Weapons of Words: Intertextual Competition in Babylonian Poetry

A Study of Anzû, Enūma Elis, and Erra and Isum
Erscheinungsjahr 2019
ISBN: 978-90-04-41296-5
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 106, 282 Seiten, Format (B × H): 163 mm x 241 mm, Gewicht: 543 g

Reihe: Culture and History of the Ancient Near East

In Weapons of Words: Intertextual Competition in Babylonian Poetry Selena Wisnom offers an in-depth literary study of three poems central to Babylonian culture: Anzû, Enuma eliš, and Erra and Išum. Fundamentally interconnected, each poem strives to out-do its predecessors and competes to establish its protagonist, its ideals, and its poetics as superior to those that came before them.

The first of its kind in Assyriology, Weapons of Words explores the rich nuances of these poems by unravelling complex networks of allusion. Through a sophisticated analysis of literary techniques, Selena Wisnom traces developments in the Akkadian poetic tradition and demonstrates that intertextual readings are essential for a deeper understanding of Mesopotamian literature.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wisnom, Selena

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft: Lyrik und Dichter
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Altorientalische Geschichte & Archäologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturgeschichte und Literaturkritik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements

Introduction
1 Intertextuality and Allusion
2 The Three Poems
3 The Study of Ancient Allusions
4 Competitive Strategies of Allusion
5 The Babylonian Literary Background
6 Structure of the Book

1 Allusions in Anzû
1 Introduction
2 The Re-shaping of Ninurta’s Victories: Lugal-e and An-gin7
3 New Names, New Identities
4 Lamentations
5 Reverse Intertextuality
6 Conclusions

2 Enuma eliš and Anzû
1 Introduction
2 Marduk as the New Ninurta
3 The Tablet of Destinies
4 Poisonous Monsters, ‘Poisonous’ Arrows
5 Structural Imitations and Adaptations
6 Lord of Incantations
7 Conclusions

3 Enuma eliš and Atra?asis
1 Introduction
2 Destructions: The Dethroning of Enlil
3 Creations: Superseding Ea
4 Conclusions

4 Enuma eliš and Lugal-e
1 Introduction
2 Elements of the Battle
3 Establishing Order
4 Conclusions

5 Erra and Išum: Allusions to Anzû and Lugal-e
1 Introduction
2 Anzû: The Background
3 Erra as Anzû
4 Išum as Ninurta
5 Šar-ur Divides
6 Išum the Door
7 Where Is the Young Hero?
8 Conclusions

6 Overturning the Old Order: Erra and Išum and Enuma eliš, Atra?asis, and Gilgameš
1 Introduction
2 Enuma eliš
3 The Deluge
4 Disturbed Sleep
5 A Time before the Flood
6 Marduk’s Defeat and Erra’s Victory
7 Conclusions

7 Erra and Išum and Lamentations
1 Introduction
2 Erra and Išum and the Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur
3 The Functions of Lamentation and Praise
4 Conclusions

Conclusion—a Self-Conscious Tradition
1 The Consequences of Competition
2 Implications for Literary History
3 The Power of Intertextuality

References
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Selena Wisnom, D.Phil. (2015, University of Oxford), is a Junior Research Fellow in Manuscript and Text Cultures at The Queen’s College, Oxford. She specialises in the literary and cultural interpretation of cuneiform sources, particularly poetry and divination.