Religion, Literature, and Scholarship: The Sumerian Composition Nanse and the Birds, with a Catalogue of Sumerian Bird Names

RELIGION, LITERATURE, AND SCHOLARSHIP: THE SUMERIAN COMPOSITION NANŠE AND THE BIRDS, with a catalogue of Sumerian bird names......Page 4
Contents......Page 8
Preface......Page 12
I. Introduction......Page 14
1.1. Summary of Nanše and the Birds......Page 17
1.2. Sumerian and Cuneiform......Page 19
1.3. Sumerian Literature......Page 20
1.4. On the Text and Translation of Nanše and the Birds......Page 21
II. Religion......Page 24
2.1. Approaches to Mesopotamian Religion......Page 26
2.2. Nanše......Page 30
2.2.1. Nanše in Niĝin......Page 32
2.2.2. Nanše as a Marsh Goddess: Birds and Fish......Page 37
2.2.3. Nanše as Dream Interpreter......Page 39
2.3. Anzud......Page 42
2.3.1. Anzud as a Symbol of Power and Aggression......Page 43
2.3.2. Anzud as Enemy of Ninĝirsu/Ninurta......Page 46
2.3.3. Anzud as Helper......Page 48
2.3.5. Conclusion: Anzud's Role in Nanše and the Birds......Page 49
2.4. Discussion......Page 50
3.1. Approaches to Sumerian Literature......Page 52
3.2. Sumerian Literature: A Social-Functional Definition......Page 58
3.3. Poetic Language......Page 60
3.3.1. Layout and Line Division......Page 62
3.3.2. Parallelism and Repetition......Page 64
3.3.3. Imagery......Page 66
3.3.4. Literary Vocabulary......Page 68
3.3.5. General Structure......Page 69
3.4. Institutional Context: the School......Page 71
3.4.1. The Institution: Private or Official?......Page 73
3.4.2. The Scribal Curriculum and Nanše and The Birds......Page 75
3.4.4. Institutional Context: Conclusion......Page 78
3.5. History and the Creation of a Sumerian Heritage......Page 79
3.5.1. Hymns, Narratives, and Paradigmatic Texts......Page 80
3.5.2.1. Traditional Characters......Page 83
3.5.2.2. Fiction and History......Page 84
3.5.3. History and Sumerian Identity......Page 88
3.5.3.1. The Sumerian King List and the Idea of History......Page 89
3.5.3.2. Local versus National Literature......Page 90
3.6. Conclusion......Page 92
4.1. The Nature of Knowledge......Page 94
4.2.1. The Curricular List: Ur5-ra in Nippur......Page 99
4.2.2.1. Extra-Curricular Lexical Lists......Page 102
4.2.2.2. ED Birds in Old Babylonian Nippur......Page 105
4.2.3. Uses of Curricular and Extra-Curricular Lists in Nippur......Page 107
4.3. Correlations Between Bird Lists and Literary Vocabulary......Page 108
4.3.1. Birds in Proverbs......Page 109
4.3.2. Birds in the Literary Tradition......Page 111
4.4. Bird Lists and Nanše and the Birds......Page 115
4.5. Conclusion......Page 118
5.1. The Comparative Nature of Studying an Ancient Culture......Page 120
5.2. The Nature of Nanše and the Birds......Page 125
6.1. Structure......Page 128
6.2. Composite Text and Translation......Page 130
6.3. Score Edition......Page 135
6.3.3. Catalogue of Sources......Page 136
6.3.4. Score Edition......Page 137
6.4. Textual Commentary......Page 145
7.2. The Tablet......Page 156
7.3. Edition......Page 157
7.4. Commentary......Page 158
8.1.1. ED Fish: an Old Babylonian Copy from Nippur......Page 162
8.1.2. ED Birds......Page 164
8.2.1.1. Introduction......Page 177
8.2.1.2. List of Sources......Page 178
8.2.1.3. Score Transliteration......Page 183
8.2.2.1. CBS 3842 (+) N 3755 (+) UM 29-16-225......Page 201
8.2.2.2. CBS 4608 +......Page 203
8.3. List of Fish and Birds from Ur......Page 204
8.4. List of Fish and Birds from Uruk......Page 207
8.5. Lists of Birds from Šaduppum......Page 208
8.6. Lists of Fish and Birds from Ishchali......Page 211
8.7. List of Fish and Birds from Kiš......Page 212
8.8. List of Fish and Birds from Sippar(?)......Page 213
8.9. Lists of Fish and Birds from Unknown Places......Page 217
9.1. The Lexicography of Sumerian Bird Names......Page 222
9.2. How the CatalogueWorks......Page 224
9.3. Sumerian Bird Names......Page 226
Bibliography......Page 320
List of color illustrations......Page 344
Plates......Page 354
Index of Sumerian Words......Page 394
Index of Texts Quoted or Discussed......Page 402
Back Matter......Page 420