History Begins at Sumer, by Samuel Kramer
I owned this book quite a few years ago and lost it. I just happened to be thinking about it today and a few minutes ago ordered it from Amazon.com. Samuel Kramer has translated a large number of Sumerian texts and reproduces some of those in this book. I love the ancient poetry of the Sumerians, and am really looking forward to reading it again.
The Sumerians occupied the Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys of ancient Iraq and their outlook on life was shaped by those rivers, particularly by the uncertainty of when and how badly they would flood. Their cities were also regularly attacked by nomadic tribes. Their vision of life after death was dark and gloomy. I also believe they had a myth about a creature that can only be described as a vampire. I will have to prove that memory to be true. It's pretty vague at the moment, and could be completely wrong.
The Egyptians' outlook on life and death was also strongly affected by their river, the Nile. However, the Nile flood was a predictable, annual event that restored the soil of the farmlands along its banks. Nor did the Egyptians suffer as much from invasions and attacks on their cities as did the Sumerians, because of the deserts that surrounded Egypt. The Egyptian vision of life after death (which started out as only available to the ruling class but ultimately began to allow lower classes) was therefore rather pleasant and sunny. True, your heart had to be weighed to determine if you deserved a happy afterlife, so there was some risk involved.
I have a couple of other books about the Sumerians that I know are still on my bookshelves (so many shelves, so many books, so little time.) I am going to go see if I can find them.
And I will probably return to this subject to correct my errors. It's been too many years since I read these books.
The Sumerians occupied the Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys of ancient Iraq and their outlook on life was shaped by those rivers, particularly by the uncertainty of when and how badly they would flood. Their cities were also regularly attacked by nomadic tribes. Their vision of life after death was dark and gloomy. I also believe they had a myth about a creature that can only be described as a vampire. I will have to prove that memory to be true. It's pretty vague at the moment, and could be completely wrong.
The Egyptians' outlook on life and death was also strongly affected by their river, the Nile. However, the Nile flood was a predictable, annual event that restored the soil of the farmlands along its banks. Nor did the Egyptians suffer as much from invasions and attacks on their cities as did the Sumerians, because of the deserts that surrounded Egypt. The Egyptian vision of life after death (which started out as only available to the ruling class but ultimately began to allow lower classes) was therefore rather pleasant and sunny. True, your heart had to be weighed to determine if you deserved a happy afterlife, so there was some risk involved.
I have a couple of other books about the Sumerians that I know are still on my bookshelves (so many shelves, so many books, so little time.) I am going to go see if I can find them.
And I will probably return to this subject to correct my errors. It's been too many years since I read these books.
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