Noah's Ark and the Ziusudra Epic: Sumerian Origins of the Flood Myth Review

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(More customer reviews)This book examines six versions of an ancient flood legend (The Ziusudra Epic, The Atrahasis Epic, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Genesis 6-9, The Berossus History, and The Moses of Khoren. The author begins by listing phases and words common to each version, to demonstrate they are related and have a common origin. He then extracts the plausible and possible portions of each legend and removes the mythical (physically impossible or highly improble) elements. He draws upon archeological evidence of actual historical events, sites, and persons, examines early numbering systems, and the various meanings of key words in early written languages. The result: a very realistic, readable, and convincing reconstruction of the flood myth.
The author attributes the Noah story to a six day flood on the Euphrates River, around 2900BC. Noah (Ziusudra, a known king of the Sumerian city-state Shuruppak) and his family are swept down the river into the Persian Gulf on Noah's commercial river barge. They drift for nearly a year and eventually ground in an estuary near the mouth of the river.
This book is the most convincing and plausible account of the Noah legend I have read, or ever expect to read. The author examines every detail of the legend, and shows how mistranslations of key words and phrases led to faulty modern interpretations, such as the ark grounding on Mt. Ararat.
Also included is an analysis of the ages of Noah and the other antediluvians. Again, the author is totally convincing. This book is a scientific "tour de force". The author sifts through a mountain of information and extracts its essence ... what REALLY happened to Noah.
This book should be read by anyone interested in biblical history including (1) creationists, who may be disappointed, (2) those who are wasting their time searching for an ark on Mt. Aratat, (3) advocates of the Black Sea innundation theory, and even (4) biblical skeptics, who will discover the story is not so farfetched as it seems!

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This is a reconstruction of a lost story about a Sumerianking named Ziusudra, later known as Noah, who was king of thecity-state Shuruppak about 2900 BC when a local river flood submergedhis city.This book combines six surviving ancient versions of theflood story, separates the myth from the legend, and determines whatthe ark was, where it grounded (not on Mt. Ararat), where the floodhero sacrificed to the gods, and what he did afterwards.

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The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character (Phoenix Books) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book was originally written as an addition to Kramer's previous work "History begins at Sumer". Eventually, however, a revised version of "History begins at Sumer" was published and incorporated a lot of material from "The Sumerians". Consequently, readers who have already become acquainted with "History begins at Sumer" may experience a bit of deja vu when reading the present book. For example, the chapters on Sumerian literature, education, and character contain extensive overlap with Kramer's other work. Despite this fact, Kramer's excellent discussion of Sumerian history, society and religion in "The Sumerians" still makes this book well-worth reading. As an added bonus, the appendix contains the Sumerian king list, the Code of Lipit-Ishtar (a forerunner of Hammurabi), and numerous other interesting translations.
I disagree with previous reviewers who claim that Kramer was prejudiced against the Sumerians and considered them to be inferior to their Semitic heirs. Indeed, if anything, I would say that Kramer emphasizes the legacy left by the Sumerians and the mark that they left behind on Semitic culture. The last chapter considers this subject in greater detail and also provides some interesting parallels between Sumerian culture and the Bible. Regardless of the negative criticism, "The Sumerians" is a great introduction to the history and culture of this ancient civilization and is worth checking out.

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The Sumerians, the pragmatic and gifted people who preceded the Semites in the land first known as Sumer and later as Babylonia, created what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man, spanning the fifth to the second millenniums B.C. This book is an unparalleled compendium of what is known about them.Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world."There are few scholars in the world qualified to write such a book, and certainly Kramer is one of them. . . . One of the most valuable features of this book is the quantity of texts and fragments which are published for the first time in a form available to the general reader. For the layman the book provides a readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture. For the specialist it presents a synthesis with which he may not agree but from which he will nonetheless derive stimulation."—American Journal of Archaeology"An uncontested authority on the civilization of Sumer, Professor Kramer writes with grace and urbanity."—Library Journal

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Civilization Before Greece and Rome Review

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(More customer reviews)Saggs provides those "ancient civilization" classes with a fairly balanced account of pre-Greek civilization. However because of the wide scope of the book, it is nearly impossible to be thorough in any one culture. Thus it should be used to supplement the lecture and other research and not as the sole means of teaching about the ancient world.

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