"These translations of Sumerian literature constitute the most comprehensive collection ever published of the world's earliest literature. The compositions in this book were mainly inscribed on clay tablets dating to the 18th century B.C.E., the period from which the most extensive literary records have been recovered. They encompass a wide range of different genres which will be familiar to modern readers, such as narrative myths, lyrical hymns, proverbs, and love poetry, as well as much that will be less familiar. The compositions provide a stimulating insight into the culture of the world's first urban civilization, as well as extending our understanding of literary strategies and of such universal themes as love, sex, political ambition, and our desire to explain the world to ourselves. The translations thus provide an opportunity to appreciate an ancient literature in terms both of its own identity and of its similarities to much that has followed."--Jacket.