This book uses insights from religious studies, literary theory, and the history of science for understanding the Sumerian composition Nanse and the Birds in the context of the Old Babylonian scribal school. The discussions of Babylonian religion, literature, and scholarship focus on the usefulness and relevance of these modern concepts for categorizing the ancient text. The volume presents the first critical edition of Nanse and the Birds, as well as editions of the hymn Nanse B and all third millennium and Old Babylonian lexical lists of birds. It includes 37 plates with...

This volume, dedicated to H.L.J. Vanstiphout at the occasion of his retirement from the University of Groningen, July 14th 2006, demonstrates the broad variety of scholarly approaches to the study of ancient Sumerian literature. It contains contributions by Bendt Alster (Ninurta and the Turtle), Nicole Brisch (In Praise of the Kings of Larsa), A.J. Ferrara (A Hodgepodge of Snippets), Alhena Gadotti (Gilgames, Gudam and the Singer), W.W. Hallo (A Sumerian Apocryphon?), Dina Katz (Appeals to Utu), Jacob Klein (Man and His God), Piotr Michalowski (The Strange History of Tumal), Gonzalo Rubio...

'A Cow of Sin' is an Akkadian incantation for a woman in childbirth. It contains a small mythological narrative (about 20 lines) about the moongod and his beloved cow, Geme-Sin. Sin falls in love with his cow and impregantes her. When at the end of her pregnancy the birth-pangs begin, Sin hears her cries in heaven. Two helping spirits descend to earth and perform a ritual to ease the birth. The incantation ends with a supplication: may this woman give birth as easily as Geme-Sin. Veldhuis presents the various versions of the text and offers a literary analysis which takes into account the...