Sumerian Wisdom Literature: A Preliminary Survey

The field of Sumerian literature is no "strange pasture " to William Albright. Among his earliest scholarly contributions there are several devoted to one or another of the Sumerian literary works,1 and even his latest writings reveal a keen interest in this field of research. It is therefore a pleasure and a privilege to present on the occasion of Albright's sixtieth birthday the following preliminary survey of one of the Sumerian literary genres, that commonly known as " wisdom." Brief and summary as the sketch is, it should prove not without value to the interested student and scholar and provide them with some idea of the promise which Sumerian wisdom literature holds for their future researches. Up until some twenty years ago, practically nothing was known about Sumerian " wisdom." But little relevant material had been copied and published, and even that little remained largely unrecognized and misinterpreted. It is only in recent years, as a result of the publication of five volumes filled with copies of Sumerian literary texts,2 and with the help of much of the still unpublished part of the Nippur literary collection of the University Museum that a deeper insight into the character and variety of the Sumerian wisdom compositions has become possible.3 Thus it can now be seen that Sumerian " wisdom" consists of five categories: 4 (1) proverbs; (2) miniature essays; (3) instructions and precepts; (4) essays concerned with the Mesopotamian school and scribe; (5) disputes and debates.