The Sumerian Poem Enmerkar and En-Suhkes-Ana

This thorough edition of a Sumerian poem featuring the hero Enmerkar makes use of many newly identified exemplars of the composition. In addition, in his commentary the author makes a good case that story and script were created for performance.

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This thorough edition of a Sumerian poem featuring the hero Enmerkar makes use of many newly identified exemplars of the composition. In addition, in his commentary the author makes a good case that story and script were created for performance, posssibly at a specific event at a specific place i.e., at the drinking party King Amarsu’ena gave at the the house of the son of the 1st governor of Hamazi in the second month of the year Amarsu’ena 2 in the capital Ur. the text was intended to serve as a script for performance, perhaps the earliest known “dramatic treatment” of a traditional tale.