Similar to the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, funerary rituals for at least some Sumerian kings involved a journey from earth to heaven, with ceremonies that involved sailed “heavenly” boats, or ritualistically releasing a caged bird. Presumably, upon death, with the blessings of the gods, third-millennium kings had the opportunity to become astral bodies while simultaneously living out eternity as ghosts in the underworld.
Category Archives: My Research
The First Queen in Recorded Human History?
Meet Kubaba. She’s a Sumerian Queen. Although it’s been a while since I’ve been working on my Sumerian project, all the same interesting information about Sumerian culture keeps on trickling in to me. This one is about the first Sumerian (or maybe Akkadian?) queen, ergo first queen in recorded human history. Meet Ku-Bau. She’s aContinue reading “The First Queen in Recorded Human History?”
Gilgamesh in Akkadian
Reposting this amazing recording of the Gilgamesh Epic in its original Akkadian. I should point out that the earliest version of the Gilgamesh stories were poems written in Sumerian, not in Akkadian. The Akkadian version (written hundreds of years later) is the best known complete version. Hear The Epic of Gilgamesh Read in theContinue reading “Gilgamesh in Akkadian”
Olga Rudge’s Romantic Defiance
One god permeating everything might as well not exist. She wants her god incarnate. She is not trying to tell him He is a god, but her only feeling of god is in him.”
Olga Rudge’s Romantic Defiance
“One god permeating everything might as well not exist. She wants her god incarnate. She is not trying to tell him He is a god, but her only feeling of god is in him.” Olga Rudge, in a letter to Ezra Pound, cir. 1930 I’m reading a biography on Olga Rudge, a concert violinist whoContinue reading “Olga Rudge’s Romantic Defiance”
Sumerian Music In The Modern World
Are you interested in listening to Sumerian music with its original instrumentation? Some time ago, I shared a post about The Gold Lyre of Ur project, which is an assembly of music put together from the most ancient written music ever, annotated by… you guessed it: Sumerian musicians. Today I have discovered that there isContinue reading “Sumerian Music In The Modern World”
Sumero Babylonians Invent Customer Service
Hey had to absolutely repost this from The Laughing Squid: a tablet dating back to circa 1750BC containing a written complaint — the precursor to the Amazon review!! Thank you Laughing Squid for this wonderful tidbit. An Ancient Babylonian Customer Service Complaint Inscribed on a Clay Tablet Around 1750 BC by E.D.W. Lynch atContinue reading “Sumero Babylonians Invent Customer Service”
Sumerian Currency
When I tell people that I write and like to study a culture that was born around 6,000 years ago, they invariable start making jokes about mastodons and caves. In actuality, the Sumerian culture was considerably developed, exceeding military technology that took the Egyptian culture a thousand years to reinvent. Sumerians also had a complexContinue reading “Sumerian Currency”
What The Sumerians Wore
What did the Sumerian people wear? Here are some tantalizing pictures…. And here is what World History Center says about the topic: Sumerian Clothing and Dress Ancient Mesopotamia was situated in the area of land that is defined by the two great rivers the Tigris and the Euphrates and that is contained within modernContinue reading “What The Sumerians Wore”
The Cosmic Wisdom of Sumerian Mystics
Writing fiction can take you to some very strange places. I like to write about what fascinates me. Steve Almond says follow your obsessions: if you’re going to be married to a novel or a full length work for a year or so, it might as well be on something that really, really motivates you. What fascinatesContinue reading “The Cosmic Wisdom of Sumerian Mystics”
Author | Laura Valeri 