The origins of scholastic commentary in Mesopotamia: second-order schemata in the Early Dynastic exegetical imagination

Justin Johnson

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (peer-reviewed)peer-review

Abstract

This paper investigates Early Dynastic scholasticism in Mesopotamia, particularly as represented in several Fara/Shuruppak precursors to the well-known Zami Hymns from Abu Salabikh. These texts are the earliest commentaries in the history of cuneiform, but they are also important in that they document a chain of self-conscious acts of reflection on philological method and exegetical technique. These schemata were encoded in the names of lesser divinities and culminate in a catalogue raisonné of scholastic practices in the Sumerian mythological text known as Enki and Ninhursag.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationVisualizing Knowledge and Creating Meaning in Ancient Writing Systems
EditorsShai Gordin
Place of PublicationBerlin
PublisherPeWe-Verlag
Pages11-55
Number of pages46
ISBN (Print)978-3935012119
Publication statusPublished - 2014

Publication series

NameBerliner Beitrage zum Vorderen Orient
Volume23

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