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Sumerian literature constitutes the earliest known corpus of recorded literature, including the religious writings and other traditional stories maintained by the Sumerian civilization and largely preserved by the later Akkadian and Babylonian empires. These records were written in theSumerian language in the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC during theMiddle Bronze Age.[1]
TheSumerians invented one of the firstwriting systems, developingSumerian cuneiform writing out of earlierproto-writing systems by about the 30th century BC.[citation needed]TheSumerian language remained in official and literary use in theAkkadian andBabylonian empires, even after the spoken language disappeared from the population; literacy was widespread, and the Sumerian texts that students copied heavily influenced laterBabylonian literature.[2] The basic genres of Sumerian literature were literary catalogues, narrative/mythological compositions, historical compositions, letters and legal documents,disputation poems, proverbs, and other texts which do not belong to these prior categories.
Most Sumerian literature is written in left-justified lines,[1] and could contain line-based organization such as thecouplet or thestanza,[3] but the Sumerian definition ofpoetry is unknown. It is notrhymed, although “comparable effects were sometimes exploited.”[1] Though rhymeless, the intricate patterns of similar and alternating sounds of vowels and consonants and the similar and alternating verb and noun endings give the language a musical resonance.[4][5] It did not use syllabo-tonic versification,[6] and the writing system precludes detection of rhythm,metre, rhyme, oralliteration.[1] Quantitative analysis of other possible poetic features seems to be lacking, or has been intentionally hidden by the scribes who recorded the writing[citation needed].
Genre is often the first judgement made of ancient literature; types of literature were not clearly defined, and all Sumerian literature incorporated poetic aspects. Sumerian poems demonstrate basic elements of poetry, includinglines,imagery, andmetaphor. Humans, gods, talking animals, and inanimate objects were all incorporated as characters. Suspense and humor were both incorporated into Sumerian stories. These stories were primarily shared orally, though they were also recorded byscribes. Some works were associated with specificmusical instruments or contexts and may have been performed in specific settings. Sumerian literature did not usetitles, instead being referred to by the work's first line.[7]
Based on the categorization work ofMiguel Civil, Modernassyriologists have divided theextant corpus of Sumerian literature into broad categories[8] including "Literary Catalogs", "Narratives and Mythological Compositions", "Historical Compositions and Praise Poetry", "Letters, Letter Prayers and Laws", "Hymns and Songs", "Heterogenous Compositions" (includingWisdom literature), and "Proverbs".
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