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Akkadian literature is the ancient literature written in the Akkadian language in Mesopotamia during the period spanning the Middle Bronze Age to the Iron Age.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Bilgamesh, king of Uruk, dating from the Third Dynasty of Ur. These independent stories were later used as source material for a combined epic in Akkadian. The first surviving version of this combined epic, known as the "Old Babylonian" version, dates back to the 18th century BC and is titled after its incipit, Shūtur eli sharrī. Only a few tablets of it have survived. The later Standard Babylonian version compiled by Sîn-lēqi-unninni dates from the 13th to the 10th centuries BC and bears the incipit Sha naqba īmuru. Approximately two-thirds of this longer, twelve-tablet version have been recovered. Some of the best copies were discovered in the library ruins of the 7th-century BC Assyrian king Ashurbanipal.
Humbaba, originally known as Ḫuwawa, was a figure in Mesopotamian mythology. The origin and meaning of his name are unknown. He was portrayed as an anthropomorphic figure comparable to an ogre, giant or demon. He is best known from myths focused on the hero Gilgamesh, including short compositions belonging to the curriculum of scribal schools, various version of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and additionally Hurrian and Hittite adaptations. He is invariably portrayed as the inhabitant or guardian of the cedar forest to which Gilgamesh ventures with his companion Enkidu. They clash, which leads to the death of Humbaba. The event typically causes the anger of the gods. He is also attested in other works of Mesopotamian literature. Multiple depictions of him have also been identified, including combat scenes and apotropaic clay heads.
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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 known copies. It is actually a bilingual text written in 6 columns, representing a continuation of the Sumerian king list tradition through to the 8th century BC and is an important source for the reconstruction of the historical narrative for certain periods poorly preserved elsewhere.
Counsels of Wisdom is a piece of Babylonian wisdom literature written in Akkadian containing moral exhortations. It is composed primarily of two-line units, without sections. A translation of extant portions of the text was published in Lambert 1996. Existing manuscripts are fragmentary, but the original was estimated to be about 160 lines.
The "Series of the Poplar" is an Akkadian disputation poem containing a discussion between a Poplar, an Ash, and probably other trees, who each tries to establish his preeminence in the vegetal kingdom by listing their many uses and excellent qualities. Most of the surviving examples of the work are from the library of King Assurbanipal of Nineveh, "one of the most important repositories of texts from the entire ancient world".
Palm and Vine is a work of Akkadian literature. It contains a disputation poem between two litigants, Palm and Vine, each of which praises its own merits and many uses, and discredits those of its rival. The text may have been composed in the second-millennium BCE, but only first-millennium manuscripts of it are known. Fifty-four lines from the middle section of the text are preserved, which begin in medias res with a long speech of Palm, immediately followed by Vine’s rejoinder. Three library manuscripts of the poem are known, as well as an excerpt on a peculiar school tablet.
The Story of the Poor, Forlorn Wren is a work of Akkadian literature, preserved only in late manuscripts. It contains a fable featuring a wren and an eagle. It is an example of poetic expression in the literature of Iraq in the first millennium BCE.
References
- ↑ Jiménez, Enrique (2022). "Literature II.9 Series of Ox and Horse". Heinrich, Adrian C., Hätinen, Aino, Rozzi, Geraldina, Mitto, Tonio D. N. doi:10.5282/EBL/L/2/9.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ↑ Jiménez, Enrique (2017-02-06). The Babylonian Disputation Poems: With Editions of the Series of the Poplar, Palm and Vine, the Series of the Spider, and the Story of the Poor, Forlorn Wren. Brill. pp. 57–63. doi:10.1163/9789004336261. ISBN 978-90-04-33626-1.
- ↑ Lambert, Wilfred G. (1960). Babylonian Wisdom Literature. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 175.