State Archives of Assyria Cuneiform Texts - SAACT IV
Enuma Elish
Long anticipated, this edition of the Enuma Elish contains an introduction, facsimile cuneiform text based on texts from Assurbanipal's library, and a transliteration. To assist the student, it also includes a sign list with a translation and glossary in French.
State Archives of Assyria Cuneiform Texts (SAACT) contains facsimile cuneiform texts based on texts from Assurbanipal's library. The discovery of this library by Hormuzd Rassam in the middle of the nineteenth century was the first great milepost of the infant discipline of Assyriology. Even now, a century and a half later, it remains the single most important group of texts discovered in Mesopotamia. Documents from the library concern almost every aspect of ancient Mesopotamian history and culture. Most of these texts, as distinct from the State Archives of Assyria, are written in Babylonian and include the gems of Mesopotamian literature and science. It is hoped that eventually all the texts from this library will be published in SAACT.
The production of SAACT volumes proceeds from a transliteration prepared by the editor. The transliteration, in the format of the CNA database, is converted back to the original cuneiform signs by software conversion programs. Variant codes in the transliteration allow the proper signform to be selected. The transliteration is also converted in the same manner as for SAA volumes into a standard Assyriological format for publication along with the reconstituted cuneiform. A glossary and indices of names are generated from the transliteration as for SAA volumes.
