Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary

Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: A nicely organized book that keeps all the Gods, Demons, and places of Mesopotamia in order. This is a great companion book to just about every other book written about Mesopotamia.

Rating:
Summary: Key to the Mysterious Mesopotamians
Review: Despite reading the Epic of Gilgamesh a couple of times and attending several exhibits of Mesopotamian artifacts, I always thought of the divinities of that area as alien. This is strange in itself since it is always pounded in one's head that these ancient people had the Flood story, the Tower of Babel, etc; that is they were instrumental in influencing the ancient Hebrews who have in turn influenced Western culture through the Bible. Well, there is help for those like me who felt estranged from these ancient Gods - GODS, DEMONS AND SYMBOLS OF ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA: AN ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY. It's been around for a few years and if one wants to tackle the Mesopotamia societies, it is a handy reference. It has a short introduction and a dictionary from a to zed. I don't know if it contains everything one needs for understanding but what it does give clarity to things. It has black & white line drawing and a few black & white photos. But mostly it gives valuable information regarding things like astrology, the relationships of the Gods to men and the many different Gods that can be found in this geographical area, including the pre-Islamic Gods of Arabia. This is an excellent and indispensable guide.

Rating:
Summary: MUCH NEEDED REFERENCE
Review: Even with considerable data added to the general knowledge of the ancient peoples and
their beliefs in the last 30 years or so, there is still a great deal we don't know and
probably never will. Only a very small fraction of the records of the time still exist, giving
only a tantalizing glimpse at the beliefs of these civilizations; but one thing we do know
for certain: Despite the pronouncements of alternative "historians" like Zacariah Sitchin
and his lunatic followers, the human race was not created by aliens, and the "myths" of
the ancients are not evidence thereof.
Having said that, it is unquestionable that our understanding of the ancient world and
its beliefs -- at least what little we do know of them -- has been spoiled by 2000 years of
Christianity. We understand these "myths" only as filtered through our own myths.
Indeed, these beliefs weren't mere fairy tales, but real, palpable religious beliefs, as real
as the myth of Jesus is to many modern peoples. Unfortunately, the details of these
beliefs, their affect on the daily lives of the ancients, their evolution, etc., can only be
speculated from the scant knowledge we do have.
This book at least helps put those ideas in perspective. Finally, an encyclopedic
reference of the beliefs of the people of the ancient Near East! This is exactly what the
historiophile has been looking for. Succinct, precise entries on the gods, goddesses,
demons, and spirits of these mysterious ancient people, and historical/cultural context,
and all in one handy volume. It provides all the info we do know about their beliefs, while
also trying to fill in the gaping holes of knowledge we don't know. Highly recommended,
particularly in conjunction with the DICTIONARY OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST by
Alan Millard and Piotr Bienkowski.

Rating:
Summary: A beautifully illustrated dictionary of what ?
Review: GODS, DEMONS AND SYMBOLS OF ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA : An Illustrated Dictionary. By Jeremy Black and Anthony Green. Illustrations by Tessa Rickards. 192 pp. Published in co-operation with British Museum Press. Austin : University of Texas Press, 1992. ISBN 0-292-70794-0 (pbk.)

The present book is an introductory guide to what the editors believe were the beliefs, customs, and practices of the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia as found in their art and writings between 3000 BC and the beginning of the Christian era. I say "what the editors believe" since what we are given in this book is a wholly conventional, orthodox, and sanitized reading of the past. To discover what was _really_ going in those distant times we will have to look elsewhere.

After a brief Introduction which provides historical and geographical background and describes the sources of our knowledge about the magic, mythology, and religion of "the cradle of civilization," the dictionary follows.

It begins somewhat ominously with the Sumerian word _abzu_, to which we owe the modern English _abyss_ (alluding perhaps to the abyss of confusion into which unwary readers may fall if they take what this book is saying as gospel). Pages are set in double columns, names are conveniently given in both their Sumerian and Akkadian forms, all key terms have been set in bold type for ease of cross reference, and explanations of individual words can range in length from paragraph to extended essay.

Truly impressive are the numerous well-chosen and beautifully reproduced black-and-white photographs and line drawings which perfectly supplement the written explanations, and which serve wonderfully to evoke the inhabitants of this vanished world, their occasionally puzzling activities, and their beautiful artefacts.

The book is of large 8vo size (9.5 by 7 inches), stitched, superbly printed on exceptionally strong paper, and bound in a sturdy wrapper. As a reference work, it has been clearly designed to stand up well to heavy use, and it seems to me to be a model of how books should be made.

Both physically and visually, the book leaves nothing to be desired, and I was especially struck by the strategically located full-page frontispiece photograph of a naked, winged, bird-footed Inanna-Ishtar, standing boldly on two lions and flanked by attendant owls, which is one of the finest reproductions of this particular sculpture I have ever seen.

The high quality of reproduction is such that many other photographs are also satisfyingly large and clear enough to finally give us the detail we need to be able to properly appreciate this striking and thought-provoking art, a fineness of detail that can often be lacking in other books.

As for the alphabetical entries, we are told that "Gods, goddesses, demons, monsters, magic, myths, religious symbolism, and the spiritual world" are all discussed. And this, in a sense, is true. But only in a sense. What I mean is that the word "myth," as used in this book, is one of those words that provide all of us with an easy way out. It's a bit like the word "instinct," a word which really refers to a superior form of intelligence that we don't understand but which excuses us from attempting to understand it, a magic wand to banish discomfiting thoughts.

Did the overheated imaginations of our ancestors really dream all these "myths" up out thin air in their idle moments, as the official position would have us believe ? Were the Sumerians, in other words, forerunners of our own entertainment industry ? Or were they into much more serious stuff, and are these "myths" distant echoes of events involving real people that actually happened ?

As for the "gods," why is it that the Sumerians never referred to them as "gods" but as DIN.GIR which doesn't mean "gods" but something else ? And why, in the original texts, are these supposed "gods" always described as very real flesh-and-blood persons and as behaving in identifiably human ways ? Were figures such as Inanna really gods ? Or were they simply beings with advanced technical knowledge whose powers seemed superhuman, much as ours do today to 'pre-scientific' peoples ?

The conventional, orthodox, sanitized view of the past would dismiss these questions as nonsense. For orthodoxy and its groupies there can be only one valid interpretation of the past - viz., its own interpretation. But given the extreme difficulties and complexities involved in any attempt to understand the past, surely there is room for more than one way of looking at things ?

Frankly, I don't think that these "myths" are 'myths,' and I don't think that these "gods" are 'gods.' So, folks, once you have have finished reading the Black-Green-Rickards, which certainly gives you part of the story, if you'd like to find out the rest of the story you'd better get hold of linguist and scholar Zechariah Sitchin's mind-boggling and paradigm-shattering :

THE 12TH PLANET : Book One of 'The Earth Chronicles.' By Zechariah Sitchin. 436 pp. New York : Avon Books, 1978. ISBN 0-380-39362X (pbk.)

Only he provides a framework in which all becomes intelligible.

Rating:
Summary: How did I get along without this Dictionary?
Review: I love books like this. Throughout the 190 pages of entries, covering everything from "animal sacrifice" to zodiac, cross-references are printed in bold text, prompting a butterfly style of reading that can be very illuminating (provided you do not lose track of your mental stack of things to look up). This "analog hypertext" presentation adds a new dimension of usefulness to the book.

This book is closer to a brief encyclopedia than just an illustrated dictionary, as many of the articles go into considerable depth and contain editorial remarks on the validity of certain interpretations, e.g., "Although the all-embracing 'fertility cult' aspects of Mesopotamian myth and religion have certainly been exaggerated as a result of the anthropological climate of the 1950s and 1960s ...", (from the entry on "fertility").

The authors are prominent working scholars in the field, and the quality of articles upholds a very high standard. The book can be used as an introduction to the subject, or even more productively in conjunction with any of the more detailed references available, a few of which are listed in a very abbreviated bibliography in the present book.

This brings me to my one disappointment with this book: the authors are not consistent in identifying sources. Scholars and religious reconstructors need to see things in context. As an amelioration, Dr. Black does run the online archive of Sumerian Literature ( http://www-etcsl.orient.ox.ac.uk/ ), which provides a great and searchable source of original texts in both translation and phonetic original forms.

Still, this is a "grab with gusto" title. You might want to buy two, in case you wear one out.


Rating:
Summary: A good reference book
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It's a good reference of the pantheon of Ancient Mesopotamia.

Rating:
Summary: Good for the gods =-)
Review: The book is setup just like a Dictionary with all the common Deities of Ancient(Sumer and Akkad only)Mesopotamia. All definitions have reference to other terms listed in bold letters somewhere in the defining paragraph. This makes cross referencing terms an easy goal to accomplish. The book does not include Egyptain, Canaanite, or Hittite Deities. However, there is a great companion volume to "Gods,Demon,and symbols in Ancient Mesopotamia" called "Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible" edited by Karel Van Der Toorn and for a complete book of all the Canaanite gods and stories that are availible try "Canaanite Myths and legends" by John Gibson. I have all three and they are a must for anyone doing research on the Ancient gods of The fertile Crescent.

Rating:
Summary: A Must-Have for those Interested in Mesopotamia
Review: This is an excellent resource for anyone interested in Mesopotamian daily life and religion. It provides a quick reference to not just myths and gods, but also religious rites and magical practices. For example, you can look up "sacrifice" if you want to see what information there is on how the Mesopotamians went about such things. I think this helps to flesh out how the religion affected the daily lives of the people. It has a wealth of illustrations and drawings, something that is rather lacking in many books about Sumer.

It also covers the evolution of the gods and cultures who worshipped them, instead of a simplistic "This was the god of X." It helps to know that some things were specific to Assyria or the early Sumerian Dynasties, which is important if you wish to avoid a homogenized 'Babylonianoid' stereotype of Mesopotamian history and religion.

Our copy is already looking shabby from being read so much.

Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: This wonderful book was published in 1992, and reflects up-to-date knowledge of ancient Mesopotamian religion. It covers from prehistoric times (though mostly from the Early Dynastic Period) through to the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian period, and is organized as a dictionary. Most entries are given a paragraph or two, though more important ones can cover a page or two, and many pictures and illustrations are sprinkled throughout.

This is a wonderful resource for anyone who enjoys reading about ancient Mesopotamia. No part of Mesopotamian religion that I could think of was not covered, and quite a lot that I did not know was covered. The reach of this book is truly breathtaking! I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the religion of ancient Mesopotamia.