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The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts 2 Volumes
A. R. George
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0198149220 |
Book Description
The Babylonian Gilgamesh epic is the acknowledged masterpiece of ancient Mesopotamian literature. Nevertheless it has to be re-edited periodically to take account of the enormous increase in primary sources that occurs every generation. Since the last critical edition of the epic seventy years ago the known fragments of the epic have almost doubled. This book collects all the extant texts in one place again, including twenty-three fragments published for the first time. The author has studied personally every available fragment to produce a definitive edition and translation. Four introductory chapters place the epic in its context and examine the name, person and traditions of Gilgamesh and other characters in the poem. The plates present the cuneiform text of all the extant fragments of the epic. The result is a publication which is a standard academic resource.
Customer Reviews:
The REAL Gilgamesh Epic.......2007-01-03
The best edition available. Not cheap, but worth the
price for those interested in the original.
Book Description
The Sumerians, the pragmatic and gifted people who preceded the Semites in the land first known as Sumer and later as Babylonia, created what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man, spanning the fifth to the second millenniums B.C. This book is an unparalleled compendium of what is known about them.
Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world.
"There are few scholars in the world qualified to write such a book, and certainly Kramer is one of them. . . . One of the most valuable features of this book is the quantity of texts and fragments which are published for the first time in a form available to the general reader. For the layman the book provides a readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture. For the specialist it presents a synthesis with which he may not agree but from which he will nonetheless derive stimulation."—American Journal of Archaeology
"An uncontested authority on the civilization of Sumer, Professor Kramer writes with grace and urbanity."—Library Journal
Customer Reviews:
great source of information.......2007-04-12
Kramer, one time the world's leading Sumerian epigrapher, does a remarkable job here of clearly explaining concepts and developments to a nonspecialized reading audience. In this regard, I found much in this book about both the general mechanisms of writing as well as the actual inscriptions themselves to be extremely useful when I wrote my own book (Wetlands of Mass Destruction: Ancient Presage for Contemporary Ecocide in Southern Iraq). It is a rare academic who can move between the writing of technical journal articles and of books for the educated lay public, something in which Kramer, regardless of how dated specialists may now find his work, excelled at.
a very interesting book.......2006-11-23
The Sumerians is a very interesting book about ancient Mesopotamia and Sumerian civilisation.
One of biggest mysteries of the world is the development of human culture and civilisation, for many decades scholars believed that first writing system was invented in Egypt but excavation in Mesopotamia showed a different picture and tablets found in that area dated back to 3000 BC and recent excavation in Iran revealed tablets(proto Elamit found in Jiroft area) dated 200 years before Sumerian tablets.
The book gives a good insight to Sumerian daily life, Sumerian law,religion and Sumerian gods, mathematical school tablets(dated 2500 BC) which includes multiplications, squares, square roots, cubes
And many other amazing information about medicine(prescriptions to make herbal medicine) .
This is a very good book with lots of information and easy to read and
good value for money.
rich content,easy to read.......2006-10-07
The Sumerians is a very interesting book about ancient Mesopotamia and Sumerian civilisation.
One of biggest mysteries of the world is development of human culture and civilisation, for many decades scholars believed that first writing system was invented in Egypt but excavation in Mesopotamia showed a different picture and tablets found in that area dated back to 3000 BC and recent excavation in Iran revealed tablets(proto Elamit found in Jiroft area) dated 200 years before Sumerian tablets.
The book gives a good insight to Sumerian daily life, Sumerian law,religion and Sumerian gods, mathematical school tablets(dated 2500 BC) which includes multiplications, squares, square roots, cubes
And many other amazing information about medicine(prescriptions to make herbal medicine) .
This is a very good book with lots of information and easy to read and good value for money.
The best source of information on Sumeria.......2006-04-17
This is one of the best books ever written on any ancient culture. One of the nicest things is extended passages from original source documents. Frequently books written on ancient civilizations only give very brief excerpts. I have given this book as a gift to friends and family and highly recommend it to everyone.
Please take caution with one of the reviews.......2006-02-16
Do not bother with the nazist review you will find below. L.A. Waddell was a crackpot with no formal training in Assiriology, and a typical old-fashioned german anti-semite, full of aryan theories and praise for ''the great white warriors''. It's very disturbing for a foreigner to see how anti-semitism has poured into almost all fields of learning - even Ancient Near-East studies. And his rather demented theories have been dead for decades, by the way.
Book Description
Translated with an Introduction by Andrew George.
Customer Reviews:
Exhaustive, scholarly, for advanced readers.......2007-09-24
I recommend this Penguin Classic, but it offers more thorough scholarly apparatus than usual for the series. This is not meant as a criticism! But, a beginner may find a "version" such as Stephen Mitchell's easier to start with for an overview of the storyline, and a briefer introduction and helpful endnotes. The poem itself is not lengthy, but the ancillary texts and sources, as Andrew George shows us, do take up considerable space which may please enthusiasts but discourage newcomers to this epic poem.
George prepared for Oxford UP in 1999 a two-volume edition, and this Penguin adapts the core of the English translation for a wider audience. It appears ideal for a college classroom or the reader wanting to learn more about the lacunae, the gaps, the language, and the editorial decisions made by George and fellow translators. A fascinating appendix shows how out of grammatical markers, syllabic, and half-syllabic cuneiform incisions the sounds and rhythms and absences that fill this most ancient of narratives turn into what we can understand. To a point.
Terms such as "louvre-door," "glacis-slope," "hie to the forge," and notably Ishtar's exhortation to "stroke my quim" give a rather archaic diction to parts of the translation. George aims obviously for precision in such terminology, but this does clash with the more demotic vernacular chosen by Mitchell in his popularization. Mitchell's also considerably more erotic and develops passages that in their original state, reading George, remain terse. Again, George approaches the thousands of fragments that are still being assembled nearly 150 years after their discovery and observes that this epic is still, amazingly and poignantly, one in progress as we await trained Assyriologists able to decipher not only the later Akkadian but the considerably more challenging and often cryptic Sumerian sources. It's a shame that in a region where so many billions have been spent to destroy the area between the Tigris & Euphrates that a few thousands can not be provided for the study and restoration of the oldest story text we have ever found.
Fragmentary Visions .......2007-08-30
I recently ordered this version to prepare for teaching Giglamesh in a Humanities I course. I had read the famous Sandars version, which compiles the various tablets into one coherent prose narrative. However, Andrews' new version attempts no similar gloss: the work is revealed as a fragmentary masterpiece, with gripping passages of narrative trailing off into maddening gaps and uncertainties. The Introduction offers a very informative, concise overview of Gilgamesh scholarship and the state of the work itself. It is truly humbling to realize how little we have of this great work, yet what we do have literally changed our understanding of the ancient world. And as Sandars suggested in his Introduction to the earlier Penguin volume, it is amazing that such an old, fragmentary work from a forgotten culture still has the power to move us. This sounds like academic hyperbole, but even in its most authentic state, the work is powerful; we see Gilgamesh's grief, his desperation, and his bitter defeat upon losing Enkidu and the possibility of eternal life. The translation carries some powerful imagery that somehow surpasses the more fluid prose translation; perhaps this is a bit of chiaroscuro (sp?), the lost passages showing the more complete, brilliant ones in greater relief.
Even better, this translation includes all the various fragments of the Gilgamesh story, as well as the ealrier Sumerian version of the epic, which is much different than the Standard version. It's a remarkable volume which is fun to pour through and reconstruct this ancient world on the dawn of civilization. It truly inspired me to teach this work to my students, emphasizing how such a powerful work can rest on only a handful of broken tablets.
A non-historian's view of the "Epic of Gilgamesh.".......2007-06-14
I had heard a lot about this story and knew something of what it was about. The particular rendition in this book seemed to leave some points made by other reports of other translations in doubt.I am reading another book about this epic ("Buried book") which I hope and think will cover more than this translation. If it doesn't satisfy my interest I will look for other translations.
Overall it was an interesting book.
Penguin Epics (review).......2007-04-03
This is a review of The Epic of Gilgamesh (Penguin Epics) published 2006. This is a prose translation by N.K. Sandars, which was first published in Penguin's 1960 edition of Gilgamesh, re-printed here sans the book-length editors introduction. Just the meat, no potatoes or desert. It took me about 2 hours to read as an average reader, was clear and easy to understand. The book is physically tiny, 4x8 inches and a quarter-inch thick, it would disappear on a book shelf.
I purchased this at the same time as The Buried Book: The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh, however I wished I had waited, as 'Buried Book' has a good overview of more recent translations available. However I am not disappointed as Sandard's translation is good and easy and understandable - it may not be scholarly level, but perfectly acceptable for most readers who just want to read the epic and enjoy it.
Exceptionally good verse translation.......2006-05-30
This was the first translation of Gilgamesh that ever really grabbed me. I had waded through plodding, tedious translations (mostly in prose) before, and been left feeling like Assyriologists must be the most bored people in the world.
George's translation, however, is in verse and adds vigor to what appeared to me, for years, to be a bland jumping off point for bigger and better epics of later eras. I flew through this translation, hanging on every word, and was almost sad to see it end.
The notes and critical bits were nice as well, and the numerous lacunae showed me just how little of the full story we really have. Heartbreaking, really, and it made appreciate those bored people I used to pity.
If you're new to The Epic of Gilgamesh and want an engaging, readable verse translation of it, this is the one to buy.
Highly recommended.
Book Description
A fresh retelling of the ancient texts about Ishtar, the world's first goddess. Illustrated with visual artifacts of the period. "A great masterpiece of universal literature."--Mircea Eliade
Customer Reviews:
Incredible Poetry and Power.......2007-10-10
Diane Wokstein's book of the story of Inanna, the original Goddess of the first recorded civilization five thousand years ago between the Tigres and the Euphrates, astonishes with its poetry and power.
This legend, unlike the story of Persephone, describes a woman/Goddess who receives the wisdom of civilization, chooses her mate (with advice from her mother), and willingly descends into the underworld. Also, unlike the Greek myths, there are positive and loving male figures (especially Enki, the God of Wisdom.)
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in mythology and the evolution of myth.
Inanna Queen of Heaven.......2005-11-15
Inanna is about the Sumerian goddess of fertility and the grain. This epic is one of sacred love and worship. It celebrates the goddess religion. This epic predates that of the Iliad and the Bible and yet it predicts the great flood and other events in both. If you wish to read a book rich in Sumerian culture this is the epic for you. It gives a sense of what life was like in one of the very first cultures on earth. Reading Inanna by Wolkstein will broaden your horizons and give you an enjoyable read.
Inanna review: Eshleman 2.......2005-11-15
The story of Inanna is the heroine tale of a Sumerian Goddess. It tells the story of her coming into her power as a Goddess and the struggles she had to deal with along the way. It covers the making of her symbols of power from the Huluppu Tree, her acceptance of the holy me from, a gift from Enki, the god of Wisdom. It also tells of her marraige to the shepherd Dumuzi and their relationship. Most significantly, it tells of her journey to the underworld and her resurection. This story opens the eyes of the reader to the culture and the religious beliefs of the Ancient Sumerians. It portrays a respect and reverence for women and fertility which is unusual in present day society. Inanna and her ability to overcome struggles however, can be applied to the world of today. Through reading this book, you will learn much about overcoming adversity and becoming your own individual person.
Inanna Review.......2005-11-14
This story accounts important events in the life of the Sumerian fertility goddess Inanna. The story begins with "The Huluppu Tree", and then to "Inanna the Goddess of Wisdom", at which point in the story Inanna receives the precious "me" from the god Enki. The story then follows Inanna through "The Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi." The final part of the story is called "The Descent of Inanna." In this part Inanna travels to the underworld to see her sister, Erishkegal. Inanna dies in the underworld, only to be brought back to life with the help of Enki.
I found the book a little difficult to get into at first, but then I began to see it as more than just a story, and I saw all of the things it exposed about the Sumerian culture and way of life. This book was more than just a story. It was filled with all types of emotion, and it exposed a new civilization to the world. Another part of this book that I liked was the fact that the main character of the story was a woman and a heroine. It shows just how important women were in life.
I feel that this book, whether it is liked or not, should still be read. Not only does it shed new light on the idea of the woman/goddess as a heroine, it also opens a person's eyes to a different culture. It takes us out of modern day thinking and shows us what life was like in a culture very different from our own.
Inanna review- Eshleman per 5.......2005-11-14
Although Inanna is not a book I would pick up and read, while reading it in my high school English class I was a bit intrigued. It was a bit odd at first, but as I read on, I found I was enjoying this book. It grabbed my attention. It had lessons hidden within the context of the book that if told normally would have been boring. Although the context of the book was a bit odd, to say the least, I found the book to be educational. It was interesting to know that it is one of the oldest recorded texts. With knowing that, we can better understand why the usage of sexual phrases was so abundant in this reading. I did not know much about Middle-Eastern culture before reading this book. It did help to show some of their customs and ways of living at the time. One thing that I found important when reading the book was the repetition. It was used to show the importance of such things as the "me". The "me" played a major role, and this book portrayed that very well. They told us that Enki did not give all the "me" to Inanna at once, but Inanna received more as she arrived in Uruk. Also, repetition was used to show the fertility of Inanna. Since she is the fertility goddess, this is extremely important. On portion of the book that I really connected with was the part where Inanna goes down to the Underworld to see Erishkegal. It may have been the wording, but this portion panted a vivid picture in my mind. Between the descriptions of the corpse of Inanna, and the doings of the gala I was able to see in my mind what was happening. Over all, I found Inanna to be interesting as well as a bit educational of Middle-Eastern culture. I would not read it on my own, but did not find it a waste of my time.
Customer Reviews:
Well made and informative.......2007-03-13
This attractive and informative book is part of the People of the Ancient World series of books by Scholastic, Inc. The book explains the culture of ancient Mesopotamia, describing the inhabitants' government, economy, science, and culture. Along the way, the reader is treated to many pictures and sidebars.
Overall, I found this to be a well made and informative book. Now, as you might expect with a book written for young readers, the book does not go into any great depth on any subject. But, it is nonetheless very broad in its reach, and it is an excellent resource for readers of any age who want an introduction in the culture of the peoples of ancient Mesopotamia. I highly recommend this book.
Good book for an 8th grader.......2007-02-03
While I do feel that the information in this book is good, it is written so that your 14 year old will have no problem gliding through this book. This is by no means a college level book, although it does have some really nice pictures. I personally would have preferred more thorough information as opposed to large fonts with full page pictures.
Solid information, good illustrations.......2005-02-25
This book is good for anyone seeking an overview of ancient Mesopotamia. There are plenty of color photographs of artifacts, as well as substantial information that seems to be well-researched. Chapters focus on the daily life of people in different occupations (e.g., Merchants and Traders, Peasant Farmers, Doctors and Scientists). The glossary, biographical dictionary, and timeline (covering the period c. 9000 BC to 539 BC) add to the value of this resource.
Book Description
The Epic of Gilgamesh (ca. 2500-1500 B.C.E.) is one of the world's greatest epic narratives and, quite possibly, its oldest epic poem. Our text is based on a new English translation from original sources. An introduction, interpretive headings, explanatory annotations, and illustrations guide readers through the text and help them explore Near Eastern history and culture.
Analogues includes two related groups of ancient poetry. The first is a collection of shorter, older Sumerian poems about the hero Gilgamesh, some of which appear in The Epic of Gilgamesh. The second collection includes material about Gilgamesh from the Hittite language, translations or paraphrases of Babylonian versions of the epic that have not been preserved in the same form.
Criticism provides introduction and analysis in essays by William Moran, Thorkild Jacobsen, and Rivkah Harris. A Glossary of Proper Names and a Selected Bibliography are included.
About the Series: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the
Norton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehenive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.
Customer Reviews:
Not Up To Snuff.......2007-01-05
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a difficult text, both to translate and to read. I'm not a fan of translating Shamat (the woman who seduces & helps civilize Enkidu) as a "harlot." It's better than "prostitute" or "temple prostitute," but I think it has a very particular (negative) connotation in modern English that it probably didn't carry in Sumerian, Akkadian, and Bablylonian civilizations. On the other hand, Foster is the one who "knows" the language, not me. The ancillary material that Norton Critical editions contain, however, is the real problem with this edition. I very much enjoyed the inclusion of individual texts and stories from earlier epochs (i.e., Sumerian texts before the epic was "compiled"). And there is a useful discussion about the various "stages" of the text we read today (actually a first millennium BCE compilation - some 2000 years later than the first stories about Gilgamesh!). But the essays require more guidance, especially since many of them directly contradict Foster's introduction/translation, and unlike (e.g.) reading Shakespeare, only a handful of people in the WORLD can justly be referred to as experts on this material. So there needs to be some discussion of the included texts BY Foster (or another modern scholar) in order to give us wee non-experts some sort of ground to stand on.
Nice Starting Point.......2006-04-20
This is the "Standard" version as recorded by Sin-leqe-unninni with some gaps filled in by translations of other versions. Introduction, analogues and critical essays notwithstanding, the lack of contextual or other contemporary material necessitates additional research for a better understanding of the lay. Perhaps other translations for comparison would benefit the reader as well.
Didn't do much for me.......2004-10-17
I have the Penguin translation of the Epic, and I enjoy it very much. I picked up this book to get a more recent translation. I can't question the accuracy of the translation, since I'm not an expert but, from a literary standpoint, I found this translation lacking.
First, the tone shifts for no apparent reason. In some sections the characters speak like they're orating and then, all of a sudden, the language is peppered with slang.
Second, I find it inappropriate for translators to insert Christian mythological terms in ancient texts. For instance, this book calls the underworld "hell." While the Mesopotamian afterlife was hardly a keg party, to equate it with the Christian hell is simply inaccurate.
Finally, and most important, the translation fails to capture any sense of the power of the original. The language is dry. The structure of the sentences is stiff and the pacing is dull. Perhaps that's because this translation is academic in nature? Whatever the reason, the Epic won't continue to enthrall people for another several thousand years with translations like this.
As a side note: I didn't find the critical essays particularly interesting, so the book didn't work for me that way either. I'd pick the Penguin translation over this one in a heartbeat.
New Translation.......2004-07-21
The Norton Critical Edition of "The Epic of Gilgamesh" is a fairly recent translation of what is currently the oldest known epic. The epic was translated by Benjamin R. Foster. The book also includes "The Sumerian Gilgamesh Poems", translated by Douglas Frayne, and "The Hittite Gilgamesh", translated by Gary Beckman. In addition, there is "The Gilgamesh Letter", several essays discussing the epic, and an Introduction section which helps those who are new to the Epic with their first reading. The translation uses the "standard version" associated with Sin-leqe-unninni as its base, and supplements it with parts from other versions where there are gaps. There are also comments in the text to help the reader follow the passages easier.
An area of weakness of this book was in the area of editorial comments. For example, Mr. Foster states in the introduction:
"There is no evidence that The Epic of Gilgamesh began as an oral narrative performed by bards or reciters and coalesced into a written text only later. In fact, the poem as we now have it shows many signs of having been a formal, written, literary work composed and perhaps performed for well-educated people, especially scholars and members of a royal court."
This is in sharp contrast with other opinions which I have read regarding the origins of the Epic. While it may be that there is no conclusive proof one way or another, there clearly is some evidence to support the theory that it did begin as an oral narrative, just as there is evidence that it may not have. If Mr. Foster completely disregards the evidence on the other side of the argument, then one is left to wonder if there are other "facts" provided by the editor that are equally suspect. When comparing this translation to those by Alexander Heidel and Stephanie Dalley, one can see significant differences at the start of the epic where the other editors use as evidence which suggests that this was an oral narrative originally. Mr. Foster's translation though is worded in a way that does not suggest an oral origin.
On the whole, this was a very readable translation of the Epic. The supplementary material included is also very good. While I may disagree with some of the editor's opinions about the history of the work and the way he presents the evidence, this is still a good choice to read.
An excellent tool for understanding the ancient epic.......2003-01-17
Norton Critical Editions are known for providing authoritative texts or notable translations of important texts, and their edition of The Epic of Gilgamesh is no exception. The translation is easy to read without being simplistic, and is heavily (and helpfully) notated.
Where this edition really shines, though, is in providing a context for the work, not only in providing a variety of other Gilgamesh poems and critical interpretations, but in the excellent introduction on how to read the work. The introduction answers questions readers may have about the historical basis for the character of Gilgamesh, the history of the text itself, and provides general information on its style (such as why it continually repeats itself).
This version also includes a number of additional Gilgamesh stories from several different cultures, many of which are close parallels to the epic itself. Perhaps the most interesting (and certainly the weirdest) of these is Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld, in which Gilgamesh loses his prized ball-and-stick game and Enkidu goes down to the Netherworld to get it.
If you're looking to get the most out of your Gilgamesh experience and understand the epic in a larger context, this edition is definitely for you.
Customer Reviews:
unsatisfied.......2007-05-27
while i find this book a good read, i was left very unsatisfied. i felt there was much left out of this book that could have been touched on. also i found myself bored to death through the authors commentary on what little translation of the sumerian texts there were. while i was led to believe that this book would discuss much of their religious customs,myths, and beliefs, it touches on very little of any. while this is not a terrible read i am sure there is much better than this.
Really great; really short........2006-03-26
I found this book to be a very refreshing introduction to Sumerian mythology.
However, like the author states some of the translations are not that accurate. Also, I wish this book was longer.
Besides those two things, this book is awesome and I recommend it to anyone just beginning to study Sumerian mythology.
Out of date but still worth reading.......2002-02-26
Any piece of scholarship that has a preface that baldly states that quite a bit of the following translations are wrong immediately throws out warning signals.
However, this is quite a useful handbook, even if the author pointedly tells the reader that "History begins at Sumer" is more accurate. It has that touch that encompasses all ancient historical secondary sources written in the early part of the twentieth century - a narrative style, whereby it is just as important to provide both a description of actions and a background of the people and methods that got the several thousand clay tablets translated.
Given today's somewhat dry "facts, facts, facts" attitude of most ancient historians, it is most refreshing because understanding those who compiled the work gives a better understanding of the translation.
The book excellently gives a rundown of the pantheon of Sumerian Gods, the acculturation of Sumerian mythology into Semitic and translates a goodly portion (sometimes inaccurately as the preface warns!) of the tablets.
Whilst any serious Sumerian scholar must move on to latter translations and works, this is a good starting point, particularly for those wanting to see a 'decipherment' in progress.
Book Description
This anthology of Sumerian literature constitutes the most comprehensive collection ever published, and includes examples of most of the different types of composition written in the language, from narrative myths and lyrical hymns to proverbs and love poetry. The translations have benefited both from the work of many scholars and from our ever-increasing understanding of Sumerian. In addition to reflecting the advances made by modern scholarship, the translations are written in clear, accessible English. An extensive introduction discusses the literary qualities of the works, the people who created and copied them in ancient Iraq, and how the study of Sumerian literature has evolved over the last 150 years.
Customer Reviews:
The Literature of Ancient Sumer.......2007-07-17
I found the book to be a very good introduction into the subject matter. It was written, in my opinion, as a primer in that each translation is preceeded by a dialogue of what the ancient author may be attempting to say.
The book does not seem to assume complete understanding of the writtings, but does offer various options as to what certain words/thought processes may have been.
Another fortunate atribution which very much adds to the readibility is the humor used through out.
For me, this was a wonderful first start into a more down to earth study of ancient sumer than my initial readings from Zecharia Sitchin (Pun intended!)... which I also very much enjoyed!
And while we speak of less than earthly matters, I have only given 4 stars because I have nothing to use as a comparrison, and maybe that very few things are perfect!
Thanks for the great read!
My next read on the subject is "The Harps That Once..." by Thorkild Jacobsen.
Informative and fascinating.......2007-05-02
It seems like every bookstore has at least one book that contains the "Epic of Gilgamesh" or a book that describes and discusses it. On superficial reading most of these books seem to say or imply that the Gilgamesh epic is the world's oldest literary work, and that its text comes from ancient Sumer. Of course, although the text of the Gilgamesh epic is most often found written in Sumerian, the epic in its entirety is Akkadian, transcribed by student scribes whose education included as a requisite the ability to read and copy texts in Sumerian. From the 11 books of the epic, we have only five relatively brief segments preserved from the time of the Sumerian culture itself, and they are noticeably altered in the texts transcribed by Akkkadian scribes. When I read the Sumerian versions of these five, their style and poetic effect struck me as superior to what the Akkadians transcribed, so I wanted to know what else, if anything, has survived intact from Sumerian literature.
This book gives the perfect answer to my wish. I doubt that it will ever be a best-seller, but for anyone who, like me, is interested in how writing came to be used for literature as well as for accounting and for royal edicts and boasts, this is a wonderful book. It provides about 20% of all the Sumerian literature that has been recovered so far, in English translations that preserve the spirit, although not the prosody, of the Sumerian originals. And it gives pointers to where to find alternate versions, additional literature, the Sumerian originals, and scholarly discussion of them. The sheer diversity of what's presented here greatly increases my respect for the Sumerians who composed as written poetry material which had previously existed (if at all) as oral poems or folk tales. The range of subjects and of styles surprises me; it shouldn't, because the Sumerians were of course as much distinctive individuals as we are, and wrote just as distinctively from one another.
I commend this book not only to readers who are interested in Sumer, but also to readers who care about the origins of literary works and literary style, whether romantic or heroic.
Book Description
Is Hubert on a roll, or is his invention spinning toward disaster?
Hubert loves to think, and not only does that distinguish him from his father, Gorp, and everyone else in ancient Sumeria, but it leads to the greatest invention of all time—the wheel. It takes a while for his neighbors to see the wheel as a major technological advancement rather than a newfangled coffee-table top, but eventually they do, and life is great.
Well, life is great until the Sumerians’ archenemies, the Assyrians, find out about the wheel and use it to plan their destruction. Now the question is not whether Hubert’s invention is ahead of its time, but whether he should have stuck to designing living room furniture instead of causing civilization’s demise.
Hilarious and profound, Hubert’s adventure brings the ancient world to life.
Customer Reviews:
A cool cool book.......2006-12-22
I picked up a copy at my local book store for my 7 year old. I like to hunt out more unusual novels for him. I decided to read it myself before giving to him as I thought it might be "too old" for him.
I loved it and couldn't put it down and I think he will love it too. It's a wonderful funny story about inventing the wheel (and many other items). There's adventure, intrigue, love stories, and great animals too.
I can't wait to share it with him!
I have never reviewed a book on Amazon before but felt that I should tell everyone about this......
Action-Packed and Educational (shhh...) to Boot!.......2006-02-23
"Hubert Invents the Wheel" was a crowd-pleaser at my house. By happenstance we were shopping at a local bookstore when the authors were doing a presentation in the children's area. We purchased an autographed copy and my boys (ages 6 and 10) begged me to start reading it to them that very night! I am always on the lookout for good "bedtime reading" that can hold the interest of both of them despite the four-year age difference, and this one was a winner! The tale was witty and visual and clever. On more than one night my kids pleaded with me to keep reading more chapters than planned as to not send them to sleep on a cliff-hanger! The best testament to the book is that when I finally reached the end, having gotten there a few chapters a night a few nights a week, my sons asked me to start over! :)
A zany story of one teen Hubert, who has some ideas of how to make his life in Ancient Sumeria easier .......2005-12-15
Kids in grades 4-6 will appreciate Hubert Invents The Wheel, a zany story of one teen Hubert, who has some ideas of how to make his life in Ancient Sumeria easier - by inventing the wheel, his greatest creation. So why doesn't the world rejoice? It could be because the Assyrian enemies try to use his invention to reduce his people to roadkill - and it's up to Hubert to save civilization. Black and white illustrations by Jeff Shelly pepper a zany tale.
Very Fun Read.......2005-11-09
This is a really fun read for adults (I am one) and I imagine it must be just as much fun for children. The humor is at two levels for appreciation by youngsters as well as adults - much like many of the recent animated films produced by Hollywood (eg. The Incredibles, Shrek). It's a great story that moves along well and has a nice way of introducing concepts of science and invention.
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