Akkadian literature is the

ancient literature Ancient literature comprises religious and scientific documents, tales, poetry and plays, royal edicts and declarations, and other forms of writing that were recorded on a variety of media, including stone, stone tablets, papyri, palm leaves, and ...

written in the

Akkadian language Akkadian (, Akkadian: )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages''. Ed. Roger D. Woodard (2004, Cambridge) Pages 218-280 is an extinct East Semitic language th ...

(Assyrian and Babylonian dialects) in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

(

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...

and

Babylonia Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...

) during the period spanning the Middle Bronze Age to the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

(roughly the 23rd to 6th centuries BC). Drawing on the traditions of Sumerian literature, the

ns compiled a substantial textual tradition of mythological narrative, legal texts, scientific works, letters and other literary forms.

Literature in Akkadian society

Most of what we have from the Babylonians was inscribed in

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...

with a metal stylus on tablets of clay, called ''laterculae coctiles'' by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

;

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...

seems to have been also employed, but it has perished. There were libraries in most towns and temples; an old

Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...

ian proverb 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 extinct

Sumerian language Sumerian is the language of ancient Sumer. It is one of the oldest attested languages, dating back to at least 3000 BC. It is accepted to be a local language isolate and to have been spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, in the area that is modern-day ...

, and a complicated and extensive syllabary. The Babylonians' very advanced systems of writing, science and mathematics contributed greatly to their literary output. Many works of Akkadian literature were commissioned by kings that 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.

Relation to other ancient literatures

Cardiff Castle - Bibliothek Allegorien Literatur 3 Assyrisch

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.

n culture 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, when Nineveh had become a great centre of trade,

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

— the language of commerce and diplomacy — was added to the number of subjects that the educated class was required to learn. Under the

Seleucids The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

was introduced into Babylon, and fragments of tablets have been found with Sumerian and Assyrian (i.e. Semitic Babylonian) words transcribed into Greek letters.

Notable works

According to

A. Leo Oppenheim Adolf Leo Oppenheim (7 June 1904 – 21 July 1974), one of the most distinguished Assyriologists of his generation was editor-in-charge of the ''Chicago Assyrian Dictionary'' of the Oriental Institute from 1955 to 1974 and John A. Wilson Profe ...

, 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 The cuneiform lexical lists are a series of ancient Mesopotamian glossaries which preserve the semantics of Sumerograms, their phonetic value and their Akkadian or other language equivalents. They are the oldest literary texts from Mesopotamia a ...

, ritual incantations, cathartic and apotropaic conjurations, historical and mythological epics, fables and proverbs.

Annals, chronicles and historical epics

The Assyrian dialect of Akkadian is particularly rich in royal inscriptions from the end of the 14th century BC onward, for example the epics of Adad-nārārī, Tukulti-Ninurta, and Šulmānu-ašarēdu III and the annals which catalogued the campaigns of the neo-Assyrian monarchs. The earliest historical royal epic is, however, that of

Zimri-Lim __NOTOC__ Zimri-Lim (Akkadian: ''Zi-im-ri Li-im'') was king of Mari c. 1775–1761 BCE. Zimri-Lim was the son or grandson of Iakhdunlim, but was forced to flee to Yamhad when his father was assassinated by his own servants during a coup. He ha ...

(c. 1710–1698 BC

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

) of Mari. Similar literature of the middle Babylonian period is rather poorly preserved with a fragmentary epic of the

Kassite The Kassites () were people of the ancient Near East, who controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire c. 1531 BC and until c. 1155 BC (short chronology). They gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon ...

period, that of Adad-šuma-uṣur and of Nabû-kudurrī-uṣur I and

Marduk Marduk (Cuneiform: dAMAR.UTU; Sumerian: ''amar utu.k'' "calf of the sun; solar calf"; ) was a god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon. When Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of ...

. The chronicle traditional is first attested in the compositions of the early Iron Age which hark back to earlier times, such as the ''Chronicle of Early Kings'', the ''

Dynastic Chronicle The Dynastic Chronicle, ''"Chronicle 18"'' in Grayson's ''Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles'' or the ''"Babylonian Royal Chronicle"'' in Glassner’s ''Mesopotamian Chronicles'', is a fragmentary ancient Mesopotamian text extant in at least four k ...

'', ''

Chronicle P Chronicle P, known as ''Chronicle 22'' in Grayson’s ''Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles'' and ''Mesopotamian Chronicle 45'': "Chronicle of the Kassite Kings" in Glassner's ''Mesopotamian Chronicles'' is named for T. G. Pinches, the first edito ...

'' and the Assyrian ''Synchronistic History''. A series of fifteen neo to late

Babylonian Chronicles The Babylonian Chronicles are a series of tablets recording major events in Babylonian history. They are thus one of the first steps in the development of ancient historiography. The Babylonian Chronicles were written in Babylonian cuneiform, f ...

have been recovered which narrate the period spanning Nabû-nasir (747–734 BC) to

Seleucus III Ceraunus Seleucus III Soter, called Seleucus Ceraunus (Greek: ; c. 243 BC – April/June 223 BC, ruled December 225 – April/June 223 BC), was a ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Kingdom, the eldest son of Seleucus II Callinicus and Laodice II. Biograph ...

(243–223 BC) and were derived from the political events described in

Babylonian astronomical diaries The Babylonian astronomical diaries are a collection of Babylonian cuneiform texts that contain systematic records of astronomical observations and political events as well as predictions, based on astronomical observations. They also include othe ...

Humorous literature

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. The

Dialogue of Pessimism The Dialogue of Pessimism is an ancient Mesopotamian literary composition in the form of a dialogue between a master and his slave. Its interpretations have varied, but it is generally considered an unusual text which thematises the futility of huma ...

was 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. The ''Aluzinnu'' (“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. The

Poor Man of Nippur The Poor Man of Nippur is an Akkadian story dating from around 1500 BC. It is attested by only three texts, only one of which is more than a small fragment. There was a man, a citizen of Nippur, destitute and poor, Gimil-Ninurta was his name, a ...

provides a subversive narrative of the triumph of the underdog over his superior while

Ninurta-Pāqidāt's Dog Bite Ninurta-Pāqidāt's Dog Bite, also known as ''The Tale of the Illiterate Doctor in Nippur'', is a text in Akkadian cuneiform, recorded on clay Tablet W 23558 - IM 78552, from the reign of King Marduk-balassu-iqbi of Babylon. It includes one of the ...

is a school text of a slapstick nature.

Laws

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. The

Laws of Eshnunna The Laws of Eshnunna (abrv. LE) are inscribed on two cuneiform tablets discovered in Tell Abū Harmal, Baghdad, Iraq. The Iraqi Directorate of Antiquities headed by Taha Baqir unearthed two parallel sets of tablets in 1945 and 1947. The two tablets ...

were a collection of sixty laws named for the city of its provenance and dating to around 1770 BC. The Code 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 of

Ammi-Saduqa Ammi-Saduqa (or Ammisaduqa, Ammizaduga) was a king, c. 1646–1626 BC according to the Middle Chronology dating, (or c. 1582–1562 according to the Short Chronology), of the First Dynasty of Babylon. Some twenty-one year-names survive for his rei ...

, c. 1646 BC, was the last issued by one of Ḫammu-rapi’s successors. The Middle Assyrian Laws date to the fourteenth century BC, over a hundred laws are extant from

Assur Aššur (; Sumerian: AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; syr, ܐܫܘܪ ''Āšūr''; Old Persian ''Aθur'', fa, آشور: ''Āšūr''; he, אַשּׁוּר, ', ar, اشور), also known as Ashur and Qal'a ...

. The Middle Assyrian Palace Decrees, known as the “Harem Edicts,” from the reigns of Aššur-uballiṭ I, c. 1360 BC, to Tukultī-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 from

Sippar Sippar ( Sumerian: , Zimbir) was an ancient Near Eastern Sumerian and later Babylonian city on the east bank of the Euphrates river. Its '' tell'' is located at the site of modern Tell Abu Habbah near Yusufiyah in Iraq's Baghdad Governorate, some ...

Mythology

One of the most famous of these was the ''

Epic of Gilgamesh The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poetry, epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, and is regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. The literary history of Gilgamesh ...

'', 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 certain Sîn-lēqi-unninni and arranged upon an astronomical principle. Each division contains the story of a single adventure in the career of

Gilgamesh sux, , label=none , image = Hero lion Dur-Sharrukin Louvre AO19862.jpg , alt = , caption = Possible representation of Gilgamesh as Master of Animals, grasping a lion in his left arm and snake in his right hand, in an Assyr ...

, king of

Uruk Uruk, also known as Warka or Warkah, was an ancient city of Sumer (and later of Babylonia) situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates River on the dried-up ancient channel of the Euphrates east of modern Samawah, Al-Muthannā, Iraq.Harm ...

. The whole story is a composite product, and it is probable that some of the stories are artificially attached to the central figure. Another epic was that of the "Creation" '' Enûma Eliš'', whose object was to glorify Bel-

by describing his contest with

Tiamat In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( akk, or , grc, Θαλάττη, Thaláttē) is a primordial goddess of the sea, mating with Abzû, the god of the groundwater, to produce younger gods. She is the symbol of the chaos of primordial creati ...

, 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 of Ea, who appears as the creator in the older legends, and is said to have fashioned man from clay. The legend of Adapa, the first man — a portion of which was found in the record-office of the Egyptian king

Akhenaton Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dy ...

at Tell-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 of Anu in 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. Among the other legends of Babylonia may be mentioned those of

Namtar Namtar ( sux, , lit=fate) was a figure in ancient Mesopotamian religion who, depending on the context, could be regarded both as a minor god and as a demon of disease. He is best attested as the sukkal (attendant deity) of Ereshkigal, the goddess ...

, the plague-demon; of

Erra Erra can refer to: * Erra (god), a Babylonian god * Erra, Estonia, a settlement in Sonda Parish, Ida-Viru County, Estonia * Erra, the purported home planet of the pleiadean aliens described by ufologist Billy Meier * Pizzo Erra, a mountain in Switz ...

, the pestilence; of

Etana Etana (, ''E.TA.NA'') was the probably fictional thirteenth king of the first dynasty of Kish. He is listed in the ''Sumerian King List'' as the successor of Arwium, the son of Mashda, as king of Kish. The list also calls Etana "the shepherd, ...

and of

Anzu Anzu may refer to: *Anzû, a divine storm-bird in several Ancient Mesopotamian religion, Mesopotamian religions *Anzu (dinosaur), ''Anzu'' (dinosaur), a genus of theropod dinosaur containing the species ''Anzu wyliei'' As a given name is a Japan ...

. Hades, the abode of Ereshkigal or

Allatu Allani, also known under the Akkadian name Allatu (or Allatum) was the Hurrian goddess of the underworld, incorporated into Hittite and Mesopotamian pantheons as well. Name and epithets The name Allani is derived from a Hurrian word meaning ...

, had been entered by Nergal, 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 of

Ishtar Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in S ...

, 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 of

Enlil Enlil, , "Lord f theWind" later known as Elil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Bab ...

. 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.

Omens, divination and incantation texts

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. 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 the

Enuma Anu Enlil Enuma Anu Enlil ( ,'' The Assyrian Dictionary'', volume 7 (I/J) – ''inūma'', The Oriental Institute, Chicago 1960, s. 160. ''When he gods Anu and Enlil'' .., abbreviated EAE, is a major series of 68 or 70 tablets (depending on the recension) ...

(astrological omens), Šumma ālu (terrestrial omens), Šumma izbu (anomalous births), Alamdimmû (physiognomic omens), and

Iškar Zaqīqu The Dream Book, iškar dZaqīqu (“core text of the god Zaqīqu”), is an eleven tablet compendium of oneiromancy Oneiromancy (from the , and ) is a form of divination based upon dreams, and also uses dreams to predict the future. Oneirogen pl ...

(dream omens). It is among this genre, also, that the Sakikkū (SA.GIG) “Diagnostic Handbook” belongs. The practice of extispicy, 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, the Bārûtu, extending over a hundred tablets and divided into ten chapters. Divination, however, extended into other fields with, for example, the old Babylonian

libanomancy Libanomancy (also known as livanomancy and knissomancy) is a divination primarily through observing and interpreting burning incense smoke, but which may include the way incense ash falls as well. Del Rio, Martín Anton''Investigations Into Magic.'' ...

texts, concerning interpreting portents from incense smoke, being one and Bēl-nadin-šumi’s omen text on the flight paths of birds, composed during the reign of

king Meli-Šipak, being another exemplar. Incantations form an important part of this literary heritage, covering a range of rituals from the sacred,

Maqlû The Maqlû, “burning,” series is an Akkadian incantation text which concerns the performance of a rather lengthy anti-witchcraft, or ''kišpū'', ritual. In its mature form, probably composed in the early first millennium BC, it comprises eight ...

, "burning" to counter witchcraft,

Šurpu The ancient Mesopotamian incantation series Šurpu begins ''enūma nēpešē ša šur-pu t'' 'eppušu'', “when you perform the rituals for (the series) ‘Burning,’” and was probably compiled in the middle Babylonian period, ca. 1350–1050 ...

, “incineration” to counter curses, Namburbi, to preempt inauspicious omens, Utukkū Lemnūtu (actually bilingual), to exorcise “Evil Demons,” and Bīt rimki, or “bath house,” the purification and substitution ceremony, to the mundane, Šà.zi.ga, “the rising of the heart,” potency spells, and Zu-buru-dabbeda, “to seize the ‘locust tooth’,” a compendium of incantations against field pests.

Wisdom and didactic literature

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. One of the earliest exemplars was the ''

Dialogue between a Man and His God The Dialogue between a Man and His God is the earliest known text to address the answer to the question of why a god permits evil, or theodicy, a reflection on human suffering. It is a piece of Wisdom Literature extant on a single clay cuneiform ...

'' from the late Old Babylonian period. Perhaps the most notable were the ''Poem of the Righteous Sufferer'' (

Ludlul bēl nēmeqi ("''I Will Praise the Lord of Wisdom''"), also sometimes known in English as ''The Poem of the Righteous Sufferer'', is a Mesopotamian poem (ANET, pp. 434–437) written in Akkadian that concerns itself with the problem of the unjust suffe ...

) and the ''

Babylonian Theodicy "Babylonian Theodicy" is a poem written within ancient Babylonia. The poem is inscribed onto clay in the Middle-Babylonian language, which is a form of language dating to the period 1600 to 900 BC. (via identification of iThe Babylonian World ed ...

''. Included in this group are a number of fables or contest literature, in varying states of preservation, such as the ''Tamarisk and the Palm'', the ''Fable of the Willow'', ''Nisaba and Wheat'' (kibtu), the ''Ox and the Horse'' (Inum Ištar šurbutum, “When exalted Ishtar”), the ''Fable of the Fox'', and the ''Fable of the Riding-donkey''.

W. G. Lambert Wilfred George Lambert FBA (26 February 1926 – 9 November 2011) was a historian and archaeologist, a specialist in Assyriology and Near Eastern Archaeology. Early life Lambert was born in Birmingham, and, having won a scholarship, he was edu ...

and others include several popular sayings, and proverbs (both bilingual and Babylonian) together with the ''Lament of a Sufferer with a Prayer to Marduk'', ''Counsels of Wisdom'', ''Counsels of a Pessimist'', and ''Advice to a Prince'' in 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. There are also Akkadian translations of earlier Sumerian works such as the

Instructions of Shuruppak __NOTOC__ The Instructions of Shuruppak (or, ''Instructions of Šuruppak son of Ubara-tutu'') are a significant example of Sumerian wisdom literature. Wisdom literature, intended to teach proper piety, inculcate virtue, and preserve community st ...

which are often considered belonging to this tradition.

Other genres

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 of

Hammurabi Hammurabi (Akkadian: ; ) was the sixth Amorite king of the Old Babylonian Empire, reigning from to BC. He was preceded by his father, Sin-Muballit, who abdicated due to failing health. During his reign, he conquered Elam and the city-states ...

, which have been edited by Leonard William King.

List of works

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 • Advice to a prince •

Agushaya Hymn The Agušaya Hymn or Song of Agušaya is an Old Babylonian literary work, a “song of praise”, written in the Akkadian language concerning the goddess Ištar, identified with the serpent deity Irnina. It may have been called “the Snake has Tu ...

• Alamdimmû • Aluzinnu text • Ardat-lili • Asakkū marṣūtu • Ašipus' Almanac (or Handbook) • At the cleaners • Atra-ḫasīs • Autobiography of Adad-guppī •

Autobiography of Kurigalzu An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor (scholar), William Taylor in ...

•

Autobiography of Marduk An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

•

Babylonian Almanac The Babylonian Almanac is a source of information for predictions, i.e., an almanac, made for astronomical phenomena for the specific years contained within it. The work comes entirely from manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singula ...

•

Babylonian King List The king of Babylon (Akkadian language, Akkadian: ''šakkanakki Bābili'', later also ''šar Bābili'') was the ruler of the ancient Mesopotamian city of Babylon and its kingdom, Babylonia, which existed as an independent realm from the 19th centur ...

•

• Bārûtu •

Birth legend of Sargon Sargon of Akkad (; akk, ''Šarrugi''), also known as Sargon the Great, was the first ruler of the Akkadian Empire, known for his conquests of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th to 23rd centuries BC.The date of the reign of Sargon is high ...

• Bīt mēseri • Bīt rimki • Bīt salā’ mê •

Chronicle of Early Kings The Chronicle of Early Kings, Chronicle 20 in Grayson’s ''Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles'' and Mesopotamian Chronicle 40 in Glassner’s ''Chroniques mésopotamiennes'' is preserved on two tablets, tablet ABM 26472 (98-5-14, 290) tablet A. ...

•

Chronicle of the Market Prices The Chronicle of Market Prices, designated "Chronicle 23" in Grayson’s ''Assyrian and Babylonian chronicles'', its first publishing, and Mesopotamian Chronicle 50: “Chronicle of Market Prices” in Glassner’s ''Mesopotamian Chronicles'' is an ...

•

Chronicle of reign of Šulgi A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

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Code of Hammurabi The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organised, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Hamm ...

• Consecration of a priest • Counsels of a Pessimist •

Counsels of Wisdom Counsels of Wisdom is a piece of Babylonian wisdom literature written in Akkadian language, Akkadian containing moral exhortations. It is composed primarily of two-line units, without sections. A translation of extant portions of the text was publis ...

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Crimes and Sacrileges of Nabu-šuma-iškun The Crimes and Sacrileges of Nabû-šuma-iškun is an ancient Mesopotamian chronicle extant in a single late- Babylonian copyExcavation number W22660/0. from Hellenistic Uruk of the library of the exorcist, or ''āšipu'', Anu-ikṣụr. The vitriol ...

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Curse of Akkad A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particular, ...

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Cuthean Legend of Naram-Sin The Cuthean Legend of Naram-Sin is one of the few literary works whose versions are attested in both Old Babylonian, Middle Babylonian and the Standard Babylonian of the late Neo-Babylonian period, a literary life of around 1,500 years. It seems to ...

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• Dingir.šà.dib.ba • Dream of Kurigalzu •

• Dynastic Prophecy •

Dynasty of Dunnum The Dynasty of Dunnum, sometimes called the ''Theogony of Dunnum'' or ''Dunnu'' or the ''Harab Myth'', is an ancient Mesopotamian mythical tale of successive generations of gods who take power through parricide and live incestuously with their mo ...

( Harab Myth) •

Eclectic Chronicle The Eclectic Chronicle, referred to in earlier literature as the ''New Babylonian Chronicle'', is an ancient Mesopotamian account of the highlights of Babylonian history during the post-Kassite era prior to the 689 BC fall of the city of Babylon ...

• Edict of Ammi-Saduqa • Egalkura spells •

Elegies Mourning the Death of Tammuz An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

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Enlil and Sud Enlil, , "Lord f theWind" later known as Elil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Baby ...

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• Enûma Eliš •

Epic of Anzu Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

• Epic of Gilgameš •

Epic of the Kassite period Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

• Epic of Nabû-kudurrī-uṣur •

Epic of the plague-god Erra Erra (sometimes called Irra) is an Akkadian plague god known from an 'epos' of the eighth century BCE. Erra is the god of mayhem and pestilence who is responsible for periods of political confusion. He was assimilated to Nergal at some point. E ...

(Erra and Išum) •

• Fable of the Fox • Fable of the Riding-donkey • Fable of the Willow •

Girra and Elamatum Gerra (, also known as Girra) is the Babylonian and Akkadian god of fire, derived from the earlier Sumerian deity Gibil. He is the son of Anu , image=Detail, upper part, Kudurru of Ritti-Marduk, from Sippar, Iraq, 1125-1104 BCE. British Museum.jp ...

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Great Revolt Against Naram-Sin Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

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Harem Edicts Harem ( Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A har ...

• Hemerology for Nazi-Maruttaš •

Ḫulbazizi Ḫulbazizi, inscribed in cuneiform phonetically ''Ḫul.ba.zi.zi'', “the Evil is Eradicated” or more literally "Evil (be) gone", is an ancient Mesopotamian exorcistic incantation series extant in earlier Sumerian and later Akkadian forms, the ...

• Inana's Ascent • Iqqur Ipuš •

• Ištar’s hell ride • Kalûtu catalogue • KAR 6 • Kataduggû • Kedor-laomer texts •

Kettledrum rituals Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditiona ...

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King of Battle The King of Battle, or šar tamḫāri, is an ancient Mesopotamian epic tale of Sargon of Akkad and his campaign against the city of Purušḫanda in the Anatolian highlands and its king, Nur-DaggalWhere the Hittite version, l''Nu-úr-da-aḫ-ḫ ...

(šar tamḫāri) • Ki'utu • Labbu myth • Lamaštu • Lament of a Sufferer with a Prayer to Marduk •

• Lipšur litanies •

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• Marduk's Address to the Demons • Marduk Prophecy •

Middle Assyrian Laws Assyrian law, also known as the Middle Assyrian Laws (MAL) or the Code of the Assyrians, was an ancient legal code developed between 1450 and 1250 BCE in the Middle Assyrian Empire. (E-book edition) It was very similar to Sumerian and Babylonian ...

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Mîs-pî Mîs-pî, inscribed KA-LUḪ.Ù.DA and meaning “washing of the mouth,” is an ancient Mesopotamian ritual and incantation series for the cultic induction or vivification of a newly manufactured divine idol. It involved around eleven stages: in th ...

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Moon god and the cow The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

• Mukīl rēš lemutti •

MUL.APIN MUL.APIN () is the conventional title given to a Babylonian compendium that deals with many diverse aspects of Babylonian astronomy and astrology. It is in the tradition of earlier star catalogues, the so-called ''Three Stars Each'' lists, but ...

• Muššu'u • Na'id-Šihu Epic •

Nabonidus Chronicle The Nabonidus Chronicle is an ancient Babylonian text, part of a larger series of Babylonian Chronicles inscribed in cuneiform script on clay tablets. It deals primarily with the reign of Nabonidus, the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, co ...

• Namburbi • Namerimburrudû • Neo-Babylonian Laws • Nergal and Ereškigal • New year ritual-Akitu procession • Nigdimdimmû •

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Nisaba and Wheat Nisaba was the Mesopotamian goddess of writing and grain. She is one of the oldest Sumerian deities attested in writing, and remained prominent through many periods of Mesopotamian history. She was commonly worshiped by scribes, and numerous Su ...

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Ox and the Horse An ox ( : oxen, ), also known as a bullock (in BrE, AusE, and IndE), is a male bovine trained and used as a draft animal. Oxen are commonly castrated adult male cattle; castration inhibits testosterone and aggression, which makes the ma ...

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Pazuzu In ancient Mesopotamian religion, Pazuzu ( akk, , translit=pà.zu.zu; also called Fazuzu or Pazuza) was a personification of the southwestern wind, and held kingship over the lilu wind demons. As an apotropaic entity, he was considered as bo ...

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Prophecy A In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or pre ...

• Qutāru • Recipes against Antašubba •

Religious Chronicle The Religious Chronicle is an ancient Mesopotamian register of portents such as the straying of wild animals into urban areas and extraordinary natural phenomena which presaged the disruptions which interfered with the Akītu or new year festival ...

• Royal inscription of Simbar-Šipak • Sag-gig-ga-meš (Muruṣ qaqqadi) • Sakikkū • Salmānu-ašarēdu III Epic • Synchronistic History • Șēru šikinšu • Šammu šikinšu • Šar Pūḫî • Šà.zi.ga • Šēp lemutti • Šu'ila • Šulgi Prophecy • Šumma ālu • Šumma amēlu kašip • Šumma immeru • Šumma Izbu • Šumma liptu •

Šumma sinništu qaqqada rabât The text with the incipit protasis Šumma sinništu qaqqada rabât, inscribed in cuneiform: DIŠ MUNUS SAG.DU GAL-''at'', “If a Woman is Large of Head” ( apodosis: ''išarru'', “she will prosper’), is an ancient Mesopotamian collection of p ...

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• Tākultu ritual texts • Tamarisk and the Palm • Tamītu Oracles • Tašritu hemerology • Tukulti-Ninurta Epic • Tu-ra kìlib-ba • The therapeutic series UGU (Šumma amēlu muḫḫašu umma ukāl) • Uruhulake of Gula • Uruk King List •

Uruk Prophecy Uruk, also known as Warka or Warkah, was an ancient city of Sumer (and later of Babylonia) situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates River on the dried-up ancient channel of the Euphrates east of modern Samawah, Al-Muthannā, Iraq.Harm ...

• Ušburruda • Utukkū Lemnūtu • Verse Account of Nabonidus •

Vision of the Netherworld Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...

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Walker Chronicle Walker or The Walker may refer to: People *Walker (given name) *Walker (surname) *Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Places In the United States *Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County *Walker, Mono County, California * ...

• Weidner Chronicle •

Zimri-Lim Epic __NOTOC__ Zimri-Lim (Akkadian language, Akkadian: ''Zi-im-ri Li-im'') was king of Mari, Syria, Mari c. 1775–1761 BCE. Zimri-Lim was the son or grandson of Iakhdunlim, but was forced to flee to Yamhad when his father was assassinated by his ow ...

• Zi-pà incantations • Zisurrû (Sag-ba Sag-ba) • Zu-buru-dabbeda

References

{{Authority control Babylonia Assyria