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In The World of Sumer
Apr. 13th, 2006 11:45 amAs you can probably tell, I'm juggling multiple research interests at the moment. :-) I've just finished reading Sumerologist Samuel Noah Kramer's personable and enjoyable autobiography, In The World of Sumer. Here are a few notes:-
- The Sumerian version of The Epic of Gilgamesh and the later Assyrian version share the same basic outline, but differ greatly in the details. The gifts offered by Inanna/Ishtar are different; Gilgamesh's Sumerian speech rejecting Her is longer and lacks the mythical allusions.
- Inanna crops up in various Sumerian texts, including Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta and Enmerkar and Ensukushsiranna, in which kings are rivals for Her approval and sexual favours. ( More examples ) (Note that Kramer uses slightly different titles than the ETCSL.)
- "Not surprisingly, Inanna, the most [passionate of lovers] in Sumerian myth, was also the most [fervent hater]: she sent her overreaching husband to hell; pursued the gardener Shukalletuda relentlessly and put him to death; and to avenge an insult she sought the destruction of an entire city. In the hymnal literature this goddess who could be sweet and loving on occasion is often depicted as a venomous, thundering, tempestuous deity who brings destruction and desolation in her wake." (p 207) *whistle*
- Kramer is very gracious throughout the book, but is firmly unimpressed with Diane Wolkstein's chapter interpreting the material in Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth ("a hodge-podge of pseudo-metaphysics, Jungian psychology, kabbalistic occultism, sexual symbolism, far-fetched midrashic interpretations, and superficial analogies") and says it was added without his approval. He also mentions the undergrads who would drift away from his courses when they failed to provide "the profound cosmic insights of the ancients".
( Footnote on pronouns )
___
Kramer, Samuel Noah. In the World of Sumer: an Autobiography. Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1998.
- The Sumerian version of The Epic of Gilgamesh and the later Assyrian version share the same basic outline, but differ greatly in the details. The gifts offered by Inanna/Ishtar are different; Gilgamesh's Sumerian speech rejecting Her is longer and lacks the mythical allusions.
- Inanna crops up in various Sumerian texts, including Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta and Enmerkar and Ensukushsiranna, in which kings are rivals for Her approval and sexual favours. ( More examples ) (Note that Kramer uses slightly different titles than the ETCSL.)
- "Not surprisingly, Inanna, the most [passionate of lovers] in Sumerian myth, was also the most [fervent hater]: she sent her overreaching husband to hell; pursued the gardener Shukalletuda relentlessly and put him to death; and to avenge an insult she sought the destruction of an entire city. In the hymnal literature this goddess who could be sweet and loving on occasion is often depicted as a venomous, thundering, tempestuous deity who brings destruction and desolation in her wake." (p 207) *whistle*
- Kramer is very gracious throughout the book, but is firmly unimpressed with Diane Wolkstein's chapter interpreting the material in Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth ("a hodge-podge of pseudo-metaphysics, Jungian psychology, kabbalistic occultism, sexual symbolism, far-fetched midrashic interpretations, and superficial analogies") and says it was added without his approval. He also mentions the undergrads who would drift away from his courses when they failed to provide "the profound cosmic insights of the ancients".
( Footnote on pronouns )
___
Kramer, Samuel Noah. In the World of Sumer: an Autobiography. Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1998.
