Sumerian literature is the oldest literature in the world. The Sumerians invented the first writing system, beginning with cuneiform logograms, which evolved into a syllabary writing system. The Sumerian language remained in official and literary use in the Akkadian and Babylonian empires, even after the spoken language disappeared from the population; literacy was widespread, and the sumerian texts that students copied heavily influence later Babylonian literature. The history of literature is the historical development of writings in prose or poetry which attempt to provide entertainment, enlightenment, or instruction to the reader/hearer/observer, as well as the development of the literary techniques used in the communication of these pieces. ... The Babylonians were an ancient culture located in what is now Iraq. ... A classical language, is a language with a literature that is classical—ie, it should be ancient, it should be an independent tradition that arose mostly on its own, not as an offshoot of another tradition, and it must have a large and extremely rich body of ancient literature. ... Ancient texts The Four Books (四書, Sì shū) are The Great Learning, (大學, Dà Xué). ... Latin literature, the body of written works in the Latin language, remains an enduring legacy of the culture of ancient Rome. ... Standard edition of the Thai Pali Canon The Pali Canon is one the earliest existing scripture collections of the Buddhist tradition. ... Literature in Sanskrit, one of Indias two oldest languages, and the basis of several modern languages in India. ... Syriac literature is literature written in the Syriac language, an eastern Aramaic language. ... Sangam literature refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between the years 200 BCE and 300 CE.[1][2] This collection contains 2381 poems written by 473 poets, some 102 of whom are anonymous authors[3]. The period during which these poems were written is commonly referred to... Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (encompassing the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. ... The initial page of the Peterborough Chronicle, likely scribed around 1150, is one of the major sources of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. ... Arabic literature (Arabic ,الأدب العربي ) Al-Adab Al-Arabi, is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by speakers of the Arabic language. ... Byzantine literature refers to literature written in the Greek language during the Middle Ages, although certain works written in Latin, like the Corpus Juris Civilis may also be included. ... Secular Jewish culture embraces several related phenomena; above all, it is the culture of secular communities of Jewish people, but it can also include the cultural contributions of individuals who identify as secular Jews, or even those of religious Jews working in cultural areas not generally considered to be connected... Old Irish and Middle Irish literature // The earliest existing examples of the written Irish language as preserved in manuscripts do not go back farther than the 8th century; they are chiefly found in Scriptural glosses written between the lines or on the margins of religious works in Latin, preserved on... Kannada literature refers to the literature in Kannada language spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka. ... Nepal Bhasa literature refers to literature in Nepal Bhasa. ... Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in a number of Nordic languages, embraced by the term Old Norse, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century. ... Kelileh va Demneh Persian manuscript copy dated 1429, from Herat, depicts the Jackal trying to lead the Lion astray. ... Medieval Welsh literature is the medieval literature written in the Welsh language from before 1100 to the 16th century. ... Renaissance literature refers to European literature that began in Italy and spread throughout Europe during the seventeenth century. ... Adoration, by Peter Paul Rubens. ... This article is homosexual and should be burned the second in a series of The History of Literature. ... Literature of the twentieth century is, for the purpose of this article, literature written from 1900 to 1999. ... The History of literature begins with the history of writing, in Bronze Age Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, although the oldest literary texts that have come down to us date to a full millennium after the invention of writing, to the late 3rd millennium BC. The earliest literary authors known by... Sumer ( Sumerian: KI-EN-GIR, Land of the Lords of Brightness[1], or land of the Sumerian tongue[2][3], Akkadian: Å umeru; possibly Biblical Shinar ), located in southern Mesopotamia, is the earliest known civilization in the world. ... Writing systems evolved in the Early Bronze Age (late 4th millennium BC) out of neolithic proto-writing. ... Cuneiform redirects here. ... A Chinese logogram A logogram, or logograph, is a single written character which represents a word or a morpheme (a meaningful unit of language). ... A syllabary is a set of written symbols that represent (or approximate) syllables, which make up words. ... Sumerian ( native tongue) was the language of ancient Sumer, spoken in Southern Mesopotamia from at least the 4th millennium BCE. It was gradually replaced by Akkadian as a spoken language in the beginning of the 2nd millenium BCE, but continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific... The Akkadian Empire usually refers to the Semitic speaking state that grew up around the city of Akkad north of Sumer, and reached its greatest extent under Sargon of Akkad. ... Babylonia was an ancient state in Iraq), combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. ... The Babylonians were an ancient culture located in what is now Iraq. ...

Sumerian literature has not been handed down to us directly, rather it has been rediscovered through archaeology. Nevertheless, the Akkadians and Babylonians borrowed much from the Sumerian literary heritage, and spread these traditions throughout the middle east, influencing much of the literature that followed in this region, including the Bible. For referencing in Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Citing sources. ... For the Egyptian writer, see Abbas Al-Akkad. ... Babylonia was a state in southern Mesopotamia, in modern Iraq, combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. ... For other uses, see Bible (disambiguation). ...

Literary Works

Important works include:

• A Creation and Flood Myth (translation)
• Two Enmerkar legends:
  • Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta (translation)
  • Enmerkar and En-suhgir-ana (translation)
• Two tales of Lugalbanda during Enmerkar's campaign against Aratta:
  • Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave (translation)
  • Lugalbanda and the Anzud Bird (translation)
• Five stories in the Gilgamesh epic cycle:
  • Gilgamesh and Huwawa (version A, version B)
  • Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven (translation)
  • Gilgamesh and Aga (translation)
  • Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld (translation)
  • The Death of Gilgamesh (translation)

Enmerkar, according to the Sumerian king list, was the builder of Uruk, and was said to have reigned for 420 years. It adds that he brought the official kingship with him from the city of Eana, after his father Mesh-ki-ag-gasher, son of Utu, had entered the sea... Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta is a legendary Sumerian account of the greatest antiquity, possibly based on genuine events of the 3rd millennium BC. It is one of a series of accounts describing the conflicts between Enmerkar, king of Unug-Kulaba (Uruk), and the unnamed king of Aratta (probably... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Gilgamesh (disambiguation). ... The Deluge tablet of the Gilgamesh epic in Akkadian The Epic of Gilgamesh is from Babylonia, dating from long after the time that king Gilgamesh was supposed to have ruled. ...

External links

Ancient Near East Portal

Literature Portal

• The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
• Catalogue of literary works at the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature