Wednesday, April 27, 2016

SEAL: Sources of Early Akkadian Literature

http://www.seal.uni-leipzig.de/

From the website:
Sources of Early Akkadian Literature is a joint project of the Institute of Archaeology of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Altorientalisches Institut of the University of Leipzig.
Funding has been provided by:
The German Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (G.I.F.) Research Grant Agreements Nos. I-890-183.4/2005 and 1022/2008
The Authority for Research and Development, The Hebrew University
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Mercator Gastprofessur an der Universität Leipzig, Prof. Dr. Nathan Wasserman)

Project Description

Akkadian, i.e. Babylonian and Assyrian, literature, documented on cuneiform tablets from Ancient Mesopotamia (together with Sumerian and Egyptian literature) forms the oldest written literature of mankind.
In the 3rd and 2nd Millennia (c. 2400-1100 BCE), Akkadian literature developed many different literary genres: hymns, lamentations, prayers to various gods, incantations against a range of sources of evil, love-lyrics, wisdom literature (proverbs, fables, riddles), as well as long epics and myths - roughly 550 different compositions. Many of these compositions are not yet published in satisfactory modern editions or scattered throughout a large number of publications.
SEAL ("Sources of Early Akkadian Literature"), which started at 2007, is updated regularly. It aims to compile a complete indexed corpus of Akkadian literary texts from the 3rd and 2nd Millennia BCE, attempting to enable the efficient study of the entire early Akkadian literature in all its philological, literary, and historical aspects.
Many of the editions in SEAL rely on new collations and photos. (For the moment being, these photos cannot be shown publicly due to restricted copy rights.)
As part of this project SEAL will publish the corpus in printed form, in monographs within the new series Leipziger Altorientalistische Studien. Several volumes are currently in preparation:
  • N. Wasserman: Old Babylonian Incantations.
  • N. Wasserman: Love Lyrics.
  • M. P. Streck: Old Babylonian Hymns.
  • Elyze Zomer: Middle Babylonian Incantations.
  • J. Fechner will publish a monograph on "Altbabylonische Gottesbriefe" outside the SEAL series.

Sources of Early Akkadian Literature: Terms of Use


SEAL is a joint scientific project run since 2005 by Prof. Dr. Michael P. Streck (Leipzig) and Prof. Dr. Nathan Wasserman (Jerusalem). This database is a result of a collaborative effort of the two P.I.s, of their students, with much appreciated help from other colleagues and institutions. SEAL is a scientific source made open in the Internet for the benefit of the entire Assyriological community – scholars and students alike – and for the interested people in neighboring fields. Copyright Michael P. Streck – Nathan Wasserman, Sources of Early Akkadian Literature. Published under a Creative Commons (CC) BY-NC-ND license. Citation: Michael P. Streck and Nathan Wasserman, Sources of Early Akkadian Literature (SEAL): http://www.seal.uni-leipzig.de/


  • Corpus
  • Recent Additions
  • Using seal (.pdf)

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