SUMERIAN LITERATURE

Literature written in Sumerian in the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom of Sumer. It is the oldest literature in history. Sumerian inscriptions, in cuneiform, have been found on tens of thousands of pieces of pottery, on clay cylinder seals, and on clay tablets. More than 90 percent of these inscriptions are administrative, economic, and legal documents, including inventories, promissory notes, receipts, deeds of sale, marriage contracts, wills, and court decisions. The inscriptions make reference to hundreds of names of persons, deities, places, and products, and constitute the most important source material for the study of Sumerian society and economy. Many of the documents were dated by the scribes in relation to significant events and are therefore invaluable as historical sources.

Nearly 1000 inscriptions have been found on objects such as statues, stelae, vases, bricks, door sockets, and foundation deposits. Written in lofty prose style, the inscriptions contain much information about Sumerian history and religion.

More than 5000 tablets and fragments are inscribed with Sumerian literary and religious works. These works, including myths and epic tales, hymns and lamentations, proverbs, and essays, number in the hundreds. The various compositions range in length from hymns of fewer than 50 lines to myths of nearly 1000 lines. Except for the proverbs and some of the essays, all Sumerian literary and religious works are written in poetic form. Most of the literary tablets, which are of great value for the study of Sumerian intellectual development, date from the 18th century bc, but the majority of the inscribed works were composed centuries earlier. Although most of these literary tablets were excavated toward the beginning of the 20th century, it was not until the 1940s that a systematic and fruitful study of their contents began. S.N.K., SAMUEL NOAH KRAMER, Ph.D.