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Comment by sir_eliah | Hacker News Reader

For anyone interested in learning Sumerian, there is really nice introduction "Learn to Read Ancient Sumerian"[0] by J. Bowen and M. Lewis, which gives you rough ability to understand some grammar and also read cuneiform. It's extremely niche topic and I can guarantee that you'll have absolutely no use for this knowledge[1], but if you're into learning exotic languages, this can be fun. At least it was for me.

[0] https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Read-Ancient-Sumerian-Introduct...

[1] To some extent you can see the same cuneiform symbols in later Akkadian texts, but forget about the grammar.

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I've been warned by a Sumerologist that the book is idiosyncratic. It does seem to be the only in-print and inexpensive option aimed at amateur scholars.

More mainstream options:

Hayes, John. A Manual of Sumerian Grammar and Texts. A teaching grammar for the beginner. In print, but quite expensive.

Edzard, D.O. Sumerian Grammar. A reference grammar rather than a teaching grammar with exercises and the like. It's really good if you already have some familiarity with linguistics. It's in print and inexpensive.

Thomsen, Marie-Louise. The Sumerian Language: An Introduction to Its History and Grammatical Structure. A reference grammar. Out of print but available on the high seas.

All three of those are on libgen just so you know

Thanks for the suggestions! By the way, what exactly did you mean by saying that the book is idiosyncratic?

I'm sorry I can't add much more detail as I'm no expert and I'm paraphrasing an off-hand comment I heard around the time the book was published. The short of it is that Bowen & Lewis seem to take grammatical positions at odds with the rest of the field. This doesn't necessarily mean they're wrong. As you are likely aware, the Sumerian language is poorly understood and there's plenty of disagreement among Sumerologists.

There's also a video series to go along with the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTle8uT7NEM&list=PLmXNllWcFF...

Do you know if the original of the joke can be seen in Sumerian writing? (some picture). Also, do you think it could have been a pun?

I don't know about original clay tablet on which this was written, but it can be found through the original publication I think: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1359157, if someone has access to JSTOR.

About the interpretation, I myself understand only the:

/igi nu-mu-un-du[8]/ - "I don't see anything"

The rest is a bit above my level. But check this alternative interpretation of this joke: https://twitter.com/abbyfheld/status/1501880993833054208

A friend of mine was taking Akkadian or Sumerian (I can’t remember which) and described the wide range of possible correct translations of a text with a story from class.

One student said it was a receipt for the sale of a cow. The prof said that was one real possibility. Another said it was a love poem. Prof agreed again. :shrug:

But my favorite translation disagreement is from the Epic of Gilgamesh, I think, where one man insists the proper translation of a line is “the lords of the land of the blazing rockets.”

> One student said it was a receipt for the sale of a cow. The prof said that was one real possibility. Another said it was a love poem. Prof agreed again.

Isn't this the plot of "Foucault's Pendulum?"

There's also a comment on that alternative interpretation here: https://twitter.com/LinManuelRwanda/status/15058362781090611...

> you'll have absolutely no use for this knowledge

I've heard that "bitches love Sanskrit" https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/02/06/we-are-only-tr...

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