—for this, too, is the lot of man

"For distant days, other days..."

[oldshrewsburyian]

Let them know that your gaze is terrifying, and that you lift your terrifying gaze. Let them know that your eyes flash and flicker. Let them know that you are headstrong and defiant. Let them know that you always stand triumphant.

"The Exaltation of Inana," Enheduana, trans. Sophus Helle

[s-siduri]

History's Oldest Dessert - 4,000 Year Old Mersu

[memories-of-ancients]

Lapis lazuli bead necklace with gold drop pendants, city of Ur, Mesopotamia, circa 2500-2300 BC

from The Penn Museum

[ancientart]

Built of mud-brick, the Ziggurat at Ur was built by Ur-Nammu c. 2050 BC during the Third Dynasty of Ur and dedicated to the moon-goddess Nanna.

The massive structure is 210 feet in length, 150 feet in width. It was massively restored under King Nabonidus in the 6th century BC.

Photo taken by Tla2006 

[centuriespast]

Statuette of alabaster standing nude goddess, from Babylon, circa first century B.C.-first century A.D. (with movable arms, and ruby eyes and navel).CreditVincent Tullo for The New York Times

[estera-shirin]

Earring—Mesopotamia or Iran, 1st or 2nd century CE

According to the Met: "This elaborate gold earring features a boat-shaped ring with a pendant "amphora" vase suspended from it that is decorated with three rows of arched perforations and both granular and filigree decoration. A ring at the vase’s bottom indicates that an additional pendant originally hung from it. Five pomegranates hang from rings attached to the pendant vase (there were seven originally); pomegranates, associated with fertility, were a popular subject in jewelry from the ancient Near East. The earring’s production date is determined in part because its design is very similar to a pair discovered buried in a cache in the city of Seleucia that is dated between 40 and 120 A.D.

Parthian wealth obtained through lucrative trade networks resulted in substantial patronage of the arts and luxury goods including jewelry. In addition to surviving examples, representations of earrings, necklaces, bracelets and frontal bands appear in funerary portraits from Palmyra and statuary from Hatra."

[estera-shirin]

Plaque of female figure—Nimrud, Mesopotamia, 9th to 8th century BCE

According to the Met: "This piece was found in a storeroom at Fort Shalmaneser, a royal building at Nimrud that was probably used to store tribute and booty collected by the Assyrians while on military campaign. The fragmentary, rectangular plaque depicts a female figure with her head in profile facing right. She stands wearing a pleated, ankle-length garment that is fringed at the edges. Although her left arm is abraded, a floral stalk can still be seen held against her chest and may have originally extended in front of or over her left shoulder. The upper background behind the figure’s head does not survive. A circular hole drilled through the bottom of the robe suggests that the plaque was originally attached to a frame by means of a dowel and set into a piece of wooden furniture. The reverse has been roughened, probably to help glue join the surface of the plaque to the frame. Certain Egyptian features characteristic of Phoenician ivories, including the pleated garment and long, curly wig, are combined with facial features commonly found on North Syrian ivories such as the hooked nose, large eye, small mouth, full cheek, and receding chin. Because of this mixture of styles, this plaque has been classified as South Syrian, a style that occupies an intermediate place between the two.

Built by the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II, the palaces and storerooms of Nimrud housed thousands of pieces of carved ivory. Most of the ivories served as furniture inlays or small precious objects such as boxes. While some of them were carved in the same style as the large Assyrian reliefs lining the walls of the Northwest Palace, the majority of the ivories display images and styles related to the arts of North Syria and the Phoenician city-states. Phoenician style ivories are distinguished by their use of imagery related to Egyptian art, such as sphinxes and figures wearing pharaonic crowns, and the use of elaborate carving techniques such as openwork and colored glass inlay. North Syrian style ivories tend to depict stockier figures in more dynamic compositions, carved as solid plaques with fewer added decorative elements. However, some pieces do not fit easily into any of these three styles. Most of the ivories were probably collected by the Assyrian kings as tribute from vassal states, and as booty from conquered enemies, while some may have been manufactured in workshops at Nimrud. The ivory tusks that provided the raw material for these objects were almost certainly from African elephants, imported from lands south of Egypt, although elephants did inhabit several river valleys in Syria until they were hunted to extinction by the end of the eighth century B.C."

[spiritsdancinginthenight]

Iridescent silicious glass jar from Nippur

Ur III period, Neo-Sumerian, c. 2112-2004 B.C.

Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq

[massarrah-deactivated20240905]

Literature from Mesopotamia: The Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet 6

This Neo-Assyrian tablet preserves parts of the sixth tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh. In this tablet, the goddess of love and war, Ishtar, attempts to seduce Gilgamesh who rejects her. When Ishtar’s father, the god Anu, sends the Bull of Heaven down to punish Gilgamesh for spurning her, Enkidu kills the creature. One of the most significant works of Akkadian literature, the story grapples with the themes of friendship, mortality, and the origins of man. (Source)

Nineveh, 7th century BCE.

British Museum.

[arthistorywitches]

From World Poetry; Washburn, Major, and Fadiman, ed. Translated by Diane Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer.

[coolartefact]

Extremely Rare Assyrian Bronze Sword Hilt, 8th-7th Century BC [762x1000]

Source: http://i.imgur.com/Oad9S9k.jpg

[mostlydeadlanguages]

“He grazes among the lotuses.” (Song 2)

Image: Detail from an ivory box, Ugarit, 13th c. BCE

In this second chapter of the Song of Songs, the beautiful Hebrew love-poetry continues — including some not-very-subtle poetic depictions of oral sex, as well as a great deal of flora and fauna.

She:

I am a lily of the meadows,        a lotus of the valleys. [1]

He:

Like a lotus among thorns:        so is my darling among women.

She:

Like an apricot tree among the forest thickets:        so is my beloved among men. I sat pleasurably in his shade,        and his fruit was sweet to my tongue. He brought me to the wine-hall,        and his onslaught on me was pure love. [2] Sustain me with sweetmeats,        buoy me with apricots,        for I am dizzy with love. His left hand is under my head;        his right hand embraces me.

Swear to me, daughters of Jerusalem,        by the gazelles or the prairie-deer: [3] do not rouse or raise love        until it wishes.

The voice of my beloved! Look!  There he comes:        leaping over the mountains,        bounding over the hills. My beloved resembles a gazelle        or a young stag. Look!  There he stands behind our wall:        gazing through the windows,        eyes gleaming through the lattice. My beloved addresses me —        he speaks to me:

“Arise, my darling!        My beauty, come away! For look — winter has passed;        the rain is done and gone. Flowers have appeared on the land;        the time for pruning-songs has come, [4] and the voice of the turtledove        can be heard in our land. Figs ripen on their trees,        and the vines are abloom;        they give out their fragrance. Arise and come, my darling!        My beauty, come away!

“My dove, in the crevices of the rock,        in the covert of the cliff — let me see your form,        let me hear your voice. For your voice is appealing,        and your form is beautiful.”

“Catch us the foxes, the little foxes,        that ruin the vineyards –        for our vineyards are abloom.” [5[

She:

My beloved is mine, and I am his.        He grazes among the lotuses. Dine until the day breathes and the shadows wane;        imagine yourself a gazelle or young stag        upon the clefted mountains.

Keep reading

[mostlydeadlanguages]

“You Whose Cities Are Ruined Mounds” (CT 23 16 i 13-16)

While doing some research on the Mesopotamian goddess Belet-Ṣeri, I came across this well-preserved Akkadian incantation for someone who “constantly sees dead people.”  Ereškigal is queen of the Netherworld, and Ningeštinanna/Belet-Ṣeri is her (female) scribe.  I am not familiar with “Abatu the Queen,” but her name literally means “to destroy,” so presumably she was another goddess associated with death.

…

Incantation:

Dead people, why do you encounter me—you whose cities are ruined mounds, you who are bones? I do not go to Kutha, the assembly of ghosts.  Why do you constantly chase me? You are adjured by Abatu the Queen, by Ereškigal the Queen, by Ningeštinanna the Scribe of the Gods, whose stylus is lapis and carnelian.

Recitation (to be used when) one continually sees dead persons.

(The description of the ritual follows, but is somewhat broken.  It involves pouring a ritual liquid into a western-facing pit while reciting the incantation.)

[historyarchaeologyartefacts]

The ceremonial dagger is Sumerian and from the Early Dynastic III period, BC, from Ur - Iraq Museum [736x552]

[mostlydeadlanguages]

An Assyrian Elegy for a Woman (K 890)

This Assyrian elegy for a woman dead in childbirth was found in the Library of Ashurbanipal in a beautiful copy.  The author is unknown.

Why?  Like a boat midstream, abandoned —        your cross-bars broken, your mooring-ropes severed — your face veiled, you float across the City’s river.        "Akê!  Wasn’t I abandoned, my mooring-ropes severed?

“Once, I bore fruit — how happy was I!        Happy was I; happy was my husband. Once, my birth-pains clouded my face.        Once, my labor extinguished my eyes.

“I spread my fists to the lady goddess.  I prayed.        'You are mother of birth-givers; save my life.’ When the lady goddess heard, she veiled her face.        ’[Who are] you?  Why do you keep praying to me?’

["My husband, who l]oved me, gave a shout.        [‘Who has robbed] me of my wife, my bliss?’ […] for endless years,        […for]ever the land of decay.”

[…] the City, she cried a lament:        ”[…] those days, I with my husband. I dwelt with him; I was my beloved’s.        Death slipped silently into our chamber.

“From my house, he cast me out alone.        From my husband’s smile, he cut me off alone. He placed my footfall in the land of no return.”

Notes:

Keep reading

[theancientwayoflife]

~ Man and woman in loving embrace.

Place of origin: Iraq, Nippur

Period: Achaemenid Period

Date: 450 B.C.

Culture: Near Eastern

Medium: Terracotta

[ancienttextmoderntablet]

Happy Valentine’s! Here is a fresh rendition of “Shu-Suen B,” an outstanding example of Sumerian erotic poetry, featuring the Mesopotamian king and Inana. The so-calle “frustrative” verbal prefix nu-ush- is pointedly used to convey sexual suspense. https://www.instagram.com/p/B8kFhTPnJml/?igshid=8muwnf4cyqoi

[s-siduri]

Lines 1–4: mu-ti-in cag4-ja2 /mu-lu\ [ki-ig-ga-aj2-ju10]

hi-li-zu aj2-ze2-ba-am3 lal3-[am3 ku7-ku7-da]

gi-ru cag4-ja2 mu-lu ki-ig-ga-/aj2\-[ju10]

hi-li-zu aj2-ze2-ba-am3 lal3-am3 ku7-ku7-da

(Man of my heart, my beloved man, your allure is a sweet thing, as sweet as honey. Lad of my heart, my beloved man, your allure is a sweet thing, as sweet as honey.)

Lines 5–8: en-dab5-en ni2-ja2 du5-mu-u8-ci-jen

mu-ti-in ga-ba-e-da-kar ki mu-nu2-da-ce3

en-dab5-en ni2-ja2 du5-mu-u8-ci-jen

gi-ru ga-ba-e-da-kar ki mu-nu2-da-ce3

(You have captivated me (?), of my own free will I will come to you. Man, let me flee with you -- into the bedroom. You have captivated me (?); of my own free will I shall come to you. Lad, let me flee with you -- into the bedroom.)

Lines 9–14: mu-ti-in aj2-ze2-ze2-ba du5-mu-u8-ak

ze2-ba kal-la-ju10 lal3-e da-aj2-e-ga

e2! ki-nu2-a lal3 hab2 dug4-ga-ba

hi-li aj2-ze2-ba-zu ga-ba-hul2-hul2-le-en-de3-en

gi-ru aj2-ze2-ze2-ba du5-mu-u8-ak

ze2-ba kal-la-ju10 lal3-e da-aj2-e-ga

(Man, let me do the sweetest things to you. My precious sweet, let me bring you honey. In the bedchamber dripping with honey let us enjoy over and over your allure, the sweet thing. Lad, let me do the sweetest things to you. My precious sweet, let me bring you honey.)

Lines 15–21: mu-ti-in ma-ra hi-li mu-e-kar

ama-ju10-ra dug4-ga-na-ab ni2 mu-ra-ab-ze2-ej3-e

ad-da-ju10-ur2 aj2-ba-ba mu-un-ba

ur5-za (ms: SAG9) ki ur5 sag9-ge-bi mu-zu

mu-ti-in ud te-en-ce3 e2-me-a nu2-a

cag4-za ki cag4 hul2-bi mu-zu

gi-ru ud te-en-ce3 e2-me-a nu2-a

(Man, you have become attracted to me. Speak to my mother and I will give myself to you; speak to my father and he will make a gift of me. I know where to give physical pleasure to your body -- sleep, man, in our house till morning. I know how to bring heart's delight to your heart -- sleep, lad, in our house till morning.)

Lines 22–23: za-e ma-a-ra ki mu-e-a-aj2-a-ta

gi-ru ma-a-ra aj2-ze2-ba-zu nu-uc-mu-e-a-ak-e

(Since you have fallen in love with me, lad, if only you would do your sweet thing to me.)

Lines 24–27: u3-mu-un dijir-ju10 u3-mu-un dlama-ju10

dcu-dsuen cag4 dmu-ul-lil2-la2-ke4 ba-ze2-be2-en-na-ju10

ki ze2-ba-zu nu-uc-mu-e-a-ak-a

ki lal3-gin7 ze2-ba-zu cu nu-uc-mu-e-tag-ge

(My lord and god, my lord and guardian angel, my Cu-Suen who cheers Enlil's heart, if only you would handle your sweet place, if only you would grasp your place that is sweet as honey.)

Lines 28–29: tug2 jicba-an-na-gin7 cu DU-ma-ni

tug2 jicba-an sum-ki-na-gin7 cu DAR.DAR-ma-ni

(Put your hand there for me like the cover (?) on a measuring cup. Spread (?) your hand there for me like the cover (?) on a cup of wood shavings.)

Line 30: bal-bal-e dinana-kam

(It is a balbale of Inana.)