Commerce and Trade: Gleanings from Sumerian Literature
1977; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 39; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/4200049
ISSN2053-4744
Autores Tópico(s)Linguistics and Cultural Studies
ResumoThat Sumerian literary compositions, despite the rarefied, etherial, unworldly nature of much of their content, could prove to be significant source material for such practical, mundane, workaday matters as trade and commerce, has been known a long time, ever since the text of the hymns inscribed on the Gudea Cylinders was edited and published some seventy years ago. When therefore the theme of this Rencontre was announced, it occurred to me that it might be useful to search through all, or at least most, of the available Sumerian literary documents with an eye for those passages that have some relevance for trade and commerce, for barter and exchange. This paper will present the rather meagre results of this search.Beginning with the myths, I found that there were four which contained passages relating to commerce and trade: (1) the Ur version of the Dilmun myth “Enki and Ninhursag”; (2) the myth commonly known as “Enki and the World Order”; (3) the poem celebrating the journey of Nanna-Suen to Nippur; (4) the myth revolving about the transfer of the me from Eridu to Erech, in which the deities Inanna and Enki are the main protagonists.
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