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A review by dutchlee
Enuma Elish: Volume 2: The Seven Tablets of Creation; The Babylonian and Assyrian Legends Concerning the Creation of the World and by Leonard W. King
3.0
I am no expert on the Enuma Elish but have enjoyed reading it. One day I came across this 2-volume work in an used book store and decided to buy it (my review is of both volumes).
This 2-volume work is a republished work from King, originally published in 1902. King provides a new transliteration and translation of the Enuma Elish, along with a long introduction on the text. While some of his views are now outdated, I still found it interesting. Although King had published the newest and most comprehensive translation of his time with previously unknown portions of the text, there is still quite a bit of missing parts in his version due to the Enuma Elish only consisting of fragments. In the last 100 years archeology has uncovered much more so that only the 5th tablet still has some unknown areas. This unfortunately means that those who wish to read the fullest account of the Enuma Elish will not find it here but must turn to more recent translations.
Nonetheless, King's text is interesting, not just for its translation, but also for its transliteration of the original text, it's long introduction that provides a commentary on the text, and its companion volume that includes several additional features including other relevant ancient stories for interpreting the Enuma Elish, ancient Assyrian commentaries on the Enuna Elish, pictures of some unpublished tablets, and pictures of the seven tablets. Oddly, they decided the second volume in a different order than King's book originally was published in. Appendix 2 occurs before the preface and appendix 1. In this second volume, King only translates the bigger texts into English. Thus, the ancient Assyrian commentaries are unfortunately not readable for the non-scholar.
While those interested in just the translation of the Enuma Elish would benefit more from a recent translation, those interested in further details will find here a good early twentieth-century primer on this text.
Rated 3 stars (I liked it; it was good)
This 2-volume work is a republished work from King, originally published in 1902. King provides a new transliteration and translation of the Enuma Elish, along with a long introduction on the text. While some of his views are now outdated, I still found it interesting. Although King had published the newest and most comprehensive translation of his time with previously unknown portions of the text, there is still quite a bit of missing parts in his version due to the Enuma Elish only consisting of fragments. In the last 100 years archeology has uncovered much more so that only the 5th tablet still has some unknown areas. This unfortunately means that those who wish to read the fullest account of the Enuma Elish will not find it here but must turn to more recent translations.
Nonetheless, King's text is interesting, not just for its translation, but also for its transliteration of the original text, it's long introduction that provides a commentary on the text, and its companion volume that includes several additional features including other relevant ancient stories for interpreting the Enuma Elish, ancient Assyrian commentaries on the Enuna Elish, pictures of some unpublished tablets, and pictures of the seven tablets. Oddly, they decided the second volume in a different order than King's book originally was published in. Appendix 2 occurs before the preface and appendix 1. In this second volume, King only translates the bigger texts into English. Thus, the ancient Assyrian commentaries are unfortunately not readable for the non-scholar.
While those interested in just the translation of the Enuma Elish would benefit more from a recent translation, those interested in further details will find here a good early twentieth-century primer on this text.
Rated 3 stars (I liked it; it was good)