Assyria, Babylonia & Sumer Books

The Epic of Gilgamesh: An English Verison with an Introduction (Penguin Classics)

Anonymous

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The tale of the evolution of storytelling that reveals shared mythology in religions 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This version is a very popular adaptation of the Gilgamesh story because it contains N. K. Sandars' crucial introduction which is just as important as the translation itself because it includes information about the discovery of the tablets in Assyria dating back to the third millennium BC and then goes on to explain the difficulties that scholars have had in rediscovering the story from these artifacts and how during this long laborious translation process found themselves actively engaged in evolving the story, and thus the mythology, which had developed from other sources and had certainly influenced ancient hero epics that proceeded it. There is no one version of Gilgamesh. There are very many. Having a good introduction like this makes reading the story even better because we understand its significance beyond being just a very old fable.

The story of the translation of the epic of Gilgamesh is every bit as important as the epic itself and maybe more so because of its relevance to modern questions about the authenticity of the accounts held by popular traditional sacred texts. It is impossible to ignore the resemblance the epic of Gilgamesh has to Greek mythology as well as to the Judeo-Christian Islamic religions. Elements of the story such as Gilgamesh being part god part man, the flood story which is vertically identical to the one in Genesis and the underlying quest for immortality will peak interest and is probably the main reason why most people want to read the epic of Gilgamesh. The discovery of the tablets only increased popular scholarly opinions that religions have their roots in mythology and here is yet more evidence to back that position. Thus the epic of Gilgamesh and the story behind it is an essential classical text for ancient storytelling and how they evolve with time through the civilizations that come in contact with them. The Epic is not just Gilgamesh but the gradual progression of important themes in life that humans deal with by developing these legends and fables.

Sandar's work also contains an important treatment of the story and an explanation of the role of the gods which are essentials to understanding what the story is about. Gilgamesh is hard to read without these initiations because the era and the setting in which the story was written must be dealt with or else the plot which contains abundant and rapid interactions between the gods, their attributes and the consequences, will not make any sense to the reader. The ancient ways, and we are talking ancient going back some 5000 years at least, are not our ways. Here gods are superabundant and are responsible for every aspect of life and with an outcome, such as the setting of the sun by scorpions, there is also a god who is bringing the fiery ball down into the underworld where two more gods are there to catch it and who influence our lives somehow.

Gilgamesh is another world, almost alien, giving us a glimpse into how our ancestor's explained themselves and the world they found themselves in. It goes to show how far our modern understanding of why we are the way we are and why things are the way they are, has gone.

Editorial Review:

Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, and his companion Enkidu are the only heroes to have survived from the ancient literature of Babylon, immortalized in this epic poem that dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. Together they journey to the Spring of Youth, defeat the Bull of Heaven and slay the monster Humbaba. When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh's grief and fear of death are such that they lead him to undertake a quest for eternal life. A timeless tale of morality, tragedy and pure adventure, "The Epic of Gilgamesh" is a landmark literary exploration of man's search for immortality.

Gilgamesh: A New English Version

Stephen Mitchell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 81 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

And the Audio version is great, too. 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I just finished the audio version of this wonderful book, and was transfixed, even though it was the third time I listened to it.

The explanation by the author made it far more valuable to me.

Though Gilgamesh is the oldest story available (but what about the Book of Job), it remains interesting today as Gilgamesh is also a "seeker," as we sometimes say today. Even though he had all that his society had to offer, including its female citizens, he had to learn something about life, religion and the universe.

epic wonder 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

not only the oldest, but one of the best stories ever told. gorgeous translation, and an unusual but compelling narrator. i never get tired of this production.

Editorial Review:

Gilgamesh is considered one of the masterpieces of world literature, but until now there has not been a version that is a superlative literary text in its own right. Acclaimed by critics and scholars, Stephen Mitchell's version allows us to enter an ancient masterpiece as if for the first time, to see how startlingly beautiful, intelligent, and alive it is.

The Cosmic Code: The Sixth Book of The Earth Chronicles

Zecharia Sitchin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Misunderstandings and baseless assertions Ahoy! 1 out of 5 stars.
15 of 47 people found this review helpful.

For all those praising the academic/scholastic merit of this work, yours must have a detailed references section that the one I picked up seems to lack. I would give him a D- and a "See Me!" had this had shown up on my desk. Someone should point out to him that evolution has no direction, as if we were destined to get to this point and are no longer evolving. Be careful of the plethora of misunderstandings and baseless assertions that can destroy a person's capacity to think about humans at all scientifically, historically, or otherwise. If you're incredulous of my own assertions, please research anything in Sitchin's works. You will have done more research than he likely did, and could even cite it. Don't take one sourceless book's word for it! You'll find planet X (Tiamat?) prophesies, space stations made of rocks, and millions of years of evolution very slightly co-opted by extra-terrestrials less believable than you once did. There are, after all, enough actual mysteries in the world. We don't need another convoluted theory that creates far more problems than it solves. It's no fluke that these books have made no waves in challenging any anthropological or historical constructions of earlier periods of humanity, areas of knowledge that are constantly modified by actual scholarship. It's also no fluke that these books are marginally profitable, and they keep being released, expanding upon the baseless foundation with even more baseless structure rather than defending the indefensible first works. As far as I'm concerned, if he's one of the few who can decipher those texts, he's abusing his position for financial gain, and could easily be ousted in the genre by a legitimate scholar.

Editorial Review:

Reveals Zecharia Sitchin's groundbreaking research into the code left behind by the creators of humanity.
* Explains how the Anunnaki were not merely the mythical gods of the Sumerians, but rather the founders of human life on Earth.
* Using Biblical and ancient Sumerian sources, explains how to decode these messages our star ancestors left behind.
* First Time Available in Hardcover.

Daring to challenge our long-held beliefs about the origins of man, Zecharia Sitchin suggests that humans are not the children of God, but rather the children of the Anunnaki, an ancient race from the planet Nibiru. His revolutionary theories are supported by his intense scrutiny of not only ancient Sumerian texts but also stone structures all over the world. The similarities and astrological significance of these formations suggests that rather than looking for guidance from leaders here on Earth, humanity should instead look to the sky for answers.

Mesopotamia (DK Eyewitness Books)

John Farndon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great for homeschooling 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This book is great. I use it for homeschooling my children along with The Great Courses DVD course "Between the Rivers: Mesopotamia". It is easy to match each lecture and the page number that it correlates to in this DK book. As usual, the photography is fantastic. We watch one 30 minute lecture and read one part of the book each day and along with some extra discussions, crafts, and supplemental reading, we have a two month course on Ancient History in Mesopotamia that is top notch.

Editorial Review:

In these 4 all-new titles-each with its own clip-art CD and wall chart-DK shines its Eyewitness spotlight on vital topics from the past, present, and future. While Mesopotamia explore the cradle of civilization and Great Scientists reveals the minds that shaped the modern world, China investigates the present-day culture of the most populous country on the planet, and Oil takes a look at the controversial substance responsible for the beginning-and, if we're not careful, the end of life as we know it today.

The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character (Phoenix Books)

Samuel Noah Kramer

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Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Sumerians, the pragmatic and gifted people who preceded the Semites in the land first known as Sumer and later as Babylonia, created what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man, spanning the fifth to the second millenniums B.C. This book is an unparalleled compendium of what is known about them.

Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world.

"There are few scholars in the world qualified to write such a book, and certainly Kramer is one of them. . . . One of the most valuable features of this book is the quantity of texts and fragments which are published for the first time in a form available to the general reader. For the layman the book provides a readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture. For the specialist it presents a synthesis with which he may not agree but from which he will nonetheless derive stimulation."—American Journal of Archaeology

"An uncontested authority on the civilization of Sumer, Professor Kramer writes with grace and urbanity."—Library Journal

The Epic of Gilgamesh (Penguin Epics)

Anonymous

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Exhaustive, scholarly, for advanced readers 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I recommend this Penguin Classic, but it offers more thorough scholarly apparatus than usual for the series. This is not meant as a criticism! But, a beginner may find a "version" such as Stephen Mitchell's easier to start with for an overview of the storyline, and a briefer introduction and helpful endnotes. The poem itself is not lengthy, but the ancillary texts and sources, as Andrew George shows us, do take up considerable space which may please enthusiasts but discourage newcomers to this epic poem.

George prepared for Oxford UP in 1999 a two-volume edition, and this Penguin adapts the core of the English translation for a wider audience. It appears ideal for a college classroom or the reader wanting to learn more about the lacunae, the gaps, the language, and the editorial decisions made by George and fellow translators. A fascinating appendix shows how out of grammatical markers, syllabic, and half-syllabic cuneiform incisions the sounds and rhythms and absences that fill this most ancient of narratives turn into what we can understand. To a point.

Terms such as "louvre-door," "glacis-slope," "hie to the forge," and notably Ishtar's exhortation to "stroke my quim" give a rather archaic diction to parts of the translation. George aims obviously for precision in such terminology, but this does clash with the more demotic vernacular chosen by Mitchell in his popularization. Mitchell's also considerably more erotic and develops passages that in their original state, reading George, remain terse. Again, George approaches the thousands of fragments that are still being assembled nearly 150 years after their discovery and observes that this epic is still, amazingly and poignantly, one in progress as we await trained Assyriologists able to decipher not only the later Akkadian but the considerably more challenging and often cryptic Sumerian sources. It's a shame that in a region where so many billions have been spent to destroy the area between the Tigris & Euphrates that a few thousands can not be provided for the study and restoration of the oldest story text we have ever found.

Editorial Review:

This work talks about a great king, strong as the stars in Heaven. Enkidu, a wild and mighty hero, is created by the gods to challenge the arrogant King Gilgamesh. But instead of killing each other, the two become friends. Travelling together to the Cedar Forest, they fight and slay the evil monster Humbaba. But when Enkidu is killed, his death haunts and breaks the mighty Gilgamesh. Terrified of mortality, he resolves to find the secret of eternal life.

Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer

Diane Wolkstein, Samuel Noah Kramer

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 35 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Inanna review: Eshleman 2 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 7 people found this review helpful.

The story of Inanna is the heroine tale of a Sumerian Goddess. It tells the story of her coming into her power as a Goddess and the struggles she had to deal with along the way. It covers the making of her symbols of power from the Huluppu Tree, her acceptance of the holy me from, a gift from Enki, the god of Wisdom. It also tells of her marraige to the shepherd Dumuzi and their relationship. Most significantly, it tells of her journey to the underworld and her resurection. This story opens the eyes of the reader to the culture and the religious beliefs of the Ancient Sumerians. It portrays a respect and reverence for women and fertility which is unusual in present day society. Inanna and her ability to overcome struggles however, can be applied to the world of today. Through reading this book, you will learn much about overcoming adversity and becoming your own individual person.

Editorial Review:

A fresh retelling of the ancient texts about Ishtar, the world's first goddess. Illustrated with visual artifacts of the period. "A great masterpiece of universal literature."--Mircea Eliade

Lilah: A Novel (Canaan Trilogy)

Marek Halter

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Set in the magnificent culture of the Middle East more than four thousand years ago, Lilah is a rich and emotionally resonant story of faith, love, and courage.

Living in exile, Lilah is in love with Antinoes, a Persian warrior. They have known each other since they were children, and Antinoes dearly wants to make Lilah his wife. Yet Lilah does not feel she can marry without the blessing of her brother, Ezra. She and Ezra are close, and Lilah knows her brother well—he does not want his sister to have a husband outside their faith. Ezra is a scholar of the laws of Moses, and Lilah believes it is her brother’s destiny to lead the Jewish people back to the Promised Land. While Antinoes pressures her to accept his proposal, Lilah realizes that before she can consider her own happiness, it is her duty to help her brother accomplish the seemingly impossible task that is before him.

Putting herself in grave danger, and with the help of Antinoes, Lilah wins Ezra an audience with Artaxerxes II, the King of Kings, who grants permission to lead the exiles on their journey back to the Promised Land. After a hazardous trip across the desert, Lilah, Ezra, and the thousands who join them arrive in Jerusalem. But the hardship of rebuilding the Temple takes its toll, and the religious enthusiasm of some turns to extremism. Ezra, listening to the zealots, orders all non-Jewish wives and their children banished from Jerusalem. Lilah, whose love for Antinoes has never wavered, is horrified by this command. She knows she must now choose between her brother and her conscience, which tells her that the time has come to defy him.

Lilah is a timeless story of one woman’s stand against intolerance; it will linger in the reader’s mind long after the last page has been turned.


From the Hardcover edition.

Lilah: A Novel (Canaan Trilogy)

Marek Halter

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Subjects -> History -> Ancient -> Assyria, Babylonia & Sumer
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Genre Fiction -> Historical
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Set in the magnificent culture of the Middle East more than four thousand years ago, Lilah is a rich and emotionally resonant story of faith, love, and courage.

Living in exile, Lilah is in love with Antinoes, a Persian warrior. They have known each other since they were children, and Antinoes dearly wants to make Lilah his wife. Yet Lilah does not feel she can marry without the blessing of her brother, Ezra. She and Ezra are close, and Lilah knows her brother well—he does not want his sister to have a husband outside their faith. Ezra is a scholar of the laws of Moses, and Lilah believes it is her brother’s destiny to lead the Jewish people back to the Promised Land. While Antinoes pressures her to accept his proposal, Lilah realizes that before she can consider her own happiness, it is her duty to help her brother accomplish the seemingly impossible task that is before him.

Putting herself in grave danger, and with the help of Antinoes, Lilah wins Ezra an audience with Artaxerxes II, the King of Kings, who grants permission to lead the exiles on their journey back to the Promised Land. After a hazardous trip across the desert, Lilah, Ezra, and the thousands who join them arrive in Jerusalem. But the hardship of rebuilding the Temple takes its toll, and the religious enthusiasm of some turns to extremism. Ezra, listening to the zealots, orders all non-Jewish wives and their children banished from Jerusalem. Lilah, whose love for Antinoes has never wavered, is horrified by this command. She knows she must now choose between her brother and her conscience, which tells her that the time has come to defy him.

Lilah is a timeless story of one woman’s stand against intolerance; it will linger in the reader’s mind long after the last page has been turned.


From the Hardcover edition.