Ancient Mesopotamian Religion and Mythology

W.G. Lambert

doi:10.1628/978-3-16-160604-5

W.G. Lambert

Ancient Mesopotamian Religion and Mythology

Selected Essays

Edited by Takayoshi M. Oshima and A.R. George

2016. 295 pages. unrevised e-book edition 2021; Original edition 2016.

Orientalische Religionen in der Antike (ORA) 15

DOI 10.1628/978-3-16-160604-5

including VAT

eBook PDF
available
978-3-16-160604-5

Also Available As:

cloth
including VAT

Summary

Authors/Editors

Reviews

Summary

The twenty-three essays collected in this book were written by W.G. Lambert between 1958 and 2004. They endure not only as the legacy of one of the greatest authorities on ancient Mesopotamian religion and mythology, but also because each makes statements of considerable validity and importance. As such, many are milestones in the fields of Mesopotamian religion and mythology.

The late W.G. Lambert (1926-2011) was one of the foremost Assyriologists of the latter part of the twentieth century. His principle legacy is a large number of superb critical editions of Babylonian literary compositions. Many of the texts he edited were on religious and mythological subjects. He will always be remembered as the editor of the Babylonian Job ( Ludlul bel nemeqi, also known as the Poem of the Righteous Sufferer), the Babylonian Flood Story ( Atra-hasis) and the Babylonian Creation Epic ( Enuma elish). Decades of deep engagement with these and other ancient Mesopotamian texts gave direction to much of his research and led him to acquire a deep knowledge of ancient Mesopotamian religion and mythology. The present book is a collection of twenty-three essays published by the scholar between the years 1958 and 2004. These endure not only as the legacy of one of the greatest authorities in this specialist field, but also because each makes statements of considerable validity and importance. As such, many are milestones in the fields of Mesopotamian religion and mythology.

Table of contents:

Preface and Acknowledgements - Introduction by A.R. George

I: Introductory Considerations
Morals in Mesopotamia - Ancient Mesopotamian Gods: Superstition, Philosophy, Theology

II: The Gods of Ancient Mesopotamia
The Historical Development of the Mesopotamian Pantheon: A Study in Sophisticated Polytheism - Goddesses in the Pantheon: A Reflection of Women in Society? - The Mesopotamian Background of the Hurrian Pantheon - The Pantheon of Mari - The God Assur - Ishtar of Nineveh

III: The Mythology of Ancient Mesopotamia
Der Mythos im Alten Mesopotamien, sein Werden und Vergehen - The Cosmology of Sumer and Babylon - The Theology of Death - The Relationship of Sumerian and Babylonian Myth as Seen in Accounts of Creation - Ninurta Mythology in the Babylonian Epic of Creation - Myth and Ritual as Conceived by the Babylonians

IV: The Religion of Ancient Mesopotamia
The Reign of Nebuchadnezzar I: A Turning Point in the History of Ancient Mesopotamian Religion - Syncretism and Religious Controversy in Babylonia - Donations of Food and Drink to the Gods in Ancient Mesopotamia - The Cult of Ishtar of Babylon - The Qualifications of Babylonian Diviners - Devotion: The Languages of Religion and Love

V: Ancient Mesopotamia and Israel
Old Testament Mythology in its Ancient Near Eastern Context - Destiny and Divine Intervention in Babylon and Israel - The Flood in Sumerian, Babylonian and Biblical Sources

Authors/Editors

W.G. Lambert (1926-2011) 1955–59 Lecturer, University of Toronto; 1959–64 Associate Professor and Chair of Oriental Seminary, Johns Hopkins University; 1964 Lecturer, then 1970–93 Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham; 1971 Fellow of the British Academy. He devoted his life to the decipherment and study of cuneiform tablets, chiefly in the British Museum, and is noted for his masterly reconstruction of a large number of Babylonian literary texts, beginning with Babylonian Wisdom Literature (1960) and concluding with Babylonian Creation Myths (2013).

Takayoshi M. Oshima is a researcher at the Institute for Old Testament Studies, the Faculty of Theology, of the University of Leipzig, Germany.

https://orcid.org/0000000195136960

A.R. George Born 1955; 1985 PhD in Assyriology under the supervision of Wilfred G. Lambert; since 1983 he has taught Akkadian and Sumerian language and literature at SOAS, University of London, where he is now Professor of Babylonian; 2006 Fellow of the British Academy; 2012 Honorary Member of the American Oriental Society.