Enuma Elish - (Library of Babylonian Literature) by Johannes Haubold & Sophus Helle & Enrique Jiménez & Selena Wisnom (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

This open access book is the first in a groundbreaking series making Babylonian literature accessible. It presents Enuma Elish in transcription and translation, with an introduction for non-specialist readers and essays from leading scholars in the field.

Acting as a companion to the poem, the book provides readers with the tools they need to explore Enuma Elish in greater depth. Essays cover important historical and contextual information, offer discussions of key topics and explanations of technical terms, as well as suggestions of relevant further reading. The book's interpretive and reflective approach, which pays special attention to questions of poetic style, intertextual resonance, and literary and cultural significance, encourages a greater understanding of the poem as a work of literature while remaining grounded in philology.

The critical essays examine Enuma Elish and the following themes: the poem's rhythm and style; its modern receptions, issues of gender, motherhood and masculinity; Marduk's rise to power; Babylonian astronomy; intertextuality and the poem as counter myth.

Enuma Elish and the Library of Babylonian Literature series will be an indispensable companion for anyone interested in the literature, culture and religion of ancient Assyria.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by LMU Munich and Princeton University.

Review Quotes

"The essays present the Enuma Elish as a portal to further encounter with Akkadian cultures, as intended by the editors of this new series, and their contributions show this well." --PN Review

"A masterful addition to the study of cuneiform literature, one set to be an indispensable aid to students and scholars of Enuma Elish ... One awaits the coming volumes of The Library of Babylonian Literature with excitement." --Times Literary Supplement

"This volume is an excellent overview-edition of the text, presenting the (transcribed) original as well as a solid translation, and a very good variety of essays dealing with many different aspects of the work. The essays are academic, but approachable enough for the lay-reader, and offer some very interesting observations and information." --Complete Review and its Literary Saloon

"The narrative riches of Enuma Elish are given new life through a new translation and a dazzling array of supporting literature. This is a truly indispensable guide to navigating this ancient literary masterpiece." --Louise Pryke, Research Associate, University of Sydney, Australia

"The Library of Babylonian Literature is a ground-breaking new series that should be welcomed by students, academics and the general public alike." --Christopher Metcalf, Associate Professor in Classical Languages and Literature, University of Oxford, UK

"This volume sets an ambitious standard for the new series. It is a carefully crafted rendering of the text seen and heard in all its poetic value and contextualized in its social and cultural setting through a series of interacting essays. There is an impressive small pantheon of scholars contributing to a fuller understanding of one of the most influential pieces of Mesopotamian literature." --Giorgio Buccellati, Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles, USA

About the Author

Johannes Haubold is Professor of Classics at Princeton University, USA
Sophus Helle is Postdoctoral Fellow at The Free University of Berlin, Germany and Oxford University, UK
Enrique Jiménez is Chair of Ancient Near Eastern Literatures at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany
Selena Wisnom is Lecturer in the Heritage of the Middle East, University of Leicester, UK