influenced . . .

Jim Spinti has tagged me to list the 5 primary sources most influential on my scholarship meme (started by Kevin Scull). The meme has the following caveats:

1.) List the 5 primary sources that have most affected your scholarship, thoughts about antiquity, and/or understanding of the NT/OT.

2.) Books from the Bible are off limits unless you really want to list one, I certainly will not chastise you for it.

3.) Finally, choose individual works if you can. This will be more interesting than listing the entire corpus of Cicero as one of your choices.

I'd honestly have a very difficult time listing "individual works" rather than corpi . . . for the most part, I work with large bodies of texts . . . I can't very well list, say, YBC 09862 . . . that's just one small piece of a larger collection . . . but if I can, I certainly will.

1. The corpus of lamentations out of CLAM (Canonical Lamentations of Ancient Mesopotamia . . . a collection of balaĝ laments), Sumerian Hymnology: The Eršemma, and the 5 primary City Laments (Ur, Sumer and Ur, Uruk, Eridu, Nippur). This was my first extended foray into Sumerian literature and what cemented my desire to work in Assyriology.
   
2. The collection of Inana-Dumuzi songs in Love Songs in Sumerian Literature. This was actually my first major attempt at reading Sumerian literature for a research purpose. I was doing an analysis of a particular metaphor (love like alcoholic drink) in ANE love songs and was most engrossed with these songs of the shepherd and the woman/goddess he woos (of course, I got even more of the Inana-Dumuzi story once I started reading the eršemmas).
3. Schooldays . . . I first read this in Sam Kramer's History Begins at Sumer . . . I think it's one of the very first texts he discusses. I realize that book is woefully outdated and written for a broader audience, but when I read it, I was that broader audience . . . I was a student of the Hebrew Bible trying to dip into the wider cultural milleau . . . reading Kramer's book made me want to learn more about Sumer and Mesopotamia in general. This text was the hook that I remember. Even more, it gave me a nice glimpse into scribal education (or at least one view on it) . . . an interest which has yet to leave me.
4. The Tetrad . . . of the works on this list, this is the one I've worked on the latest. The Tetrad--Lipit-Ishtar B, Iddin-Dagan B, Enlil-Bani A, Nisaba A--was a scribe's first exposure to literary texts (following the phase of elementary education including lexical lists, sign lists, proverbs, and model contracts). These four hymns have a wonderful myriad of grammatical forms and constructions utilized in educating Akkadian-speaking scribes in Sumerian grammar . . . they're pretty useful for English(and other modern languages)-speaking students as well.
5. The corpus of legal texts from Hellenistic Uruk (found on HBTIN) . . . I'll admit it's strange that I would count this on this list (after all, I thought that Mesopotamian history stops at 330 BCE . . . [at least according to most major history books]). However, prior to my exposure to these texts, my research was almost exclusively linguistic and literary in nature . . . never really historical. Moreover, I've always loathed reading legal texts (for reasons related to my noted research interests). But being a part of this project has made me appreciate the value of administrative texts for historical reconstruction as well as the use and craftsmanship of seals. Furthermore, it's working on these texts that's shown me the value of computational linguistics on a particular corpus. Yes, it's still somewhat painful to read about prebend sales or quitclaims, but now that I actually perceive value . . .

There are several others that I really wanted to put on this list, so these quick notes are bonuses: Ba'al Cycle (you mean Yahweh isn't the only god who does this stuff?), Laws of Hammurapi (where I cut my Akkadian teeth), Enuma Elish (where I sharpened my Akkadian teeth and converted to Mardukism . . . ), ŠÀ.ZI.GA incantations (how can you not like ancient Viagra?), OB Izbu (divination isn't all about the inner eye and reading tea leaves . . . after reading Izbu, I actually found I loved omens), Amarna letters (cheers for West Semitic Akkadian!), Nanše and the Birds (er . . . actually listing this would just be for sucking up . . . I've never actually read the whole text), Psalms and Lamentations (my two favorite biblical books for many many reasons), Ammon Citadel inscription (I'm not sure why, but I really enjoyed this text), Curse of Agade (there's nothing like finding someone to blame for a fall from power), 1Q Pesher Hab, 1QM (War Scroll), and I've never read a letter from any ANE culture or period I didn't like (er . . . nevermind . . . some of the OB letters in UCP 9 are a major pain . . . but only because they're a mess . . . for the most part they're fascinating).

And to prove I don't only read stuff from the ANE, First Enoch (the first non-canonical [depending on one's tradition, I suppose] biblical text I ever read . . . and a thrillride to boot), Judith, The Illiad, Thucydides, The Aeneid, Augustine's Confessions and City of God, Martyrdom of Ignatius, Against Heresies, Caesar's Gallic Wars, and Marcus Aurelius' Meditations