Sumerian Liturgies and Psalms

by Stephen Langdon

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204 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 17, 2011

About the author

Stephen Herbert Langdon was an American-born British Assyriologist. Born to George Knowles and Abigail Hassinger Langdon in Monroe, Michigan, Langdon studied at the University of Michigan, participating in Phi Beta Kappa and earning an A. B. in 1898 and an A. M. in 1899. Following this he went to New York's Union Theological Seminary, graduating in 1903, and then on to Columbia University to obtain a Ph.D. in 1904. Langdon then became a fellow of Columbia in France (1904-1906), during which time he was ordained as a deacon of the Church of England (1905) in Paris. Subsequently he moved to Oxford University in England, becoming a Shillito reader in Assyriology in 1908, a British citizen in 1913, and after the retirement of Archibald Sayce, a Professor of Assyriology in 1919. However, in 1916, when World War I had diminished the size of his classes in England, he spent some time at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, serving as the curator of its Babylonian section.

Reviews

[Aaron Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book consists of a number of transliterated and for the most part translated cuniform tablets of the liturgical and psalm type. The translations were interesting in their own right, but I was most drawned to the couple about Inanna-Ishtar. The last two sections pertaining Babylonian cult symbols and magical associations were particularly fascinating. I only wish the texts were in better condition, perhaps they have been able to flesh them out more by now. The reading of all the texts can be rather tedious for there is a great deal of repetition throughout the material, but within it all there are some insightful things.

[Naomi Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely not a beginner text. I found it enjoyable. The introduction of the liturgies and psalms were informative and the footnotes were useful (although, on my edition the footnotes weren't working where you could click through, which was frustrating). It really piqued my interest in Sumerian religious practices. I had not heard about the Earth Mother cult and I'm curious to look more into that. A very useful glimpse into the religious life of the Sumerians.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. I wish there had been more that was known for the translations, but overall I enjoyed the glimpse of history.