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Sumerian Poem Analysis
In this poem the poet is asking the gods a very innocent question that why did the gods plan and create evil, misfortune and suffering. These thoughts of a pessimist poet show how people in that age were ignorant of the might of the deities. They did not completely understand the will and motives of the gods. In that time, people were not to argue or complain to gods of their sufferings, rather they were to plead and lament. The gods would only listen to them if they confessed their sins and wailed in front of them. Although these Godly bodies were thought to be morally and ethically right in their conduct, there were gods in Sumerians civilization who had made the concept of evil, violence and oppression. They had created all the unethical and immoral characteristics of mankind ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"LPsa7IFp","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Kramer and University of Chicago Press.)","plainCitation":"(Kramer and University of Chicago Press.)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":170,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/ZWI66XXU"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/ZWI66XXU"],"itemData":{"id":170,"type":"book","title":"The Sumerians : their history, culture and character","publisher":"The University of Chicago Press","publisher-place":"Chicago; London","source":"http://worldcat.org","archive":"/z-wcorg/","event-place":"Chicago; London","ISBN":"0-226-45237-9","language":"English","author":[{"family":"Kramer","given":"Samuel Noah"},{"literal":"University of Chicago Press."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1972"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Kramer and University of Chicago Press.). So, in order to regulate the behavior of humans, they had to make a system where they judged good and bad. And in such course, this poet asks the God why they had to create this system of evilness.
The poet is also concerned if the gods will pay heed to his wailing and lamenting. The poet being an ordinary human and no king, if prostrated before the God, will his heartfelt prayer be answered? But as it was a generalization that gods were mortal beings with so much on their table that they would be favoring kings and not an individual like himself. It was then when Sumerians contrived that each individual had a personal deity, a good angel, who would be looking after him, that God would be the witness of the individual’s cries and prayers. There is no proof as to how this selection was made but Sumerian poetic essays have been found scribbled on tablets from around 2000 B.C. with unknown poets ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"4vTqMUdr","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Moscati)","plainCitation":"(Moscati)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":169,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/DD659J8F"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/DD659J8F"],"itemData":{"id":169,"type":"webpage","title":"The face of the Ancient Orient : Near Eastern civilization in pre-classical times","abstract":"Examines the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Hittites, Hurrians, Canaanites, Aramaeans, Israelites, and Persians, offers a synthesis of Near Eastern accomplishments in politics, society, literature, and the arts, and presents a wealth of quotations from the little-known writings. 32 halftones, 5 figures, 1 map.","URL":"http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=1900412","language":"Traslated from the Italian original.","author":[{"family":"Moscati","given":"Sabatino."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2012"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Moscati) .
One such writing is this poem “I am a Man” which is the interrogative conversation between man and his God. This poem was written in 2700 B.C., which were the final glory years of the Sumerian civilization. The writer was struggling with difficult trials in his life and so he began to question God about this system of evilness and suffering. He thinks that God has abandoned him. In the start he starts with the ill treatment at the hands of his fellow men whether they were his friends or enemies. Everyone mistreated him and did not treat him with respect. In the following stanzas he continues with lamenting about his ill fate. He then adds a rhetoric request for his folks and fellow poets to do the same and suggests that human beings must confess their mistakes and plea to gods to relieve them of their pain. He says that no matter how much worse happens in life, you must keep glorying your God and wail and pray to him until he listens to you because he will.
The poet does not uses the theological or philosophical argumentation rather he presents his point in the form of a story of an unnamed man who was a respected, wise and a righteous man with lots of friends. But still the suffering takes hold of him and makes him think if he had done something wrong to offend the gods. So, he didn’t argue with gods but came lamenting before the God and said his prayers. To his surprise God did listen to him, He was moved by his commitment and granted him with kindness. His suffering was removed and his sorrows were turned into joy.
The Sumerians beliefs and norms were evolved gradually over centuries based on their social and cultural practices. They thought that the matters of goodness and falsehood were entirely God’s plan and that men only followed the divine orders. According to their own scriptures, they only cherished the truth, justice, freedom, and kindness while they naturally abhorred the evil, injustice and oppression ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"7mQ5IJCy","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Arnold and Beyer)","plainCitation":"(Arnold and Beyer)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":172,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/MCU4QUKW"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/MCU4QUKW"],"itemData":{"id":172,"type":"book","title":"Readings from the ancient Near East : primary sources for Old Testament study","publisher":"Baker Academic","publisher-place":"Grand Rapids, Mich.","source":"http://worldcat.org","archive":"/z-wcorg/","event-place":"Grand Rapids, Mich.","ISBN":"0-8010-2292-4","language":"English","author":[{"family":"Arnold","given":"Bill T."},{"family":"Beyer","given":"Bryan","suffix":""}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2004"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Arnold and Beyer). Kings and queens strongly believed that they must follow God’s orders and maintain law and order among their people. Sumerian civilization had a well-designed system of bureaucracy and administrative measures where poor and weak were protected from the oppressive and abusive powerful people. Some rulers proudly boasted off that they were appointed by the Gods of justice and thus formulated a formal law-code. Sumerian sages believed that he gods too preferred ethical and moral code of conduct and are portrayed as lovers of good, truth and just. Like the sun-God Utu and a Goddess Nanshe were too much devoted to righteousness and mercy ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"onO7FWfa","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Kramer)","plainCitation":"(Kramer)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":171,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/NWZRDCRE"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/OnfrXiA2/items/NWZRDCRE"],"itemData":{"id":171,"type":"article-journal","title":"Sumerian theology and ethics","container-title":"Harvard Theological Review","page":"45-62","volume":"49","issue":"1","author":[{"family":"Kramer","given":"Samuel Noah"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1956"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Kramer). This is why ordinary people who followed and praised their God with all their heart believed in the goodness only. Any ill treatment by fellow human beings made them question their gods of morals. But then at the same time they did realize they had to confess for any wrongdoings and lamenting and praying will remove their misfortunes.
Works Cited
ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Arnold, Bill T., and Bryan Beyer. Readings from the Ancient Near East : Primary Sources for Old Testament Study. Baker Academic, 2004. /z-wcorg/.
Kramer, Samuel Noah. “Sumerian Theology and Ethics.” Harvard Theological Review, vol. 49, no. 1, 1956, pp. 45–62.
Kramer, Samuel Noah, and University of Chicago Press. The Sumerians : Their History, Culture and Character. The University of Chicago Press, 1972. /z-wcorg/.
Moscati, Sabatino. The face of the Ancient Orient : Near Eastern civilization in pre-classical times. 2012, http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=1900412.
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