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class='column-center-outer'> <div class='column-center-inner'> <div class='main section' id='main' name='Main'><div class='widget Blog' data-version='1' id='Blog1'> <div class='blog-posts hfeed'> <div class='status-msg-wrap'> <div class='status-msg-body'> Showing posts with label <b>Assyria</b>. <a href="https://egunnu.blogspot.com/">Show all posts</a> </div> <div class='status-msg-border'> <div class='status-msg-bg'> <div class='status-msg-hidden'>Showing posts with label <b>Assyria</b>. <a href="https://egunnu.blogspot.com/">Show all posts</a></div> </div> </div> </div> <div style='clear: both;'></div> <div class="date-outer"> <h2 class='date-header'><span>Sunday, October 31, 2021</span></h2> <div class="date-posts"> <div class='post-outer'> <div class='post hentry uncustomized-post-template' itemprop='blogPost' itemscope='itemscope' itemtype='http://schema.org/BlogPosting'> <meta content='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Lamashtu_plaque_9167.jpg/800px-Lamashtu_plaque_9167.jpg' itemprop='image_url'/> <meta content='2724078395031847481' itemprop='blogId'/> <meta content='7867123719367459068' itemprop='postId'/> <a name='7867123719367459068'></a> <h3 class='post-title entry-title' itemprop='name'> <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2021/10/this-year-dont-forget-about-lamashtu.html'>This Year, Don't Forget About Lamashtu!</a> </h3> <div class='post-header'> <div class='post-header-line-1'></div> </div> <div class='post-body entry-content' id='post-body-7867123719367459068' itemprop='description articleBody'> <span style="font-family: trebuchet;">It's Halloween again. Here in North America, the date is marked with costumes and candy. The yards of our city are littered with the symbolism of fear. On my walk earlier today, I spotted Styrofoam tombstones, inflatable undead, plastic dismembered arms, spray-on spider webs (a spider's deathtrap), carrion crows and rats, dancing skeletons, and pumpkins carved with the faces of evil so as to ward it off. <br /><br />But nowhere did I see an image of Lama拧tu, that most feared of Babylonian evils.</span><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Lamashtu_plaque_9167.jpg/800px-Lamashtu_plaque_9167.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="800" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Lamashtu_plaque_9167.jpg/800px-Lamashtu_plaque_9167.jpg" width="533" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamashtu</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br />  <br /><br />Lama拧tu was one of the most dreadful beings of the Ancient Near East. She was sometimes called a demon, but like all Babylonian demons she defies easy classification in modern terms. She was the daughter of Anu, the father of the gods, but she was an outcast and a hybrid. She was often ranked among the Utukku (evil spirits) - not because she was born before the ordering of the universe like they were, but because her evil and rebellious plan to eat mankind for dinner put the gods in mind of evil spirits. For this, she was demoted from the rank of goddess to the rank of utukku, given a canine's head by Enlil, and thrown out of heaven. <br /><br />There is no catalogue of her activities on earth, though she is quite famous for sucking the breath of newborns from their young bodies, thereby causing crib death. She could be turned away by showing her her own image, or that of the demon Pazuzu. <br /><br />Those who could afford such things could hire an exorcist to ward her off with an incantation. Several such have been immortalized on clay tablets. If you haven't place a likeness of Lama拧tu on your front yard this year, you might consider lighting a few candles, offering up a pure white lamb, and reciting one of these incantations for protection. </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">These first two incantations against Lama拧tu are quite old and come from early A拧拧ur</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span><blockquote><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">“She is singular, she is uncanny, <br />She is a child born late in life, she is a phantasm, <br />She is haunt, she is malicious, <br />Offspring of a god, daughter of Anu. <br />For her malevolent will, for her base counsel, <br />Anu her father dashed her down from heaven to earth, <br />for her malevolent will, her inflamatory council. <br />Her hair is askew, her loincloth is torn away. <br />She makes her was straight to the person without a god. <br />She can benumb the sinews of a lion, she can still the sinews of a youngster or infant.” </span></blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">“She is furious, she is terrifying, <br />She is uncanny, she has an awful glamour, <br />She is a she-wolf, the daughter of Anu, <br />Her dwelling in is the grass, <br />Her lair is in the weeds. <br />She holds back the full-grown youth in rapid progress, <br />She yanks out by the breech the premature child, <br />She brains little babies, <br />She makes the witnesses swallow the birth fluids. <br />This spell is not mine; it is a spell of Ninkilim, master of spells. <br />Ninkarak cast it so I took it up.*"</span></blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>[Source: Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature</i></span><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Benjamin R. Foster, Third Edition 2005 CDL Press. 1044 pp.]</i></span></div></blockquote><div><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">*Here I think this refers to Ningirin, goddess of incantations, as the composer of the spell, rather than Ninkilim, goddess of mice and rodents. Ninkarak was a name for the healing goddess, Gula. These lines mean that Ningirin composed the incantation, Ninkarak cast it, and the scribe recorded it.</span></p><div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">This third incantation is a little younger and comes from Akkad.</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span><blockquote><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">“Anu begot her, Ea reared her, <br />Enlil doomed her the face of a lioness. <br />She is furious. She is long of the hand, longer still of the nail. <br />Her forearms are smeared with blood. <br />She came right in the front door, slithering over the door frame <br />She has caught sight of the baby! <br />Seven seizures has she done him in his belly! <br />Pluck out your nails! Let loose your arms! <br />Before he gets to you, valiant Ea, sage of the magical art, <br />The door frame is big enough for you; the doors are open. <br />Come, then, begone into the open country! <br />I will surely fill your mouth with sand, your face with dust, <br />Your mouth with finely ground mustard seeds! <br />I exorcise you by Ea's curse: you must be gone!” </span></blockquote><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><blockquote>[Source: Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature <br />Benjamin R. Foster, Third Edition 2005 CDL Press. 1044 pp.] </blockquote></i></span><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Bronze_plate%2C_several_Mesopotamian_deities_or_creatures_ward_off_evil_spirits._From_Iraq._9th-7th_century_BCE._Ancient_Orient_Museum%2C_Istanbul.jpg/800px-Bronze_plate%2C_several_Mesopotamian_deities_or_creatures_ward_off_evil_spirits._From_Iraq._9th-7th_century_BCE._Ancient_Orient_Museum%2C_Istanbul.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="534" height="800" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Bronze_plate%2C_several_Mesopotamian_deities_or_creatures_ward_off_evil_spirits._From_Iraq._9th-7th_century_BCE._Ancient_Orient_Museum%2C_Istanbul.jpg/800px-Bronze_plate%2C_several_Mesopotamian_deities_or_creatures_ward_off_evil_spirits._From_Iraq._9th-7th_century_BCE._Ancient_Orient_Museum%2C_Istanbul.jpg" width="534" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamashtu</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br />  <br /><br />Another juicy spell can be found in Karen Nemet-Nejat's wonderful introductory book: Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. <br /></span><blockquote><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">“She comes up from the swamp, <br />is fierce, terrible, forceful, destructive, powerful: <br />(and still) she is a goddess, awe inspiring. <br />Her feet are those of an eagle, her hands mean decay. <br />Her fingernails are long, her armpits unshaven... <br />The daughter of Anu counts the pregnant women daily, <br />follows on the heels of those about to give birth. <br />She counts their months, marks their days on the wall. <br />Against those just giving birth she casts a spell: <br />“Bring me your sons, let me nurse them. </span><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">In the mouth of your daughters I want to place my breast!” <br />She loved to drink bubbling human blood, <br />(eats) flesh not to be eaten, (picks) bones not to <br />be picked. (From Lama拧tu series, Tablet 1)"</span></div></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i></i></span></div><blockquote><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>[Source: Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-small;"><i>Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat, 1998 Hendrickson Publishers. 346pp.] </i></span></div></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">OK, let's face it: it's probably too late for you to protect yourself for Halloween this year. But if you're still around next Halloween, why not throw up a likeness of Lama拧tu on the front lawn? You'll be well protected, and who knows? Maybe even, like the local woman who last year strung headless Barbie dolls like garlands from tree to tree over her front walkway, become the talk of the town!</span></div></div></div><div><br /></div></div></div> <div style='clear: both;'></div> </div> <div class='post-footer'> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-1'> <span class='post-author vcard'> </span> <span class='post-timestamp'> at <meta content='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2021/10/this-year-dont-forget-about-lamashtu.html' itemprop='url'/> <a class='timestamp-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2021/10/this-year-dont-forget-about-lamashtu.html' rel='bookmark' title='permanent link'><abbr class='published' itemprop='datePublished' title='2021-10-31T12:22:00-07:00'>October 31, 2021</abbr></a> </span> <span class='post-comment-link'> <a class='comment-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2021/10/this-year-dont-forget-about-lamashtu.html#comment-form' onclick=''> No comments: </a> </span> <span class='post-icons'> <span class='item-control blog-admin pid-1282338224'> <a href='https://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=7867123719367459068&from=pencil' title='Edit Post'> <img alt='' class='icon-action' height='18' src='https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18_edit_allbkg.gif' width='18'/> </a> </span> </span> <div class='post-share-buttons goog-inline-block'> <a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-email' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=7867123719367459068&target=email' target='_blank' title='Email This'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Email This</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-blog' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=7867123719367459068&target=blog' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=270,width=475"); return false;' target='_blank' title='BlogThis!'><span class='share-button-link-text'>BlogThis!</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-twitter' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=7867123719367459068&target=twitter' target='_blank' title='Share to X'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to X</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-facebook' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=7867123719367459068&target=facebook' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=430,width=640"); return false;' target='_blank' title='Share to Facebook'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to Facebook</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-pinterest' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=7867123719367459068&target=pinterest' target='_blank' title='Share to Pinterest'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to Pinterest</span></a> </div> </div> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-2'> <span class='post-labels'> Labels: <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Assyria' rel='tag'>Assyria</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Babylon' rel='tag'>Babylon</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Bronze%20Age' rel='tag'>Bronze Age</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Literature' rel='tag'>Literature</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Monsters' rel='tag'>Monsters</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Mythic%20Babylon' rel='tag'>Mythic Babylon</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Near%20East' rel='tag'>Near East</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Sumer' rel='tag'>Sumer</a> </span> </div> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-3'> <span class='post-location'> </span> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class='inline-ad'>  </div> </div></div> <div class="date-outer"> <h2 class='date-header'><span>Monday, May 25, 2020</span></h2> <div class="date-posts"> <div class='post-outer'> <div class='post hentry uncustomized-post-template' itemprop='blogPost' itemscope='itemscope' itemtype='http://schema.org/BlogPosting'> <meta content='2724078395031847481' itemprop='blogId'/> <meta content='5742704193252183119' itemprop='postId'/> <a name='5742704193252183119'></a> <h3 class='post-title entry-title' itemprop='name'> <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2020/05/what-books-can-i-read-to-inspire-my.html'>"What books can I read to inspire my Mythic Babylon campaign?"</a> </h3> <div class='post-header'> <div class='post-header-line-1'></div> </div> <div class='post-body entry-content' id='post-body-5742704193252183119' itemprop='description articleBody'> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">This question about the upcoming Mythic Babylon setting was asked recently over on the Mythras forums. Since this turned into a rather lengthy reply and might appeal to people other than gamers, I thought it would be better to post it here.</span><br /> <div> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br />It's a difficult question to answer - there simply isn't much in the way of fiction in any format that deals well with the time and place covered by Mythic Babylon. We didn't use any fiction as inspiration in building the setting - at least, no modern fiction. We built it solely on the work of history writers, archaeologists, and translators of period stories. Because there's so little available in the popular culture, we designed Mythic Babylon to be pretty comprehensive and self-contained, so you don't NEED to read anything else, though of course if you wanted to get lost down some rabbit holes there are plenty of good history books around. Those will have to wait for another post, though.  </span><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">I'm certainly not aware of any TV shows or films that deal with the subject historically, but I do think one could draw a certain amount of inspiration from classic Biblical epics like Ben Hur, Sodom and Gomorrah, or Samson and Delilah.<br /><br />Of the available fiction that covers Ancient Mesopotamia, very little of it deals with the time period that Mythic Babylon covers (The Old Babylonian Period) even though our  period is rich in ancient texts. Let me try to explain why that matters.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;">A Mesopotamian History Primer</span><br /><br />Before I talk about what's available in fiction, maybe a short primer on Mesopotamian history would help you to understand the different periods. The term 'Ancient Mesopotamia' typically covers about  3000 years of history, and maybe another 1000 of pre-history, but the Old Babylonian Period as seen in Mythic Babylon only covers about 400 of these years, and occurs about 1000 years before the Babylon of the Ishtar Gate and the Bible fame. </span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Stories that are set in other time periods can work as an inspiration for the kinds of stories that are appropriate to Mythic Babylon, but might differ significantly in the details of daily life. <br /><br />These are the main periods of Mesopotamian history - the dates are approximate: <br /><br /> 1. Uruk Period lasted from about 4000BC to 3000 BC. This is a pre-historic (i.e. before writing) period during which Uruk was the main city. It colonized other areas and exported its culture to the entire region. Being pre-historic, we only know what archaeology can reveal, so it's hard to write stories about it without being highly inventive. <br /><br /> 2. The Early Dynastic Period - roughly 3000 BC to 2300. A time of several competing city states. Early writing tells us the names of some kings and we can build a sketchy history, but much is still unknown. This is the time that the historical king Gilgamesh lived. Sumerian was the dominant language, but co-existed with the Semitic Akkadian language. <br /><br /> 3. The Akkadian period - 2300-2100. The city of Akkad becomes dominant and forms what might be the first empire under King Sargon. The Akkadian language (named after the city) is dominant. It ends in a collapse and barbarian invasions. <br /><br /> 4. The Neo-Sumerian period - 2100-2000. A short but important empire phase. Ur takes over from Akkad as the dominant city, and the Sumerian language sees a brief resurgence, though Akkadian remains the lingua-franca. This also ends in a societal collapse and invasion. <br /><br /><b> 5. The Old Babylonian Period - 2000-1600.</b> The nomadic and Semitic Amorites have now populated the region and become kings of most cities, so it's heavily influenced by their culture. Many cities form small hegemonic kingdoms that compete with one another - some end up growing very large, like the kingdom of North Mesopotamia under king Shamshi-Adad, and later Babylon will rise to become the most important power. This also ends in a collapse and invasion by the Hittites. <br /><br /> 6. The Middle Babylonian / Assyrian period 1600-1200/1100. Babylon rises again under a new Kassite (another foreign tribe) dynasty and controls the south. The city of Assur and a mainly Hurrian kingdom called Mitani compete in the north. The Hittites dominate Anatolia, and Egypt is influential in the west. Historically, we know very little about Babylon at this time, and much more about the north and west, largely due to the accidental availability of written texts from the period. This period ends with the large Bronze Age Collapse that lasts a few hundred years, leaving us with a dark age. This is the end of the Bronze Age. <br /><br /> 7. The Neo-Assyrian period 900-612 - Assyria is now dominant over Babylonia and extends its empire far to the west into Israel and Egypt. <br /><br /> 8. The Neo-Babylonian Period 626-539 - Culturally similar but with some differences, Babylon has inherited the Assyrian empire. When people think generally of 'Babylon' this is the time period they're thinking of. <br /><br /> 9. The Persian Period 539-330 - the Achaemenid Persians conquer Babylon. It's culture is left largely intact, but political control shifts to Persia, with Babylon as a western capital. <br /><br /> 10. The Hellenic period starts in 330 with the conquests of Alexander the Great. Babylon is conquered. Again the local culture is left largely intact, though of course it has evolved on its own since the time of Hammurabi nearly 1500 years ago.<br /><br /><br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: large;">General Categories of Mesopotamian Fiction</span><br /><br /> So, now that you know that Ancient Mesopotamia =/= Mythic Babylon, we can look at what's available in fiction. These books seem to fall into three categories: <br /><br /> 1. Books by historians or history enthusiasts who see the gap and decide to try their hand a fiction. Many of these deal with the detail of history fairly well, though often with errors. But the reviews indicate they also often fall short in the story-telling department.<br /><br /> 2. Writers who are novelists first and foremost and want to write about their favorite period of history. These are generally more successful, though they may take liberties with the history. At least you get a good story, and if you're looking for inspiration for writing your own Mythic Babylon scenarios, this is probably more helpful - especially since we already have the history part covered pretty well in Mythic Babylon.<br /><br /> 3. People inspired by the bible who want to write a 'historical novel'. These seem to have no 'historical' merit, as far as I can tell, though they pretend to it surprisingly often. My basic feeling is that whenever you see the words 'Sumeria' or 'Shinar', that author probably isn't too concerned about the historicity of their setting. Of course, that doesn't mean they can't tell a good story.<br /><br /> <span style="font-size: large;">Mesopotamian Historical Fiction</span><br /><br /> Here's what I've found for fiction when browsing Amazon or Goodreads. I haven't read most of these because I'm rather picky and I already have way too much to read, so I won't buy a book just because the subject interests me - I need to see that it's well reviewed. And most of these aren't. So for most of these entries, my opinion is based on the reviews of others and the author's (or publisher's) description of the work.<br /><br /><b>Empires of Bronze (Son of Ishtar and Empires of Bronze) by Gordon Doherty.</b> These are set toward the end of the Middle Babylonian period and are really about the Hittites, so I'm not sure there's much in there about Babylon. They look pretty good, though, and fall into category 2. </span><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/266815-empires-of-bronze">https://www.goodreads.com/series/266815-empires-of-bronze</a><br /><br /><b>The Assyrian and The Blood Star by Nicholas Guild.</b> These are set in the Neo-Assyrian empire and centred on a son of one of the kings. They also seem to fall into category 2 and also, to my eye, look pretty good, though they're set well after the time of Mythic Babylon, and the political context of the Assyrian Empire is totally different than that in MB. </span><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/90398-tiglath-ashur">https://www.goodreads.com/series/90398-tiglath-ashur</a></span><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /><br /><b>The Esskar series by Sam Barone.</b> I'm not quite sure what to make of these. From the description, these are set during the Akkadian period, but the personal names are made up and don't seem authentic, and the kings and rulers mentioned are also made up. So I'd say this is rather a made-up setting than a set of historical novels, but they might capture the kinds of events that could inspire a Mythic Babylon campaign. Until I hear more or read one myself, I'd say 'approach with caution'. </span><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/55754-eskkar-saga">https://www.goodreads.com/series/55754-eskkar-saga</a></span><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /><br /><b>In the Court of the Queen and The Ambassador's Daughter by Elizabeth Roberts Craft.</b> Set supposedly in 2000 BC (the end of the Neo-Sumerian period) these, again, from the description seem to be completely a-historical, but they obviously mash a lot of historical content together to make some perhaps plausible stories. Like the Sam Barone books above, I think the historical value is questionable, but they might thematically be strong. Some reviewers mention not liking the writing, including this very thorough review by someone who undertook some a very impressive piece of sleuthing to try and figure out why another reviewer would think Hammurabi and Zimri-Lim were gay. If you're into the metal ages, check out this reviewer's bookshelves for loads more reviews.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2338467571?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1">https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2338467571?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1</a></span><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /><b>Trade Winds to Meluhha by Vasant Dave.</b> I think this is a category 1 novel. Set ostensibly in 2138 and being about the connection between Sumer and Meluhha (the Indus Valley). The blurb mentions that the main character leaves Babylon (which was a best a little village way up the Euphrates at this time) to go to Meluhha, so this may not be entirely historical - in fact, the author calls is 'prehistorical', which may be a fair assessment given that the Indus script has never been translated. I suspect this has lots of accurate historical details despite being a little loose, and is probably good fodder for Mythic Babylon inspiration. Reviews of the writing seem mixed. </span><br /> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40095826-trade-winds-to-meluhha"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40095826-trade-winds-to-meluhha</span></a><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /><b>The Seventh Sanctuary by Jennifer Malin.</b> The tag-line 'A steamy novella of ancient Sumeria' sets off all kinds of alarm bells for me, but again, this might serve for inspiration to Mythic Babylon. I'm having a hard time judging its quality from the few reviews. </span><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15718845-seventh-sanctuary">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15718845-seventh-sanctuary</a><br /><br /><b>The Prince and the Prophet and other 'novels of Sumeria' by Jesse Hudson.</b> I suspect this is a category 3 and is fiction partially informed by history, rather than a historical novel. I mean this: "For Ammon-Shur the struggle to end the slave trade in Sumeria is not going as planned" is simply not a thing. But in spite of playing fast and loose with fact, he's done a lot of research and is clearly bringing it to bear in the ways that best suit his story-telling needs.  <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40039274-novels-of-ancient-sumeria-box-set-1?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=dmnpGRDY9S&rank=5#">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40039274-novels-of-ancient-sumeria-box-set-1?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=dmnpGRDY9S&rank=5#</a></span><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Here's an excerpt from one text: <a href="https://www.wattpad.com/253325262-etana-the-snake-and-the-eagle">https://www.wattpad.com/253325262-etana-the-snake-and-the-eagle</a></span><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /><b>Claimed by the Enemy by Shauna Roberts</b> - An Akkadian period novel that, in spite of its terrible cover and 'romance novel' labelling, seems like it might not be half bad, at least in terms of story and historical merit. The writer has several other books to her name, which at least tells you she's good enough to have staying power.<br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22699685-claimed-by-the-enemy">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22699685-claimed-by-the-enemy</a><br /><br /><br /><b>Like Mayflies in the Stream is also by Shauna Roberts</b> - a novelization of the Gilgamesh story. Same comments as above. </span><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6920419-like-mayflies-in-a-stream">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6920419-like-mayflies-in-a-stream</a><br /><br /><b>The Priests of Lagash by David Jordan</b> - set at the end of the Early Dynastic period. It doesn't have a lot of reviews, which is common for a lot of these books. My gut feeling is that this book is probably pretty decent. From the blurb, it feels right, historically, and he's picked an interesting time. The reviewers seem to like the writing. Too bad it's kindle only - I'll probably never read it, and yet of all the books mentioned here it's the one I think I'd most like to read. EDIT: One of the readers of this blog has read this since my original post and had this to say: </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Whitney, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; white-space: break-spaces;"><i>much lighter than I thought it would be. It felt slightly anachronistic, like a noir detective thriller in places - ordinary Joe caught up in events larger than he first understands. Not bad though.</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Priests-Lagash-David-Jordan-ebook/dp/B004G08YIU/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+priests+of+lagash&qid=1590448668&s=digital-text&sr=1-1">https://www.amazon.ca/Priests-Lagash-David-Jordan-ebook/dp/B004G08YIU/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+priests+of+lagash&qid=1590448668&s=digital-text&sr=1-1</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /><br /><b>Lost in Mari: Rise of a Mesopotamian Demon by Jayneela</b> - Set in the Old Babylonian period, the same as Mythic Babylon. There's very little information about the book itself, and no reviews. My gut feeling is that it's rather too fanciful to be considered a historic novel, but that doesn't mean its not good. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33591773-lost-in-mari">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33591773-lost-in-mari</a><br /><br /><b>The Flame Before Us by Richard Abbott</b> - Set on the verge of the Bronze Age Collapse c.1200 BC and on the coast of Syria and Canaanite hills (which is on the fringe of the territory we cover in Mythic Babylon.) This is a novel about the arrival of the sea peoples and how that affected local populations. I quite enjoyed the book, and I thought Richard did a really good job tackling the subject matter. Richard is a friend of mine and I've read several of his other books, my favourite of which is called Scenes From a Life, about a Canaanite who brings his craft to Egypt where he makes a living. Richard has impressive historical chops and I like his writing, so I'd say he's one of the more successful category 1 authors I've encountered. As inspiration for Mythic Babylon specifically, this book offers something for those who want to focus on migratory populations. It's characters and situations are rather domestic in scope, though, rather than 'mythical'.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25323363-the-flame-before-us">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25323363-the-flame-before-us</a><br /><br /><b>She Wrote on Clay by Shirley Graetz</b> - set in the Old Babylonian period during the reign of Hammurabi. I have read this one and have mixed feelings about it. This falls in category 1, and the historical research is very good (though there are a few oddities - there was no such thing as the briefly mentioned 'cavalry' at the time, for example.) However, the story is a little lacking and the main character has very little agency, always being rescued by others. However, as a 'slice of life' story that illustrates the unique quality of the life of a naditu priestess, you won't find much better. I think roleplayers will find this particular 'slice of life' a little too dull for gaming inspiration, but you never know. </span><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18698033-she-wrote-on-clay" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18698033-she-wrote-on-clay</a><br /><br /><b style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">I, The Sun by Janet Morris</b><font face="georgia, times new roman, serif"> - Set c.1400 BC about the Hittite king Suppiluliumas, this is a very good and well researched historical fiction novel, but not really something to read in preparation for Mythic Babylon. I have a fuller review here: https://www.ttrpbc.com/discussion/139/novel-review-i-the-sun-by-janet-morris#latest </font><br /><br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17878917-i-the-sun" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17878917-i-the-sun</a><br /><br /> <font face="georgia"><b>The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate by L. Sprague de Camp</b> - A category 2 novel set in the Persian era. It's a travelling tale that goes to the far west corners of the Persian empire and told in a style that would appeal to fans of pulp Sword and Sorcery (of which de Camp wrote a lot) or swashbuckling fiction. But De Camp was widely read in ancient history, so the book is well-researched. I have this on my shelf, but haven't read it. I have read other books by the author and quite liked them, including (in the same series) The Bronze God of Rhodes, which we read with our book club to generally positive reviews. De Camp's dialogue is often playful, and that can come across as pretty campy to some. There's a recent review on Goodread that points out (in detail) all the flaws with the novel when seen from the woke perspective of the 20-teens. This was written in the '60s, so temper your expectations accordingly. And don't expect much Babylonian content. EDIT: Having now read this, I can say it has a bit more Babylonian content than I would have expected and I may write a separate review. In short, though, I found the action in the novel to be a little less interesting than I would have expected, and the book gives a lot of space to the mistreatment of women in society without any meaningful comment or examination of that, which will turn a lot of people off.<br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122051.The_Dragon_of_Ishtar_Gate">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122051.The_Dragon_of_Ishtar_Gate</a><br /><br /><b>Dark Priestess by Juanita Coulson</b> - a 1977 category 2 novel; Coulson is primarily an SF author and even wrote some Star Trek and Ravenloft books, in addition to her own original material. This is described as a 'Searing Romance in Fabulously Wicked Babylon at the dawn of History'. I know the publisher wrote that, but since Babylon really only comes to the fore a thousand years after the dawn of history I think we can take this as a clue to the level of historicity. One reviewer calls it a novel about 'Sumeria'. There isn't much to go on in the blurb apart from the name of the main character (Ki-Inanna, which might sound authentic but isn't), so I can't even establish which period of history this is supposedly set in. It likely mashes things up to create a 'Babylonian pastiche', so probably best to think of this as a fantasy novel along the lines of what Guy Gavriel Kay writes.<br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1701348.Dark_Priestess">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1701348.Dark_Priestess</a></font><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><b>Gilgamesh The King by Robert Silverberg</b> - another category 2 novel by well regarded SF&F author Robert Silverberg, in which he rationalizes the myth of Gilgamesh into a historical narrative. The mystical elements are also rationalized, with Humbaba turned into a volcanic landscape. I somehow doubt that Silverberg was aware enough of the distinctions between the various historical periods to make this truly historical, but you never know. My guess is that it's a historical pastiche, but nevertheless a useful for gaming inspiration. In fact, I suspect historical pastiche is the preferred method by which gamers relive history. There's a distinctly less historical sequel called <i>To the Land of the Living</i> that finds Gilgamesh in the afterlife with Helen of Troy and Picasso (!)</span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/114134-gilgamesh">https://www.goodreads.com/series/114134-gilgamesh</a></span></div><div style="font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: medium;">The Writing in Stone by Irving Finkel</b><font face="georgia, times new roman, serif"> - This is a category 1 novel by renowned Assyriologist and biblical scholar Irving Finkel. I was familiar with Finkel's historical work and role as a curator in the British Museum, but I never knew he wrote fiction until a reader pointed this one out to me. Here's the description from Good Reads:</font></span></span></div><div><font color="#b51200"><br />The landscape of this dark and powerful story is the ancient world of Assyria some 3000 years ago, a time when writing was in the world's oldest script, cuneiform, and the domination of unseen forces firmly in the hands of the state's leading Exorcist. In the capital, Nineveh, resides a deep and complex man, the power behind the King of the World. Faced with unforeseen disaster that threatens his authority, he emerges as a psychopathic killer. The author uses his familiarity with ancient writings preserved in the world's museums to recreate a vanished world in which those who step from the shadows in ruthless violence to pursue ultimate control show themselves at the same time to be disconcertingly human. The tight prose and graphic illustrations make this a gripping and unusual tale not of this world, but at the same time weirdly familiar.<br /><br /></font><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Finkel is a good author and I think you can trust in this being a quality book, however if you read the GR reviews, you'll notice a trigger warning about violence against women by some of the characters, so proceed with caution.</span></div><div><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36027243-the-writing-in-the-stone"><font face="times">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36027243-the-writing-in-the-stone</font></a></div><div><br /></div><div><b style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">The Tower of Babel by Ted Chiang</b><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> - this is a short story by this highly regarded author which appears in his collection Stories Of Your Life And Others (though I think you can purchase the single story, electronically). It follows the fortunes of an Elamite tradesman who is climbing the Tower of Babel (still under construction) so he can join the work crews near the top and help complete the project. Along the way, we encounter other Babylonian locals and situations. It takes quite a while, since the tower is very tall. Eventually, the tower is completed and reaches the firmament, and our Elamite climbs up into the clouds to find something unexpected. This is a nice story and has a great mythical quality - it could certainly inspire a Mythic Babylon scenario. It was nominated for a Hugo and won a Nebula.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/29864598">https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/29864598</a><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Fantasy Novels Inspired by Ancient Mesopotamia </span><br /><br /><b>Between the Rivers by Harry Turtledove</b> - Vaguely based on Sumerian myth and beliefs, this story is set in a not-Sumer where gods walk the earth and malicious spirits abound and can fly up your nose. It's an interesting read for gamers (and I have read this one), though probably too difficult to relate to Mythic Babylon. A mash-up between the two would be interesting, if anyone wanted to put the work in. <br /><br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/101600.Between_the_Rivers">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/101600.Between_the_Rivers</a><br /><br /><b>The Moonlit Cities series by Marcin Wrona</b> - fantasy inspired in part by Mesopotamia. These seem well reviewed, but only available on Kindle at the moment which means I won't likely read them. I quite like the cover designs, for whatever that's worth. <br /><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Pale-Queens-Courtyard-Moonlit-Cities-ebook/dp/B004XTTVCC/ref=sr_1_3?qid=1590447319&refinements=p_27%3AMarcin+Wrona&s=digital-text&sr=1-3&text=Marcin+Wrona">https://www.amazon.ca/Pale-Queens-Courtyard-Moonlit-Cities-ebook/dp/B004XTTVCC/ref=sr_1_3?qid=1590447319&refinements=p_27%3AMarcin+Wrona&s=digital-text&sr=1-3&text=Marcin+Wrona</a></span><br /> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span></div><font face="georgia"><b>The Ship of Ishtar by A. Merritt</b> - another fantasy inspired by Mesopotamia, this novel doesn't take place there, but a contemporary archaeologist gets sucked into fantasy adventure along the lines of Moorcock's Sailor on the Seas of Fate, travelling about in Ishtar's ship and caught between her and the god Nergal. I read it, but don't remember being especially moved.<br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6345033-the-ship-of-ishtar">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6345033-the-ship-of-ishtar</a></font> <div> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">So that's my round-up of Ancient Mesopotamian fiction. Please feel free to let me know of any that I missed. I may post a follow-up on non-fiction in the future, and will certainly keep posting reviews of individual books.</span></div> </div> <div style='clear: both;'></div> </div> <div class='post-footer'> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-1'> <span class='post-author vcard'> </span> <span class='post-timestamp'> at <meta content='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2020/05/what-books-can-i-read-to-inspire-my.html' itemprop='url'/> <a class='timestamp-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2020/05/what-books-can-i-read-to-inspire-my.html' rel='bookmark' title='permanent link'><abbr class='published' itemprop='datePublished' title='2020-05-25T16:35:00-07:00'>May 25, 2020</abbr></a> </span> <span class='post-comment-link'> <a class='comment-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2020/05/what-books-can-i-read-to-inspire-my.html#comment-form' onclick=''> 1 comment: </a> </span> <span class='post-icons'> <span class='item-control blog-admin pid-1282338224'> <a href='https://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=5742704193252183119&from=pencil' title='Edit Post'> <img alt='' class='icon-action' height='18' src='https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18_edit_allbkg.gif' width='18'/> </a> </span> </span> <div class='post-share-buttons goog-inline-block'> <a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-email' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=5742704193252183119&target=email' target='_blank' title='Email This'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Email This</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-blog' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=5742704193252183119&target=blog' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=270,width=475"); return false;' target='_blank' title='BlogThis!'><span class='share-button-link-text'>BlogThis!</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-twitter' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=5742704193252183119&target=twitter' target='_blank' title='Share to X'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to X</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-facebook' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=5742704193252183119&target=facebook' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=430,width=640"); return false;' target='_blank' title='Share to Facebook'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to Facebook</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-pinterest' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=5742704193252183119&target=pinterest' target='_blank' title='Share to Pinterest'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to Pinterest</span></a> </div> </div> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-2'> <span class='post-labels'> Labels: <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Assyria' rel='tag'>Assyria</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Babylon' rel='tag'>Babylon</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Bronze%20Age' rel='tag'>Bronze Age</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Classical%20Antiquity' rel='tag'>Classical Antiquity</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Fiction' rel='tag'>Fiction</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Iron%20Age' rel='tag'>Iron Age</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Mythic%20Babylon' rel='tag'>Mythic Babylon</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Near%20East' rel='tag'>Near East</a> </span> </div> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-3'> <span class='post-location'> </span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div></div> <div class="date-outer"> <h2 class='date-header'><span>Sunday, November 10, 2019</span></h2> <div class="date-posts"> <div class='post-outer'> <div class='post hentry uncustomized-post-template' itemprop='blogPost' itemscope='itemscope' itemtype='http://schema.org/BlogPosting'> <meta content='2724078395031847481' itemprop='blogId'/> <meta content='8722138742459981741' itemprop='postId'/> <a name='8722138742459981741'></a> <h3 class='post-title entry-title' itemprop='name'> <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2019/11/four-thousand-year-old-wisdom.html'>Four Thousand Year Old Wisdom</a> </h3> <div class='post-header'> <div class='post-header-line-1'></div> </div> <div class='post-body entry-content' id='post-body-8722138742459981741' itemprop='description articleBody'> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I've been compiling a list of Sumerian proverbs for a project I'm working on. Sumerian culture thrived in what is now Southern Iraq for 2000 years from about 4000 BCE to 2000 BCE, after which the principle language of the period changed to Akkadian, After this, the Sumerian language lived on as a literary language, much like Latin in the Middle Ages.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Knowledge of the Sumerians and their language was lost for over a thousand years, and only rediscovered again in the 1800s AD.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It's difficult to date these proverbs exactly - they were passed down through generations of scribes and recorded in collections on clay tablets. Some are likely very old and may even pre-date writing, others might be much younger (say, a mere 2500 years old). Many of them have obscure meanings, their idiom being lost to us. Others, though, are quite pithy and still resonate - though maybe not for the same reason they once did! I've put together twenty-five of the most interesting ones here for your pleasure. The more I read about the ancient world, the more I think that people haven't changed all that much across the millennia.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">25 SUMERIAN PROVERBS</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">1. Into an open mouth, a fly enters.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A caution against the dangers of gossip?</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">2. There is commerce in a city, but a fisherman caught the food</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The original 'Farmers Feed Cities' bumpersticker.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">3. One does not return borrowed bread.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Literally true, I suppose.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">4. A heart never created hatred. Speech created hatred.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We aren't born cruel, after all.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">5. Like an ox with diarrhoea, he leaves a long trail behind him.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I love the imagery...</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">6. A goat says to another goat: "I, too, butt my head".</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">That's one woke goat.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">7. When a burglar makes a hole, he makes it narrow.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">They didn't have pianos, yet.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">8. A shepherd's sex appeal is his penis, a gardener's sex appeal is his hair.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Not sure what to make of this, but will cultivate both to hedge my bets.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">9. Your worthiness is the result of chance.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This one needs a modern equivalent, I feel, as modern worthies seem completely oblivious to the fact.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">10. No matter how small they are, they are still blocks of lapis lazuli.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Lapis lazuli was one of the most precious materials.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">11. There is no baked cake in the middle of the dough.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It's not over till it's over?</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">12. He is fearful, like a man unacquainted with beer.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Speaks for itself, really.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">13. What is in one's mouth is not in one's hand.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Actions speak louder than words?</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">14. To be wealthy and demand more is an affront to a god.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This one doesn't seem to have made it to the modern western world.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">15. In the reed beds, the lion does not eat his acquaintance.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I should hope not.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">16. If the one in the lead is being consumed by fire, those behind him don't say:</strong><br style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;" /><strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">"Where is the one in the lead?"</strong></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Unless the leader is Mark Zuckerberg.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">17. Here I am in a house of brick and bitumen, and still a lump of clay falls on my head.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Planned obsolescence?</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">18. You should hold a kid goat in your left hand and a bribe in your right.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The goat is to make an offering to a god at the temple, the bribe to get somewhere with the government at the palace. The temple and the palace were the two prongs of government. So this is basically a guide for how to get ahead in life.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">19. 'Give me' is for the king. 'Be so Kind' is for the cupbearer's son, 'Do me a favour' is for the administrator.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Diff'rent strokes... different ways to get things done.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">20. The lives of the poor do not survive their deaths.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This one needs some explanation. Sumerians believed that after death, people went to the underworld where they had a miserable existence toiling, eating dust, and wearing garments made from old bird feathers. This could be improved by giving them burial gifts and by honouring the dead with offerings of food, water, and prayer. Those who didn't get a proper burial, or who weren't properly honoured after death, could come back as malicious ghosts. So, what what this may be saying is that the poor couldn't honour their dead properly, so they had no existence in the underworld. Or possibly they are referring to the lack of an inheritance for their children.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">21. My tongue, like a runaway donkey, will not turn back.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I guess you like the taste of flies, then?</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">22. I looked into the water. My destiny was drifting past.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Timeless, really. The Queen Street bridge over the Don River here in Toronto bears the words "The River I Step In Is Not The River I Stand In" which is a paraphrasing of Heraclitus “No man ever steps in the same river twice”, all of which compare the flow of life to the flow of a river.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">23. A sniffing dog enters all houses.</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Kind of like the flu.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">24. If the lion heats the soup, who would say "It is no good"?</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Hopefully a whistleblower will step forward.</span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">25. My donkey was not destined to run quickly; he was destined to bray!</span></strong></div> <div class="cakedoc-paragraph " style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #fafafa; color: #4b4b52;"> <span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The older I get, the more I want to embrace this sentiment.</span></div> <div style='clear: both;'></div> </div> <div class='post-footer'> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-1'> <span class='post-author vcard'> </span> <span class='post-timestamp'> at <meta content='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2019/11/four-thousand-year-old-wisdom.html' itemprop='url'/> <a class='timestamp-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2019/11/four-thousand-year-old-wisdom.html' rel='bookmark' title='permanent link'><abbr class='published' itemprop='datePublished' title='2019-11-10T07:36:00-08:00'>November 10, 2019</abbr></a> </span> <span class='post-comment-link'> <a class='comment-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2019/11/four-thousand-year-old-wisdom.html#comment-form' onclick=''> No comments: </a> </span> <span class='post-icons'> <span class='item-control blog-admin pid-1282338224'> <a href='https://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=8722138742459981741&from=pencil' title='Edit Post'> <img alt='' class='icon-action' height='18' src='https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18_edit_allbkg.gif' width='18'/> </a> </span> </span> <div class='post-share-buttons goog-inline-block'> <a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-email' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=8722138742459981741&target=email' target='_blank' title='Email This'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Email This</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-blog' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=8722138742459981741&target=blog' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=270,width=475"); 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347441073l/826949.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347441073l/826949.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><br />This issue from the <i>Society of Biblical Literature</i> is a translation and update of a previous work by the author published in French. It's a survey of the published chronicles (a particular genre of literature that concerns itself with the documentation of events over time) which were originally written in the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian languages. Their writing spans a period of about 2000 years from the time of the Third Dynasty of Ur (c.2100 BC) to the Seleucid period (c.300 BC). The time periods these chronicles purport to cover are the same, but in some cases they stretch back to the dawn of humanity, before the mythical flood.<br /><br />About two-thirds of the book is devoted to the translations and transliterations of some 53 unique texts, most of which are fragmentary - many extremely so. The remaining third is devoted to a discussion of the nature of the texts (how they're classified, what characteristics they share, who wrote them, and why), and to a discussion of Babylonian and Assyrian thought on the nature of origins. <br /><br />Most interesting in this first third of the book, though, is the author's thesis on the Babylonian view of the nature of history, and why they considered it valuable. According to Glassner, Babylonians didn't see history as linear, but cyclical. Their chronicles, and especially the earliest, the <i>Chronicle of the Single Monarch</i>, which attempts to relate for the first time the earliest history of the people going back thousands of years, is predicated on the idea of cycles. <br /><br />The greatest cycle was that of the 'flood', for which original Sumerian word apparently refers to a 'meteorological event that is a weapon of the gods' and could relate to both a great storm or an invasion. 'Deluge' might be a better translation. In any case, it refers to a wiping clean of the land by something of divine origin that flows over the land. The mythical 'Flood' is one example. The invasion of the Gutians at the end of the Akkadian era is another.<br /><br />Within the flood cycles are dynastic cycles, in which the high kingship of the ruling city is passed to another king of the same city. When the dynastic cycle ends, rulership is passed to a new dynasty in the next city. Within each dynasty is another another nested cycle - that of individual of kings. Kings rule for cycles of years, which are made of a cycle of months, which are made of days, which are made of hours. <br /><br />Babylonian linear history therefore looks something like this:<br />Hours are nested within<br />Days, are nested within<br />Months, are nested within<br />Years, are nested within<br />The Reigns of Kings, are nested within <br />The Dynasties of Cities, which are nested within<br />Divine Deluges.<br /><br />The purpose of knowing the cyclical history (which is more important than the linear history) is so that any given king can figure out if he's going to be the one at the end of a cycle or not. Because nobody wants to be that guy.<br /><br />As usual when I review these books on ancient history, I like to provide a few excerpts to show what I find so fascinating, and to illustrate how I might apply them to games and world-building. Here are some things that particularly caught my eye:<br /><br />REPLICATING THE CITY<br />From the discussion of page 87:</span><br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>"The Replica of Babylon: Two chronicles explained the tragic end of Sargon of Akkade by reference to a sacrilege he had committed by removing soil from Babylon and reconstructing a replica of the city elsewhere. Should we see here an allusion to the Assyrian practice of transporting soil from conquered territories to be trampled daily under the feet of its conquerors? Rather, the comparison with Nabonidus seems more likely, as he was reproached for wanting to construct at Tayma, in the north of the Arabian peninsula, a replica of the palace of Babylon."</i></span></blockquote> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />Both of these suggestions are compelling to me. The former is basically the epitome of the act of what we would consider an evil empire - adding injury to defeat. The latter is interesting in a society where cities belong to their gods - for a human king to want to build a replica of a divine city would be seen as the height of hubris. Maybe, in your homemade world, it's the latter act that causes the 'deluge' which takes the form of the invasion of someone who would trample your soil daily - that's an interesting cycle in and of itself.<br /><br />THE SUBSTITUTE KING</span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here's an actual chronicle entry. This was written in the late Babylonian period (7th century) but refers to a much earlier event in the 20th century BC. This instance, which takes place during cycle of the first dynasty of Isin, describes the practice of the substitute king, in which a king receives a warning by omen or prophecy that he will die, and so places a courtier or some other poor sap on the throne for a short time, while he takes the position of 'gardener'. Usually, if nothing happens naturally to the substitute king, he is killed and the prophecy is fulfilled. Then the rightful king retakes his place. In this instance though, events unfolded otherwise:</span><br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>"King Erra-imitti ordered Enlil-bani, the gardener, to sit on the throne as royal substitute and put the crown of kingship on his head. Erra-imitti died in his palace while swallowing soup in little sips. Enlil-bani sat on his throne, did not resign, and was elevated to the royal office."</i></span></blockquote> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />In this case, the rightful king died while he was playing the gardener. The substitute refused to step aside, and kept the throne. I have no idea what the significance of the 'little sips' is, but I love the detail. This would make a superb set up for a one-shot game. Imagine if the player-characters were sent on a diplomatic mission, only to find that the king they were supposed to treat with had been replace by a temporary substitute. Would they treat with the substitute, or try to find the real king, who is hiding as a 'gardener'. Then, when they do find the real king, he dies, choking on soup - maybe right in front of them. Imagine the look on the player's faces.<br /><br />ACTS OF A DERANGED KING<br />In another late chronicle, we are treated to the events that chronicle the mental or moral breakdown of a king of the Chaldean dynasty of Babylon, Nabu-shuma-ishkun. He commits all kinds of acts that would be considered atrocities today - maybe they were then, too, but people felt powerless to stop them.</span><br /> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>"Unshaven, he mutilated (the fingers of) his apprentice scribe, and, wearing fine gold, he entered into Bel's (Marduk's) cella of offering..."</i></span></blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>"A leek, a thing forbidden (taboo) in the Ezida (temple), he brought to the temple of Nabu and gave to the one "entering the temple" (a temple functionary)."</i></span></blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>"In (only) one day, he burned alive sixteen Cutheans (citizens of the city of Cutha) at Zababa's gate in the heart of Babylon."</i></span></blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>"The man Itagal-il of the town of Dur-sha-Karhi , which is on the banks of the Euphrates, came into his presence and swore agreements and oaths, but he committed insult and unspeakable slander that are forbidden of princes against him and counted his town as booty."</i></span></blockquote> <blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>"In the sixth year, he turned his attention toward the Esagila , the palace of Enlil of the gods, with a view to restoring it, but the possessions of the Esagila (as much as was there, that earlier kings had donated) he took out, gathered them into his own palace, and made them his own: silver, gold, choice and priceless stones, and everything that befits a deity, as much as was there. According to his good pleasure, he made offerings of them to the gods of the Sealand, or the Chaldeans, and of the Aramaeans. He would adorn the women of his palace with them and would give them to the kings of Hatti and Elam as signs of respect."</i></span></blockquote> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />Stealing from the gods, cursing, and bringing leeks into the temple! Now there's a king just asking for a deluge!</span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">SUMMARY</span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Like so many books that survey ancient literature, this book holds some serious gems. You have to sort the wheat from the chaff, but here the author helps us do that and gives us some synthesis. He could have just presented the chronicles as they were and left us to draw our own conclusions, but he didn't. His analysis really brings the chronicles alive and reveals the wonder of the ancient world.</span></div> <div style='clear: both;'></div> </div> <div class='post-footer'> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-1'> <span class='post-author vcard'> </span> <span class='post-timestamp'> at <meta content='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2019/05/book-review-chronicles-by-jean-jacques.html' itemprop='url'/> <a class='timestamp-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2019/05/book-review-chronicles-by-jean-jacques.html' rel='bookmark' title='permanent link'><abbr class='published' itemprop='datePublished' title='2019-05-04T12:12:00-07:00'>May 04, 2019</abbr></a> </span> <span class='post-comment-link'> <a class='comment-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2019/05/book-review-chronicles-by-jean-jacques.html#comment-form' onclick=''> No comments: </a> </span> <span class='post-icons'> <span class='item-control blog-admin pid-1282338224'> <a href='https://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=8024546084830888777&from=pencil' title='Edit Post'> <img alt='' class='icon-action' height='18' src='https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18_edit_allbkg.gif' width='18'/> </a> </span> </span> <div class='post-share-buttons goog-inline-block'> <a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-email' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=8024546084830888777&target=email' target='_blank' title='Email This'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Email This</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-blog' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=8024546084830888777&target=blog' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=270,width=475"); return false;' target='_blank' title='BlogThis!'><span class='share-button-link-text'>BlogThis!</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-twitter' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=8024546084830888777&target=twitter' target='_blank' title='Share to X'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to X</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-facebook' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=8024546084830888777&target=facebook' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=430,width=640"); return false;' target='_blank' title='Share to Facebook'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to Facebook</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-pinterest' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=8024546084830888777&target=pinterest' target='_blank' title='Share to Pinterest'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Share to Pinterest</span></a> </div> </div> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-2'> <span class='post-labels'> Labels: <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Assyria' rel='tag'>Assyria</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Babylon' rel='tag'>Babylon</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Book%20Reviews' rel='tag'>Book Reviews</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Bronze%20Age' rel='tag'>Bronze Age</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Iron%20Age' rel='tag'>Iron Age</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Literature' rel='tag'>Literature</a>, <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/search/label/Near%20East' rel='tag'>Near East</a> </span> </div> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-3'> <span class='post-location'> </span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div></div> <div class="date-outer"> <h2 class='date-header'><span>Saturday, January 12, 2019</span></h2> <div class="date-posts"> <div class='post-outer'> <div class='post hentry uncustomized-post-template' itemprop='blogPost' itemscope='itemscope' itemtype='http://schema.org/BlogPosting'> <meta content='https://media.bloomsbury.com/rep/f/9781472531698.jpg' itemprop='image_url'/> <meta content='2724078395031847481' itemprop='blogId'/> <meta content='8339739802495357486' itemprop='postId'/> <a name='8339739802495357486'></a> <h3 class='post-title entry-title' itemprop='name'> <a href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2019/01/history-book-reviews-3-city-books-ur.html'>History Book Reviews - Three City Books: Ur, Ugarit, and Erbil</a> </h3> <div class='post-header'> <div class='post-header-line-1'></div> </div> <div class='post-body entry-content' id='post-body-8339739802495357486' itemprop='description articleBody'> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This post collects three of the book reviews rescued from my G+ feed. Each of these books discusses the archaeology and known history of a single ancient city: Ur, in the land of Sumer, Ugarit, in the land of Canaan, and Erbil, in the land of Assyria.</span><br /> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div> <div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">1. Ur - The City of the Moon God </span><br />by Harriet Crawford, 2015, 146 pages</span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div> <div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> <a href="https://media.bloomsbury.com/rep/f/9781472531698.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="160" src="https://media.bloomsbury.com/rep/f/9781472531698.jpg" /></a></div> <div> <br /></div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This book offers a capsule history of the ancient city of Ur, one of the oldest known cities in the world. Located on the lower Euphrates river near the head of the Persian Gulf, this city played an important role in the early history of the ancient near east and, for about 100 years at the end of the 3rd millennium BC, was arguably the most important city in the world.<br /><br />The author, Harriet Crawford, is one of the most prolific writers on this period and definitely knows her stuff. As a survey, this book covers all the periods that saw people living and working on the site, from the <i>Ubaid period</i> c.5000 BC to its eventual decline sometime during the or after time the Persians ruled Babylon c.500BC. She also discusses the archaeological work of Sir Leonard Woolley in excavating the city in the '20s. <br /><br />As a light survey, I think it does a fine job. It's accessible to the lay-person and relatively concise. For my money, though, I think I would have preferred something more complete - an encyclopedia of the city of Ur. As such this book is nowhere near complete. It lacks illustrations of many of the key finds discussed in the text, and is missing king lists and other historical data. It's also a little shy on synthesis, which is something I have found in other books by this author - she prefers to lay out facts and let the reader draw their own conclusions. This book mainly focuses on the architecture based on archaeological evidence. It adds little that is new to the discussion of Ur, so if you've already read something about this city or period in some depth, you won't find anything too exciting in here.<br /><br />If you're interested in cities of the ancient near east (including Ur), then I would point you instead to <b>Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City</b> by Gwendolyn Leick, which tells the story of ancient Mesopotamia, from the first cities to the invasion of the Persians, one city at a time from Eridu to Babylon. It's one of the most remarkable books on ancient history I've ever read, and Ur gets its own chapter. </span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">2. Ugarit: Ras Shamra </span></div> <div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">by Adrian Curtis, 1985, 125pp</span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div> <div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/content?id=G3JtAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&imgtk=AFLRE70K7GJYYBP_goqm5fLEi2xKJnLmxQKtLGvn6hXLtH6w_eoOjkCH4LYeqvxvFRnUUbts8eGxEnSUsytdWbuuUL89s0n8OUyDru87-dnjQHOxWOR_ynBFlvgNSVX5BhKiuZFetSa8" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="184" data-original-width="128" src="https://books.google.ca/books/content?id=G3JtAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&imgtk=AFLRE70K7GJYYBP_goqm5fLEi2xKJnLmxQKtLGvn6hXLtH6w_eoOjkCH4LYeqvxvFRnUUbts8eGxEnSUsytdWbuuUL89s0n8OUyDru87-dnjQHOxWOR_ynBFlvgNSVX5BhKiuZFetSa8" /></a></div> <div> <br /></div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ancient cities fascinate me because they're puzzles. They can be excavated for years, but never fully discovered, so scholars and archaeologists take what they can find and try to create the most complete picture possible. Even the most complete picture still leaves a lot to the imagination, and there are always new places to dig, either sideways or down.<br /><br />Ugarit is one of those cities. Chances are you haven't heard of it, but it's an interesting place. It lies on a headland on the Mediterranean shore of modern Syria, south of the Turkish border. It was settled and abandoned more than once between 6000 and 2000 BC, and finally reached its peak development in the middle and late bronze age between about 1800 and 1200 BC. It was destroyed and abandoned for good during the cataclysmic Bronze Age Collapse that took place around 1200-1100 BC - the same event that saw the fall of a great many cities in the area, including the Hittite empire of ancient Turkey and the Mycenaean civilization in what is now Greece.<br /><br />During its heyday, Ugarit was an important nexus for trade, being at the northern edge of Egyptian influence, the eastern edge of Mycenaean influence, the southern edge of Hittite influence, and the western edge of Mittanian and Assyrian (and before them Akkadian) influence. Being always on the edge of great empires, it was both free to develop its own culture and yet close enough to be exposed to what was happening in larger and more influential centres. It was occupied by a mix of Semitic and Hurrian speaking people.<br /><br />The most important discoveries from Ugarit are the written tablets containing what has become known as the Ugaritic Script - perhaps the earliest alphabetic script - which was used to write the Ugaritic language - a semitic language related to Hebrew. These ancient writing tablets contain records of financial transactions, correspondence, and most important, the most complete records of Canaanite myth so far discovered. <br /><br /><i>Ugarit</i> by Adrian Curtis describes the early history of the city, life in its golden age (including a brief summary of some of the sordid affairs of its kings), a description of the city based on archaeology, a summary of the myths discovered, and two more in-depth essays on what the religion of the city might have looked like and why all of this is relevant to bible scholars. <br /><br />I particularly enjoyed reading about King Ammistamru's troubles involving his brothers and what appear to be two divorces, all of which seemed to need the interference of the Hittite king to be settled. I also enjoyed reading the myths of the city god, Baal, and the discussion of how he relates to the Hebrew god, Yahweh.<br /><br />This volume by Curtis is one of a few book length treatments of the city I'm aware of. Another, by Marguerite Yon, translated into English from the original french, is a little newer and probably probably more up-to-date, since a major find of 300 tablets was discovered in the years between when these two books were published. I haven't read that book, but would be inclined to suggest it instead of this one simply because it is more current. But if you happen to see the Curtis book on a used book shop shelf somewhere, by all means pick it up and give it a read.<br /><br />And if you already know something about Ugarit and would like to learn more, then be sure to check out the historical novel by my friend, Richard Abbott: <a href="http://richardabbott.datascenesdev.com/blog/index.php/the-flame-before-us/">The Flame Before Us</a> which is set in Ugarit during its final fall c.1200 BC. </span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">3. A City from the Dawn of History: </span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Erbil in the Cuneiform Sources </span></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">by John MacGinnis, 2014, 128 pages</span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div> <div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> <a href="https://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/265x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/9/7/9781782977971.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="265" src="https://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/265x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/9/7/9781782977971.jpg" /></a></div> <div> <br /></div> </div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">My ideal book on an ancient city would include both original written texts and archaeological data, both of which are thin on the ground. Rather good books have been written about the cities of <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/Ebla_and_Its_Landscape.html?id=AaZg0ypYrnQC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">Ebla</a> and <a href="https://www.ancient.eu/books/1782977317/">Mari</a>. I recently reviewed one on Ur and another on Ugarit. This book focuses on Erbil (anciently known as Irbilum, Urbilum, Urbel, and Arbail) which is located in Iraqi Kurdistan on the Lesser Zab river. It's not my ideal book, but it has enough to keep me interested.<br /><br />Unlike Ebla, Mari, Ugarit, and Ur, the city of Erbil is still an inhabited city of about 1.5 million people. There is evidence for settlement here as far back as the Ubaid period (C.5000 BC), so Erbil is a contender for the title of the world's oldest continuously inhabited city. Being inhabited, Erbil hasn't been able to benefit from an extensive archaeological program, but with the help of UNESCO it is about to implement one as part of a revitalization program. This book, therefore, focuses on what was anciently written about Erbil in the cuneiform texts from the late 3rd millennium to the time of Alexander the Great - hence the subtitle.<br /><br />Check out this <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citadel_of_Erbil">Wikipedia article</a> to see a picture of the ancient heart of Erbil, located under the citadel on what is obviously an ancient tell. A "tell" is a city mound, built up over centuries of continuous habitation in one spot. </span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><i>A City From the Dawn of History</i> does a good job of describing the history of Erbil (such as is possible) through the ancient period. The author makes some educated guesses based on scant resources for the early periods, and those texts are provided in translation. Later texts, from the late Assyrian period, are only summarized, rather than translated, and in this I was a little disappointed - it would have been nice to have more of these written out in full.<br /><br />One of the more interesting treatments in this book is the analysis of how the name for the city was written during different time periods. The various names are shown in cuneiform, transliterated, and translated, so we can see how not only the name changed, but how cuneiform writing itself changed - and that's a fascinating thing!<br /><br />Around 3100 BC, during the time of the Third Dynasty of Ur, the name was written </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ur bi lum</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> followed by the sign </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">KI</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">. This last sign is written, but not pronounced. It's what's called a determinative and it's used to classify the word - in this case as a land or large city. The same signs, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ur-bi-lum</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, could be used to describe something else, if a different determinative was used.</span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />By c.1700 BC the name was spelled </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ur bi el</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> , a phonetic spelling, followed by the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">KI</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> sign. The actually cuneiform symbols look very different from those of 500 years earlier - they are simpler.</span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />By the late second millennium, the name is written </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ar ba il</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> and now preceded by the determinative </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">URU</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> (meaning city). </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">KI</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> is no longer used.</span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />By the middle of the 1st millennium, the name is written using the sign for the number 4 and the sign for god, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DINGIR</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">, preceeded by the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">URU</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> determinative. This is because scribes were now using the signs for 4 (pronounced 'arba') and for God (pronounced 'il') to write the name. Using just those two signs one could approximate the sound of the name Arbil. And so the city earned the nickname "City of the Four Gods" - not because it had four gods, but because of a scribal spelling convention.<br /><br />The actual city god of Erbil was called Ishtar of Arbail and she was one of the most important goddesses of the Assyrian Empire. Erbil was, at that time, one of the key cities of the Assyrian heartland. Her temple was called Egashankalamma ("House of the Lady of the Land") and King Esarhaddon of Assyria claimed to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esarhaddon">have covered it in electrum.</a><br /><br />A prominent prophet lived here at that time, and a number of those prophecies appear, translated, in another book I reviewed: <a href="https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2018/11/review-prophets-and-prophecy-in-ancient.html">Prophets and Prophecy in the Ancient Near East</a> by Martti Nissinen.</span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So, to conclude, this book isn't my ideal - it's missing the archaeological information I'd normally look for because the city is still thickly settled. But it really does give you everything else that's available, with some wonderful synthesis and great illustrations. Of the three books presented here, it's the one that presented me with the most pleasant surprises.</span><br /> <br /></div> </div> </div> <div style='clear: both;'></div> </div> <div class='post-footer'> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-1'> <span class='post-author vcard'> </span> <span class='post-timestamp'> at <meta content='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2019/01/history-book-reviews-3-city-books-ur.html' itemprop='url'/> <a class='timestamp-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2019/01/history-book-reviews-3-city-books-ur.html' rel='bookmark' title='permanent link'><abbr class='published' itemprop='datePublished' title='2019-01-12T17:08:00-08:00'>January 12, 2019</abbr></a> </span> <span class='post-comment-link'> <a class='comment-link' href='https://egunnu.blogspot.com/2019/01/history-book-reviews-3-city-books-ur.html#comment-form' onclick=''> No comments: </a> </span> <span class='post-icons'> <span class='item-control blog-admin pid-1282338224'> <a href='https://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=8339739802495357486&from=pencil' title='Edit Post'> <img alt='' class='icon-action' height='18' src='https://resources.blogblog.com/img/icon18_edit_allbkg.gif' width='18'/> </a> </span> </span> <div class='post-share-buttons goog-inline-block'> <a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-email' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=8339739802495357486&target=email' target='_blank' title='Email This'><span class='share-button-link-text'>Email This</span></a><a class='goog-inline-block share-button sb-blog' href='https://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=2724078395031847481&postID=8339739802495357486&target=blog' onclick='window.open(this.href, "_blank", "height=270,width=475"); 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