Sumerian Lexicon: A Dictionary Guide to the Ancient Sumerian Language [Paperback]

John A. Halloran (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0978642902 | ISBN-13: 978-0978642907 | Publication Date: November 1, 2006 | Edition: Bilingual

With 6,400 entries, this is the most complete available lexicon of ancient Sumerian vocabulary. It replaces version 3 of the author's online Sumerian Lexicon, which has served an audience of over 380,000 visitors since 1999. This published version adds over 2,600 new entries, and corrects or expands many of the previous entries. Also, following the express wish of a majority of online lexicon users, it has merged together and sorted the logogram words and the compound words into purely alphabetical order. This book will be an indispensable reference for anyone trying to translate Sumerian texts. Also, due to the historical position of ancient Sumer as the world's first urban civilisation, cultural and linguistic archaeologists will discover a wealth of information for research.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Halloran s work as a whole is sound, and the reader will find it a useful and informative addition to the bookshelf --John Engle, Review of Biblical Literature, 8/30/2008<br /><br />Perhaps the strongest point of the book is the wide range of actually-used meanings for each word and the large number of entries which makes the lexicon suitable for all kind of research, from the study of pure administrative documents to the analysis of literary texts.... Halloran's important book deserves our highest appreciation and gratitude as a highly useful and user-friendly tool ad usum Delphini as well as for experienced Assyriologists and scholars in different fields approaching the "obscure" Sumenan language and literature. --Orientalia, Vol. 77 fasc. 1 (2008)

Halloran s work as a whole is sound, and the reader will find it a useful and informative addition to the bookshelf --John Engle, Review of Biblical Literature, 8/30/2008

About the Author

edited by John A Halloran

Product Details

• Paperback: 318 pages
• Publisher: Logogram Pub; Bilingual edition (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0978642902
• ISBN-13: 978-0978642907
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #525,202 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Monumental Step for Sumerology, February 22, 2007

By 

Colin Lupton (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sumerian Lexicon: A Dictionary Guide to the Ancient Sumerian Language (Paperback)

This volume is a brilliant and succinct compilation of Sumerian literary vocabulary, and is an indispensable reference for all students of Assyriology and Sumerology.

The most noteworthy change in this version of the lexicon, is the alphabetization of all entries. In previous on-line editions, the lexicon was organized by syllabic groups, which was most useful for observing the development of Sumerian over the ages. The most fundamental words of the language were the simplest syllables. As their culture developed and progressed, more and more complex words were developed, usually by agglutination and/or contraction of existing words. However, this organization made the lexicon somewhat tedious to flip through, and for most purposes, this edition far surpasses the previous ones. Those wishing to see the development of the language can still view the previous version on-line.

Even if this was not the only 'complete' lexicon of the Sumerian language in print, it is still - and will be for some time - the one to get and go to first. Halloran's commitment to this project really shines through here, and the publication of this volume is a definite and monumental step forward for the studies of this ancient, pre-Semitic culture of Mesopotamia.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At Last, a One Volume Sumerian Dictionary, February 7, 2007

By 

John O. Freed (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sumerian Lexicon: A Dictionary Guide to the Ancient Sumerian Language (Paperback)

This book is clealy a labor of love on the author's part. It grew out of the author's website, which has been used by students of Sumerian as an on-line dictionary since 1999. The information on the website has been expanded and put into a convient sized book for students to use.

The entries are succinct and printed in an easily readable type face. I tried using the book to translate some Sumerian texts, just to see if I would find any quirks in the book, and was pleased to find that it contained all of the words I needed to look up.

This is a well done book for which there has long been a need. Students of Sumerian will find this a superb and highly useful addition to their library.

26 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars NOT A SINGLE PICTOGRAM!, May 1, 2008

By 

M. Sharkansky (ISRAEL) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sumerian Lexicon: A Dictionary Guide to the Ancient Sumerian Language (Paperback)

When I opened this book, I was utterly disappointed: the dictionary did not contain even a single pictogram (save those on its yellow cover). All the vocabula values were in Romanization and thus, this book looked like a modern Turkish dictionary for college students.
I really wonder, what this kind of dictionary is good for? For mastering the colloquial Sumerian? To be used as a phrase book in time-machine travels? What a pity the clay tablets were not written upon with Roman letters back then!
I also have strong reservation about other 5-star reviews of this book and cannot help wondering what exactly caused their exaltation about this lexicon!
And I want to caution other potential byers of this useless book: none of the reviewers of this book, except me, purchased it! Be aware what their opinion is worth!