Sumerian Liturgies and Psalms

Sumerian Liturgies and Psalms
Stephen Langdon
Professor of Assyriology
at Oxford University
Philadelphia
Published by The University Museum
1919

With the publication of the texts included in this the last part of volume X, Sumerian Liturgical and Epical Texts, the writer arrives at a definite stage in the interpretation of the religious material in the Nippur collection. Having been privileged to examine the collection in Philadelphia as well as that in Constantinople, I write with a sense of responsibility in giving to the public a brief statement concerning what the temple library of ancient Nippur really contained. Omitting the branches pertaining to history, law, grammar and mathematics, the following résumé is limited to those tablets which, because of their bearing upon the history of religion, especially upon the origins of Hebrew religion, have attracted the attention of the public on two continents to the collections of the University Museum.
When our studies shall have reached the stage which renders appropriate the collection of these texts into a special corpus they will receive their due valuation in the history of religion. That they are of prime importance is universally accepted.
Oxford, July 9, 1919.