Customer Reviews

Adapa and the South Wind: Language Has the Power of Life and Death (Mesopotamian Civilizations, 10) (Mesopotamian Civilizations, 10)

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Every once in a while, a book comes along that surprises me with its excellence, and this is one of those books. An ancient Mesopotamian story is that of the sage Adapa, who with a curse broke the wing of the South Wind, and missed an opportunity at eternal life offered to him by the great god Anu. This book is an in-depth look at the story, what we know of it, and what its significance is.

The first chapter looks at the five surviving fragments of the tale; with a copy in the original language, the text translated into English, and then a list of line-by-line comments. The second chapter looks at the dating of the myth, while the third chapter looks at the myth as poetry. The final, and to my mind best, chapter looks at the myth itself and its meaning.

Overall, I found this to be a great resource. Though it was written for a scholarly audience, the book is still eminently readable, and quite fascinating, even to the general reader. So, if you are at all interested in Mesopotamian myths in general, and about the Adapa myth in particular, then you will find this to be a great book. I know I did! I highly recommend this book.