The cuneiform writings of early Mesopotamia have generally been viewed by the modern world as both esoteric and obscure; to the scholars of ancient Assyria and Babylon, however, these works not only were comprehensible, but provided insight into puzzling aspects of their own cultures.  In an illuminating essay, Livingstone focuses on a key group of these works that offer explanations of rituals through reference to myths, and to the mystical texts that supply their contexts.  Supporting his work are texts in transliteration and translation, notes and discussion, along with cuneiform copies published here for the first time.

Mystical and Mythological Explanatory Works of Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars

Livingstone, Alasdair

Literature & Fiction

Oxford University Press

The cuneiform literature of ancient Mesopotamia is vast, ranging from economic texts, other sorts of record-keeping documents, and letters through texts that modern readers consider literary, including one category that is often considered esoteric. The latter works appear to be attempts on the part of the ancient scribe-scholars to explain parts of their own culture, to elucidate their own traditions. In the mid-1980s, Alasdair Livingstone studied these texts and then published the collection he had gathered. These texts demonstrate that the Assyrian and Babylonian scholars responsible for their creation had their own distinctive ideas about the function of myth and ritual.Livingstone’s study was first published in 1986 by Oxford University Press but has been out of print for a number of years. Eisenbrauns is happy to make it available once again, in a quality hardback reprint.

History

Ancient Civilizations

Eisenbrauns

Court Poetry and Literary Miscellanea (State Archives of Assyria)

Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project

Hemerologies from ancient Mesopotamia, including lucky days, Babylonian almanac, and eclipse, prostration, bread, moon, and 7th month hemerologies.

CUSAS 25: Hemerologies of Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars (CUSAS: Cornell University Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology)

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