Nippur: Did you mean...?

Ancient Mesopotamian literature developed circa 2600 BCE after scribes, who had formerly been record-keepers, began composing original works in the region of Sumer. The Sumerians invented writing circa 3600/3500 BCE, refined the script circa...

Enki (also known as Ea, Enkig, Nudimmud, Ninsiku, Nissiku) was the Sumerian god of wisdom, fresh water, intelligence, trickery and mischief, crafts, magic, exorcism, healing, creation, virility, fertility, and art. Iconography depicts him...

The Early Dynastic period in Mesopotamia is the modern-day archaeological term for the era in Mesopotamian history – circa 2900 to circa 2350/2334 BCE – during which some of the most significant cultural advances were made, including the...

Ur-Nammu (c. 2112-c. 2094) was the founder of the Third Dynasty of Ur in Sumer who initiated the so-called Ur III Period (c. 2112-c.2004 BCE) also known as the Sumerian Renaissance. He is best known as the king who composed the oldest extant...

Gula (also known as Ninkarrak) is the Sumerian goddess of healing and patroness of doctors, healing arts, and medical practices. She is first attested to in the Ur III Period (2047-1750 BCE) where she is referenced as a great goddess of health...

The Sumerian language was spoken in southern Mesopotamia before the 2nd millennium BCE and was the first language to be written in the cuneiform script. It is an isolate language meaning we know of no other languages that relate to it ancestrally...

The Curse of Agade (also given as The Cursing of Agade) is a poem dated to the Ur III period of Mesopotamia (circa 2112 to circa 2004 BCE), though it is thought to be somewhat older in origin. It tells the story of the Akkadian king Naram-Sin...

Festivals in ancient Mesopotamia honored the patron deity of a city-state or the primary god of the city that controlled a region or empire. The earliest, the Akitu festival, was first observed in Sumer in the Early Dynastic period (circa...

Schooldays (c. 2000 BCE) is a Sumerian poem describing the daily life of a young scribe in the schools of Mesopotamia. The work takes the form of a first-person narration and dialogue in relating the challenges the student faces and how he...

Originality in literary compositions in the ancient world did not carry the same weight and value as it does today. In recent centuries, authors have been applauded for the creation of original works and have been derided for plagiarism or...