Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others

by Anonymous

Book Overview

The ancient civilization of Mesopotamia thrived between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates over 4,000 years ago. The myths collected here, originally written in cuneiform on clay tablets, include parallels with the biblical stories of the Creation and the Flood, and the famous Epic of Gilgamesh, the tale of a man of great strength, whose heroic quest for immortality is dashed through one moment of weakness.
Recent developments in Akkadian grammar...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0192835890
• ISBN13: 9780192835895
• Release Date: September 1998
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.7" x 5.1"

Customer Reviews

This is the one scholars quote from . . .

A collection of the major Mesopotamian myths translated by a respected scholar. This is an excellent source for those desiring an authoritative translation. Even so, these myths can be somewhat awkward to read given Dalley's use of square brackets to indicate gaps in the text and omission dots to indicate an unknown word or phrase. No doubt these are accepted academic techniques for translating ancient texts, but I do hope someone will come along and render these myths in a more enthralling format. For just such an example of how ancient texts can be made to come alive for the modern reader, see "Gilgamesh: A New English Version" by Stephen Mitchell . Nonetheless, I give Dalley five stars, but also highly, highly recommend Mitchell's new version of Gilgamesh.

Great Collection Of Early Mesopotamian Literature

This is an excellent collection of several ancient Mesopotamian mythical stories. The original sources used for these translations were all written in Akkadian (which includes Semitic Babylonian and Assyrian dialects). Included in this collection are "Atrahasis", "The Epic of Gilgamesh" (standard and Old Babylonian versions), "The Descent of Ishtar to the Underworld", "Nergal and Ereshkigal" (standard and Amarna versions), "Adapa", "Etana", "Anzu" (standard and Old Babylonian versions), "The Epic of Creation", "Theogony of Dunnu", and "Erra and Ishum". This large collection of stories, along with the well written introductions and notes provided, enables the reader to put these epic stories into context, and recognize the parallels within the different stories. I prefer this book to those that concentrate only on the Gilgamesh epic.

A trove of tales at a bargin price

Dalley's book is perhaps the most recent compilation of Akkadian (the language of the Babylonian empire) myths in translation. The only rival for completeness here would be the Akkadian sections of James Pritchard's Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament - but Dalley trumps Pritchard in having more complete, more modern translations. Each tale is preceded by a brief introduction placing them in their historical context, and are followed by varying amounts of endnotes.Dalley's translations include: Atrahasis - one of the Mesopotamian flood stories which resonates with Noah in Genesis and Utnapishtim in Gilgamesh The Epic of Gilgamesh - the hero of the Sumerian King Lists, in his story's most complete form The Old Babylonian version of Gilgamesh - This version is very incomplete and contains bits of Enkidu's introduction and the Humbaba episode, as well as a bit surrounding Gilgamesh's lament/quest for the deceased Enkidu. The Descent of Ishtar to the Underworld - This brief seasonal dying and rising god/goddess story is much more developed in the surviving Sumerian Inanna cycle than it is here. Nergal and Ereshkigal - Dalley presents the Sulantepe and the Amarna versions of this tale of Nergal's visit to the Underworld. Adapa - a brief story of the antediluvian king's loss of immortality could draw some parallels with the fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis. Etana - the story of the king of kish who flew to heaven on the back of an eagle. Anzu(Standard and Old Babylonian versions) - the storm god Ninurta conquers the bird monster Anzu. The Epic of Creation - Known elsewhere as Enuma Elish, this is the story of the chaos/water/mother goddess/dragon Tiamat and her defeat at the hands of the storm god Marduk, who uses her body to create the universe, and his conquest to take charge of the pantheon. Theogony of Dunnu - a brief cosmology that shows that antimosity between cattle herders and shepherds goes back further than the Western. Erra and Ishum - Erra (Nergal) and Marduk argue, while Isshum calms things down.

Awesome! And I wonder what these others expected?

Despite what you see in some other reader reviews, this book is written for intelligent laypeople with an interest in history, not for scholars. Either that, or I'm more of a scholar than I realized, but apparently not, since I don't read any of the original languages. While translating the myths into clear English, this book presents them as they are, instead of constructing a speculative theory of what they might have been. Yes, there are acknowledged gaps. The book also provides multiple versions of some of the tales, with different gaps in each version. This shows the reality of what we are dealing with and lets readers do some theorizing of their own.For me, the book offered a fascinating glimpse into a part of history that was long suppressed and nearly forgotten and is now often distorted, especially by people who want to transform Mesopotamian literature into external confirmation of the historical truth of biblical stories. Instead, these myths, including the very different version of the flood story in Gilgamesh, open a separate window onto the primitive, very human mindset that produced the Old Testament. Readers who are not prepared to accept that, and who want Discovery Channel-style historical pabulum, undoubtedly feel a need to disparage this book.

An Excellent Collection and A Great Buy

If you're interested in this remote region of literature and wonder what's behind the scholarly debates, this is a really good collection. Not only does it reflect recent advances in comprehending ancient Mesopotamian languages, the translation is clear, notes are abundant, and introductions are excellent. Just as important is the range of selections. This one volume contains "Gilgamesh", "Atrahasis", "Enuma Elish", "The Descent of Ishtar Into The Underworld" and several other myths. Both standard and alternative versions are given for "Gilgamesh" and some other works. A terrific value!