The depiction of the intellectual life of ancient Mesopotamia demonstrates that the roots of Western civilization are found in the ancient Near East. The book "The Treasures of Darkness" is the culmination of a lifetime's work, an attempt to summarize and recreate the spiritual life of ancient Mesopotamia. Jacobsen has succeeded brilliantly, and his extensive experience is evident on every page of this unique work, through the vivid, new translations that result from years of careful research. Anyone interested in early Mesopotamia, whether they are experts or lay readers, should read this book, which is simply authentic and extremely well-written.

Professor Jacobsen is an authority on Sumerian life and society, but he is primarily a philologist of rare sensitivity. "The Treasures of Darkness" is dedicated almost entirely to textual evidence, with the grayest sources of archaeological knowledge rarely mentioned. He introduces many new translations that are much more nuanced than previous versions. Simply reading this poetry and the author's sympathetic commentary is a pleasure and a revelation. Professor Jacobsen accepts the assumption that every religion originates from man's experience of a power that does not belong to this world, a mysterious ‘Wholly Other’. This sacred power cannot be described in terms of worldly experience, but only with allegories that serve as means of communication in religious teaching and thought.

A fascinating book, which cannot disappoint the general reader, as it contains translated excerpts of Sumerian poetry throughout, especially those illustrating the cycle of courtship, marriage, and lamentation for the premature death of the god Dumuzi-Inanna. Many of these translations are not repetitions, even for specialists, and will bear fruit with detailed study.

Pages: 288, Publication Year: 0910, Dimensions: 15.6x15.6cm