Religion and Humanity in Mesopotamian Myth and Epic
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Semitic languages. While the Akkadian and Sumerian texts both utilize the cuneiform script, they
are linguistically, and most likely chronologically, distinct, owing to the decline of spoken
Sumerian as Akkadian became the common idiom. The two main dialects of Akkadian were
Assyrian (from northern Mesopotamia) and Babylonian (from southern Mesopotamia), but
literary texts were written in an artificial literary dialect, which differs from that found in
everyday texts such as letters, and presumably from spoken dialects. This means there is virtually
no possibility of dating Akkadian literature on linguistic grounds. Modern
knowledge of Sumerian
is insufficient for certain dating on the basis of language used, and most Sumerian literature that
has survived to the present day is in the form of copies from the Old Babylonian period.
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Further, while Akkadian and Sumerian were separate languages, they exerted influence on one
another. Sumerian influences are present in the style, content, format, and vocabulary of
Akkadian literature, and Sumerian literature composed after the end of the third millennium
BCE
was likely written by authors from an Akkadian-speaking background.
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The ordering of the
selected literary compositions here is based on thematic content rather than following a
chronological order.
In considering different “genres”
of Mesopotamian literature, we must first acknowledge that
the division of Mesopotamian literary works is something of an artificial process, more
representative of modern literary theory and scholarship than being a reflection of any ancient
ordering of texts.
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Even the two genres examined here, myth and epic, are often indistinct
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and
overlap with each other in terms of narrative content; a myth, or set of myths, can provide the
background for an epic.
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An example of the interrelatedness of the two groups of literature can be
found
in Tablet VI the
Epic of Gilgamesh
, where the hero of the epic recounts to the goddess Ishtar
the unhappy fate of her husband, Dumuzi.
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While Gilgamesh’s account is brief, this divine
relationship, with its tragic end, is featured in a number of Mesopotamian myths such as
Inanna’s
Descent to the Netherworld
.
The term “literature” here is used to broadly delineate the more narrative-focused written
works, with an emphasis on story, from
legal and economic documents, historical records, omen
texts, royal inscriptions, funerary dedications, magico-medical texts, and prophecy. Religious
and literary texts survive in great abundance, with myth and epic comprising just a small
percentage (estimates are often around 1 percent) of the extant written material from
Mesopotamia. Although the evidence is plentiful, it is often fragmented,
which has created
difficulties for its study in the modern day.
The importance of story in the religions of the ancient world is a developing area of study.
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Through the use of plot, characterization, literary themes and techniques, and also structure,
stories transmit religious ideas and beliefs, as well as informing on cultural identity, values, and
meaning. The focus here on the “genres” of myth and epic is intended to provide a concentrated
foundation for considering religion and humanity in Mesopotamian narrative. In both oral and
written transmission, storytelling is a powerful medium for exploring ancient theology, although
it is the written sources that will be considered here. This is not to say, however,
that historical
records, inscriptions, and other documents are of lesser value to the study of ancient religion;
temple inventories and economic records, for example, can transmit much significant
information about religious activities and values, and omen texts illuminate how some natural
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