Babylonian wisdom literature

In Babylonian studies 'Wisdom' is used to cover a group of texts similar in scope to the Biblical Wisdom books: discussions on the problem of suffering, teaching on the good life, fables or contest literature, and proverbs.

These texts are not only of considerable literary merit, but are also of great importance to all students of the ancient Near East as revealing the thought pattern of the ancient Babylonians.

The cuneiform texts have been copied direct from the tablets and are accompanied by both transliteration and translation.

An introductory chapter describes the cosmological background against which the works are to be set.

Philological notes and a glossary complete the volume.This book was originally published by Oxford University Press in 1960.

It is being reprinted by Oxford University Press in 2003 for Oxbow Books, Oxford, and Powell's Books, Chicago.