In John M. Foley (ed.).Companion to Ancient Epic.Wiley-Blackwell. p. 221.
  7. ^UET 6/2, 414
  8. ^Benjamin R. Foster (1974). "Humor and Cuneiform Literature".JANES.6:82.
  9. ^J. S. Cooper (Jul 1975). "Structure, Humor, and Satire in the Poor Man of Nippur".Journal of Cuneiform Studies.27(3): 163–174.doi:10.2307/1359242.JSTOR1359242.S2CID163822119.
  10. ^A. R. George (1993). "Ninurta-Pāqidāt's Dog Bite, and Notes on Other Comic Tales".Iraq.55:63–75.doi:10.2307/4200367.JSTOR4200367.S2CID192947135.
  11. ^D. L. Baker (2009).Tight Fists Or Open Hands?: Wealth and Poverty in Old Testament Law.Wm. B. Eerdmans. pp. 4–6.
  12. ^A. R. George (2003).The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts, Volume 1.Oxford University Press. pp. 22–33, 379.
  13. ^W. Hallo (2009).The world's oldest literature: studies in Sumerian belles-lettres.Brill. p.7.ISBN9789004173811.
  14. ^Ulla Koch-Westenholz (2000).Babylonian Liver Omens: The Chapters Manzazu, Padanu, and Pan Takalti of the Babylonian Extispicy Series Mainly from Assurbanipal's Library.Museum Tusculanum. p. 9.
  15. ^I. L. Finkel (1983). "A New Piece of Libanomancy".Archiv für Orientforschung.29:50–57.
  16. ^Nicla De Zorzi (2009). "Bird Divination in Mesopotamia - New Evidence From BM 108874".KASKAL: Rivista di storia, ambienti e culture del Vicino Oriente Antico.6:91–94.
  17. ^A. R. George and Junko Taniguchi (2010)."The Dogs of Ninkilim, part two: Babylonian rituals to counter field pests"(PDF).Iraq.LXXII:79–148.doi:10.1017/S0021088900000607.S2CID190713244.
  18. ^abVictor Avigdor Hurowitz (2007). Richard J. Clifford (ed.).Wisdom Literature in Mesopotamia and Israel.SBL. pp. xi–xiii, 37–51.
  19. ^Marianna E. Vogelzang (1991). "Some Questions About the Akkadian Disputes". In aG.J. Reinink and aH.L.J. Vanstiphout (ed.).Dispute poems and dialogues in the ancient and mediaeval Near East.Peeters. p. 47.
  20. ^*Jiménez, Enrique (2017).The Babylonian Disputation Poems.Brill.ISBN978-90-04-33625-4.
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