Historical and Literary Analysis

Historical Analysis:

        1. The various Mesopotamian versions can help us understand the history of the cultures which produced them because it shows what they valued, and shows where other cultures were based. We can see that these ancient cultures were very oral based because of the repetition that is given in all of these documents. They repeated many passages because they wanted these important things to stick in their minds because most of this was passed down orally. We can also see where other cultures were based because of how the story changes geographically. On page 43, we see many examples of conflicting stories of where things were based (for example, where the ark ends up after the flood).

Literary Analysis:

        3. These documents can show us a lot about the place of literature in the ancient world. In the ancient world Mesopotamian world,  literature was not as holy as in the middle ages. The books were written by schoolboys, and there were many conflicting details signifying lack of care. In the middle ages, books were copied down with a painstaking process and much of the literature was considered holy. So we can conclude that literature in ancient Sumeria was considered more of an entertainment than something serious.