Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature

Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature allows a glimpse of a world with a sexual culture and erotic values very different from our own, through exploration of the earliest preserved written evidence on the subject - the Sumero-Akkadian cuneiform sources of the 21st to 5th centuries BC. Drawing on sophisticated and astonishing literary texts - courtly love poems and bridal songs, myths, narratives and incantations - Gwendolyn Leick uncovers a fascinating range of perspectives on the subject of passion and pleasure. The reader is treated to eloquent and freely-expressed views on topics from prostitution, love magic and deviant sexual practice to gender, fertiloty and potency. This revealing and candid volume celebrates a wealth of erotic material from one of the world's earliest literate civilisations, and encompasses archaeological, religious, historical, anthropological and gender-based themes and approaches. It will be of interest to students and teachers in all these disciplines.

ISBN 0415311616   Pages 336 ISBN13 9780415311618 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd   Weight (grammes) 467 Imprint Routledge   Published in London Format Paperback   Height (mm) 216 Publication date 17 Apr 2003   Width (mm) 138 Library of Congress PJ4047   Spine width (mm) 15 DEWEY 899.95093538   Academic level Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Professional / Scholarly DEWEY edition DC21

		List of plates
		Preface
		Acknowledgements
		Notes for non-Assyriologist readers
		Abbreviations
		Chronological chart
		Map
		Introduction		1
Pt. I		The Sumero-Akkadian tradition of the third and early second millennia
1		The Cosmological Articulation of Sexuality		11
2		Masculine Sexuality in Sumerian Literature		21
3		Enki and Ninhursaga: A Myth of Male Lust?		30
4		From Adolescence to Maturity: The Myth of Enlil and Ninlil		42
5		Phallicism in Sumerian Literature		48
6		Femininity and Eroticism in Sumerian Literature		55
7		The Bridal Songs		64
8		Inanna and her Brother		80
9		Inanna Rejoicing in her Vulva		90
10		'My Consort, Maid Inanna, Lady, Voluptuousness of Heaven and Earth'		97
11		'Words of Seduction': Courtly Love Poetry		111
12		The Rites of Divine Love		130
13		'L'amour Libre or Sacred Prostitution?		147
14		Liminal Sexuality: Eunuchs, Homosexuals and the Common Prostitute		157
Pt. II		Sources from the later second and first millennia
15		Eroticism in Akkadian Literature		173
16		Ballads, Hymns and Dialogues: Akkadian Love Poetry		180
17		Love Magic and Potency Incantations		193
		More...

'In this excellent study, Gwendolyn Leick presents an extensive body of Sumerian an dAkkadian cuneiform poems, magic spells, myths and stories bearing on a wide range of sexual themes.' - Antiquity

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