The Harps that Once...: Sumerian Poetry in Translation

I'm only as far in as Part III and I'm already taken by it. The creativity of the ancient Sumerian poets is eye-opening; shattering the stigma engrained by the Western misconception that our ancient forebearers were undeveloped in thought and the understanding in the ways of life, showing that they rival - even surpass - us in creativity of this modern day. These poems are a breath of fresh air from the redundant vanity of today's lyricists.

Let's face it, this is not the sort of book you'd expect to see one reading at the beach. The material is very dry at times, largely due to the fact that the casual reader (like myself) has nowhere near the author's background to really appreciate all the nuances of these hymns and epics.Ironically, I believe one could truly call this book a "page-turner" in that the poetic style means you have very few words per page--with the exception of a few lengthy footnotes. Even though it's 484 pages long even slow readers (like myself) can finish this book in about 2-3 days.Although much escaped my understanding there were quite a few interesting observations I was able to make:--I found it interesting how it described them using counterweights to offset front-heavy jewelry pieces.--Mention of a Deluge (outside of the Epic of Gilgamesh) which is a common theme in many ancient cultures.--Mention of a Babel-like scenario from Genesis.--There appear to be some Biblical parallels that have escaped the author's attention. A good example is this part of "In the Desert by the Early Grass" on page 65 . . ."I am the mother who gave birth! Woe to that day, that day! Woe to that night!"O Mother of the lad, Woe to that day, that day! Woe to that night!The day that dawned for my provider, that [dawned] for the lad, my Damu!A day to be wiped out, that I would I could forget!"Compare that wording and content to that of Job 3 (NKJV):"May the day perish on which I was born, and the night in which it was said, 'A male child is conceived.' May that day be darkness."--The descriptions of sacrifices bring to mind both those of the Israelites and Vedic Hinduism.--Temple building instructions also bring to mind those found in the Old Testament.--There is a theory (not mentioned in this book) that Abraham could not have come from the Ur in Southern Iraq because it was destroyed during his time--this book has "The Lament for Ur" that talks about that destruction.--In regards to the Deluge accounts, one has to keep in mind that just because an account was written earlier than other accounts does not mean that it is the "true account" and all others are false or inferior. If the Sumerians were the first to document the Deluge then it means only that--other accounts may be more accurate even if they were written much later.--Finally, having recently read "Ancient Wine" by Patrick McGovern I couldn't help but notice more than a few references to wine and beer in Sumerian culture.In closing, I'm admittedly not as interested in Sumerian history or poetry as some other reviewers might be, but even as a casual reader I was able to find some things of interest. This would be an excellent book for anyone who wants to broaden their horizons outside of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

I bought this book after having purchased "Myths from Mesopotamia" by S. Dalley, since the latter book did not contain any translations from Sumerian directly (but it is still a very fine book!). "The Harps that Once..." is a very fine collection of ancient texts: mythological poems about Dumuzi and Inanna, love poetry, hymns, laments, and myths. The comments to the texts may be somewhat briefish, but for those reading the texts for pure pleasure, this will not be a serious drawback. I greatly enjoyed the Dumuzi texts and love poetry. Although the author stated that this translation is just a "subjective attempt", due to the various and very serious problems that Sumerologists face working with this language, the translations are easy to read, and very artistic. Two thumbs up.

If you love mythology, and studying ancient cultures, if you can find this one, buy it. Best collection of Sumerian lit ive ever found.

This book includes: Dumuzi poems (including the lengthly and truly beautiful In The Desert Of The Early Grass); erotic lovesongs; hymns to Enlil, Inanna, the city of Kish, and the Nanshe Hymn; the story of Enlil and Ninlil; the Eridu Genesis; Inanna's Descent; the Lugal-e concerning Ninurta; the story of Enmerker and the lord of Aratta; the story of Lugalbanda and the anzu/imdugud bird; Gilgamesh and Agga; The Cursing of Akkad; The Cylinders of Gudea; the Lament for Ur; the 'birth of man' concerning a contest between Enki and Ninmah; Enki And Ninhursag; and two laments "the destroyed house" and "the verdict of Enlil." Jacobsen gives running footnote commentary throughout. Book has a nice weight paper.

The perfect addition to my collection of Ancient Near Eastern texts.What’s more is, I received it much earlier than expected.

great

This is not a romance novel. It is a translation of ancient Sumarian poetry and it is excellently done. Kudos to Thorkild Jacobsen.

This book is beautifully organized, although there are independent set of poems, they flow to together like a book. One thing that strikes me, is how human, how intimate, how natural the poetry seems. Humans haven't changed that much.... there is love, sadness, hope, ... and much more.Thorkild has also put wonderful commentary before, during, and at the end of lovely little poems. The explanations I found really help to grab the sense of what the poetry is about. It sort of like you watching a complicated movie, it hard to follow the plot but someone gives you an overview, and suddenly the movie comes alive...I was really pleased that there is a lot of poetry in this book. I'm a big fan of the poetry of Rumi, Kabir, and Hafiz. This poetry doesn't have the same religious intensity or beauty but in terms of creating images and conveying all kinds of images about things in life it is amazing stuff. The translations are pretty good, the explanations are great. If you are into poetry, then this is a must have book ... for as the book suggests the oldest poetry in the world.

a1

The book is fine and in good used condition but contains trimming errors so some of the pages are not the same size. However this does not affect readability and I am very pleased.

good