2009/01/01 by Alfonso Archi · 3 citations
Arts and Humanities · #Ancient Near East History #Linguistics and language evolution #Ancient Egypt and Archaeology #Orality #EPIC #History #Composition (language) #Literature #Active listening #Oral tradition #Narrative #Direct speech #Linguistics #Art #Communication #Philosophy #Sociology #Literacy
paper · doi:10.1524/aofo.2009.0012
openalex publication_date 2009/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
The so-called Kumarbi Cycle was not a closed system. To it belonged compositions of different periods and places. The Song of Kumarbi, and perhaps that of Ea and the Beast, were composed in Eastern Syria, under the influence of the Babylonian epic. All the other songs are later, and composed in Western Syria; the Song of KAL/LAMMA had its origin probably in Karkamiš. They had not educational purposes, in the sense that they were not used to train younger scribe. It is argued that they were recited in some religious occasions and fulfilled the common need of narrating and listening. The extensive use of direct speech in such songs responded to the requirements of an oral performance, but does not necessarily reflect techniques of oral composition. Keywords: Orality ; Direct Speech ; Kumarbi Cycle ; Eastern Syria Published Online: 2010-04-16 Published in Print: 2009-12 © by Akademie Verlag, Berlin, Germany