fandomhigh | World Mythology - Monday, January 28th

As usual, Ghani was seated on her desk as the class began, feet swinging slightly as she waited for her students to arrive.

Once everyone was seated, she launched right into the lecture. "Today we go back to the cradle of civilization, and no, I do not mean the Greeks. The Greeks are overrated." Coming from a woman directly descended from Agamemnon, that was saying something. "Instead, we look at the Mesopotamian mythologies."

"Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the area currently known as Iraq." Hopping off her desk, Ghani began wandering the room, passing out her Handouts of Doom.

"The Sumerians practiced a polytheistic religion, with anthropomorphic deities representing forces or presences in the world, in much the same way as later Greek mythology. According to the Sumerians, the gods originally created humans as servants for themselves but freed them when they became too much to handle," Ghanima said, grinning. "That's right, boys and girls, we're too much trouble for the beings that created the universe. Isn't that a happy thought?"

"Many stories in Sumerian religion appear similar to stories in other Middle-Eastern religions. For example, the Biblical account of the creation of man as well as Noah's flood resemble the Sumerian tales very closely, though the Sumerian myths were written many centuries earlier than the Tanakh . Gods and Goddesses from Sumer have distinctly similar representations in the religions of the Akkadians, Caananites, and many others. A number of stories and deities have Greek parallels as well; for example, Inanna's descent into the underworld is strikingly similar to the story of Persephone, and pre-dates the Greek version by a goodly amount. That's right, the Greeks are dirty culture thieves. However, you should have already known that."

"The Babylonian canon is largely derived from Sumerian mythology

. This was written in Akkadian

, a Semitic

language, using cuneiform script

on clay tablets. Most texts known today are copies made in scribal schools

by student scribes , likely at a time when Akkadian was no longer the spoken language in Babylonia and serious belief in the myths had faded amongst educated

people. Some Babylonian texts were even translations into Akkadian from the Sumerian language

of earlier texts, though the names of some deities were changed in Babylonian texts. Some Babylonian deities and myths are unique to that culture, however, such as the god Marduk

and the Enûma Elish, a creation epic."

"You should all now have in your handouts a few different versions of Inanna's descent into the Underworld. I'd like you to pair up and discuss the differences with a partner, and decide which story resonates the most with you. We'll then come back together as a class and discuss the Inanna story together."

[as always, ~~please to be waiting for my~~ OCD is good to go! Read forth and learn! Text unapologetically cribbed from multiple sources. Entertain yourselves, as I have to teach real live students today, and response time may vary. Ah, wee-tiny newbie grad students. How I adore you.]

World Mythology - Monday, January 28th - 2th Period

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