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Lamentation over the Destruction of Sumer and Ur (Mesopotamian Civilizations Vol 1) (Mesopotamian Civilizations Vol 1)

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In the year 2004 B.C., the city of Ur fell to an army from the east (the end of Ur III). As was not uncommon in the ancient east, a "lamentation" was written to explain what happened and why, and simply to lament the destruction wrought by foreigners. In comparatively recent times, this lamentation was discovered in several different forms, in several different locations. In this 1989 work, Professor Piotr Michalowski examines the lamentation in depth.

Chapter 1 deals with the contents of the lamentation within the Sumerian context. Chapters 2, 3 and 6 deal with the various sources or manuscripts of the lamentation, while chapter 5 is a philological commentary. However, my favorite part of the book is chapter 4, which is a wonderful composite text, both in Sumerian and English. This is a mere 16 pages (for the English translation), but is quite interesting, and is very easy to read.

Let me make one thing clear, this book is intended for scholars, and I am not one (an armchair scholar only). That said, though, I did find this to be an interesting book, and a fascinating resource. Professor Michalowski's translation is eminently readable, being both interesting and very clear. Therefore, if you are interested in ancient Sumer (as I am), then I would highly recommend that you read this book.