Download or read book Reading Sumerian Poetry written by Jeremy Black and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2000-12-01 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An analysis of the oldest form of poetry. Sumer, in the southern part of Iraq, created the first literary culture in history, as early as 2500BC. The account is structured around a complete English translation of the fragmentary Lugalbanda poems, narrating the adventures of the eponymous hero. The study reveals a work of a rich and sophisticated poetic imagination and technique, which, far from being in any sense 'primitive', are so complex as to resist much modern literary analysis.