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The Shape of Stories
Narrative Structures in Cuneiform Literature
Series: - Cuneiform Monographs, Volume: 54
How were narratives composed in the ancient Near East? What patterns and principles, constraints and considerations guided the shaping of cuneiform stories? The study of narrative structures has emerged as a promising approach to the textual heritage of the cuneiform world. Engaging with practically any ancient textâwhether literary, historical, or religiousârequires some understanding of the narrative forms that shaped their content. This volume gives researchers the tools to better understand those form, illustrating each approach to narrative analysis with a case study from the cultures of the ancient Near East: Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and Hittite.
Sophus Helle, Ph.D. (2020), Aarhus University, is a postdoctoral researcher in Assyriology at Freie Universität Berlin. His translation of Gilgamesh and the poems of Enheduana, the worldâs first author, are published with Yale University Press.
Gina Konstantopoulos, Ph.D. (2015), University of Michigan, is Assistant Professor of Assyriology and Cuneiform Studies at the University of California Los Angeles. Her monograph on the Sebettu-demons is forthcoming with Brill.
Gina Konstantopoulos, Ph.D. (2015), University of Michigan, is Assistant Professor of Assyriology and Cuneiform Studies at the University of California Los Angeles. Her monograph on the Sebettu-demons is forthcoming with Brill.
List of Figures and Tables
Notes on Contributors
1 Introduction: Narratology and Cuneiform Studies
âSophus Helle and Gina Konstantopoulos
2 Recurrent Structures in the Sumerian Gilgamesh Cycle
âAlhena Gadotti
3 Transition and Cohesion in the Tale of Zalpa
âRobert Marineau
4 Unreliable Foreshadowing in Divine Predictions
âLouise Pryke
5 Tablets as Narrative Episodes in Babylonian Poetry
âSophus Helle
6 The Dynamics of Repetition in Akkadian Epics
âSelena Wisnom
7 Charting Emotional Shapes in Cuneiform Literature
âGina Konstantopoulos
8 Representing Time in the Kiutu Incantation-Prayers
âBeatrice Baragli
9 Historical Explanation in the Babylonian Chronicles
âBen Dewar
10 The âPre-Historyâ of the Sumerian King List and its Narrative Residue
âGösta Gabriel
11 Blank Space: Akkadian Metapoetics in the Bel-etir Narrative
âClaudio Sansone
12 In Search of Dumuzi: An Introduction to Hylistic Narratology
âAnnette Zgoll, Bénédicte Cuperly, and Annika Cöster-Gilbert
Index
Notes on Contributors
1 Introduction: Narratology and Cuneiform Studies
âSophus Helle and Gina Konstantopoulos
Part 1 Stitching a Story
2 Recurrent Structures in the Sumerian Gilgamesh Cycle
âAlhena Gadotti
3 Transition and Cohesion in the Tale of Zalpa
âRobert Marineau
4 Unreliable Foreshadowing in Divine Predictions
âLouise Pryke
Part 2 Medium and Emotion
5 Tablets as Narrative Episodes in Babylonian Poetry
âSophus Helle
6 The Dynamics of Repetition in Akkadian Epics
âSelena Wisnom
7 Charting Emotional Shapes in Cuneiform Literature
âGina Konstantopoulos
8 Representing Time in the Kiutu Incantation-Prayers
âBeatrice Baragli
Part 3 The Shape of the Past
9 Historical Explanation in the Babylonian Chronicles
âBen Dewar
10 The âPre-Historyâ of the Sumerian King List and its Narrative Residue
âGösta Gabriel
11 Blank Space: Akkadian Metapoetics in the Bel-etir Narrative
âClaudio Sansone
Part 4 Excavating Narratives
12 In Search of Dumuzi: An Introduction to Hylistic Narratology
âAnnette Zgoll, Bénédicte Cuperly, and Annika Cöster-Gilbert
Index
Primary interest is for scholars of Assyriology; also of interest to scholars of literary studies and Comparative Literature, Classics, Biblical Studies, and academic institutions with foci in those areas.