Yesterday after work I finished Sumerian Mythology by Samuel Noah Kramer. The book provides a glimpse into an ancient culture that I know entirely too little about and the way that they understood the universe. Most of the myths are given summaries with key passages written out though there are a few which appear in their entirety (or at least as much as we had available at the time Kramer was writing this volume).
I really enjoyed this little book.
Kramer's writing style is often dry as he glosses over exciting events in the collection of Sumerian writings (like when a professor, I forget his name, climbed a plinth with ancient Sumerian script on it only to get shot at by World War I soldiers and captured) but you can palpably feel his excitement when he begins discussing the myths directly. It makes the myths feel more important than they are and causes what could otherwise be a slog to become a quick read.
If you like ancient mythology then this is an excellent book to pick up. Check it out when you get the chance.
Oh, and if you use the link above it's my affiliate link with Amazon. Even if you don't buy the book any purchases that you do make through the link will help add a little bit of revenue to the blog. So if you're looking for socks now's a great time to pick them up and help out the Dyvers in the process.
he is a giant in the field - i went through several uni libraries on this subject and he is referred to in so many books. Some of the cheap pod editions have terrible ocr editing like they were not read or proofed at all. If I can tell there is a problem for a commercial product. There is a dictionary of gods and monsters with lots of symbol and art and a whos who book of the ancient near east. On my sidebar links are 8 image dump blogs on this setting i made for gamers but I get academics asking me where I got it.
ReplyDeleteReally? I had no idea you had those on the sidebar.
DeleteWell, I know what I'm doing for the next few hours! Thank you so much for telling me that!