Selected titles in SAACT at 40% off!

This important piece of Mesopotamian literature is presented both in cuneiform and in transliteration and includes complete glossaries, name indexes, and sign lists. As a readable and up-to-date text edition of the Epic, this volume will be adopted by many as the choice tool for studying this important ancient Near Eastern document. . . (more)

This third volume in the SAACT series presents both the cuneiform text and transliteration of the Anzu epic, which describes the battle between the god Ninurta and monster Anzu. Complete glossaries, name indices and sign lists make this a choice resource for research on this vital piece of Mesopotamian literature and mythology. . . (more)

Long anticipated, this edition of the Enuma Elish contains an introduction, facsimile cuneiform text based on texts from Assurbanipal’s library, and a transliteration. To assist the student, it also includes a sign list with a translation and glossary in French. . . (more)

Everyone knows that all the ills of life, from headaches to athlete’s foot and from minor annoyances (like a broken shoelace) to major catastrophes (like a fallen soufflé) are the result of evil demons at work. Call them what you will—gremlins, goblins, imps, afrit, rakshasas, poltergeists, whatever—these supernatural creatures together account for all the world’s misfortunes. . . (more)

An edition of the myth commonly known as Ištar’s Descent was first published in 1901. Since then, no complete critical edition of the text has been published. Unlike other SAACT volumes, SAACT 6 amounts to a full critical edition of the myth. In addition to the cuneiform text with transliteration and translation, there is a full critical apparatus and a scored transliteration of all known sources, and all textual variants from the known sources are included in the glossary. The title, Ištar’s Descent and Resurrection, is a reminder that. . . (more)

SAACT 7 presents a new edition of Ludlul Bel Nemeqi, “the Babylonian poem of the righteous sufferer.” This edition, based on all known tablets of the poem, offers the most complete text of Ludlul to date. Building on a half century of research and discovery, the editors incorporate previously unknown lines of the poem and establish the proper ordering of the material in Tablet IV. The edition includes an extensive introduction, the reconstructed text in cuneiform and transliteration, a translation, and a glossary and sign list. Assyriologists and biblical scholars alike will. . . (more)

The Myth of Nergal and Ereškigal, preserved in two versions, a Middle-Babylonian one from Tell el-Amarna and a much longer Standard Babylonian one probably composed in Assyria in the early first millennium BCE, tells the story of why and how Nergal, son of Ea, the god of wisdom, descended into the Netherworld by the “ladders of heaven,” fell in love with Ereškigal, queen of the Netherworld, and eventually deposed her and usurped her throne. Like all Mesopotamian myths, the story is replete with. . . (more).

The Babylonian Theodicy is a lengthy dialogue between two learned men, the “Sufferer” and the “Friend,” taking the form of an acrostic poem divided into 27 stanzas. Each stanza is exactly 11 lines long and represents a speech by one of the two speakers mainly on social injustice and piety, those of the Sufferer alternating with counterarguments of the Friend. The text unquestionably is a literary masterpiece and, as one of the most important pieces of Mesopotamian wisdom literature, a must for every. . . (more)

Assyria’s last great king Assurbanipal invested much time and effort ensuring that his accomplishments both on and off the battlefield were immortalized as he wished to his gods and subjects, foreign rulers and dignitaries, future kings of Assyria, and future generations of Assyrians. Numerous royal inscriptions and sculpted stone orthostats are a testament to the large number of scribes and artists involved in the creation and masterful reworking of his image as a warrior without equal, a. . . (more)

The standard Babylonian series Maqlû, “Burning,” comprises eight tablets of incantations in which the text of almost one hundred Akkadian incantations is recorded, and a ritual tablet in which the incantations are cited by their incipit and ritual directions are prescribed. It is the longest and most important magical ritual against witches and their witchcraft from ancient Mesopotamia. This complex ceremony was performed during one night and the following morning at the end of the month Abu (July/August). . . (more)

The Poor Man of Nippur is a short tale of 160 lines, telling how a poor man wronged by the governor of his city, Nippur, cunningly takes revenge on his abuser and wrongdoer. The story is told in a sympathetic and humorous way, making it captivating and entertaining reading even by modern standards, and it is of exceptional literary value in the context of Ancient Mesopotamia, where similar humorous or satirical compositions are rare. The tale evidently enjoyed great popularity in ancient times, as indicated by the fact that its motif recurs in. . . (more)