A Manual of Sumerian Grammar and Texts.

• Author: Gadotti, Alhena

A Manual of Sumerian Grammar and Texts. By JOHN L. HAYS. Aids and Research Tools in Ancient Near Eastern Studies, vol. 5. 3rd ed. Malibu, CA: UNDENA PUBLICATIONS, 2018. Pp. vi + 579. $50 (paper).

The third revised and updated edition of J. L. Hays's A Manual of Sumerian Grammar and Texts attests to its popularity among instructors teaching Sumerian language and culture to both undergraduate and graduate audiences. The book is structured in three sections: Part I (pp. 5-32) provides an overview of the Sumerian language. Part II (pp. 33-506) forms the bulk of the work, thirty lessons introducing students to the intricacies of Sumerian language, Mesopotamian culture, and cuneiform writing. Part III (pp. 507-79) contains seven appendixes, which provide the reader with important research tools, bibliographical references, and a brief history of Sumerian. Considering the scope and the size of the volume, it is important to stress that the author manages to make Sumerian accessible to people who have never studied grammar or syntax. There are some problems, which will be addressed in the ensuing paragraphs, but Hays's work remains one of the most useful for teaching Sumerian. Furthermore, the author strives--though he is not always successful--to incorporate the most recent literature on the topics he discusses.

In the introduction, Hays makes an important point: The study of Sumerian is relevant not only to students of the ancient Near East, but also "for those interested in Semitic linguistics [as] Sumerian had a profound influence upon Akkadian--influence upon its phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon" (p. 1). This is often overlooked by scholars and needs to be emphasized, as Hays does, if Assyriolo-gists wish to reach a wider audience and make the study of Mesopotamian languages and culture more popular and relevant in the twenty-first century.

Part 1 reviews the nature of Sumerian, a language isolate written in the cuneiform script. Particularly well taken is Hays's point that--even in recent years--scholars have struggled in attempting to relate Sumerian to another living or dead language (p. 6 with references). It is indeed a challenging task for modern scholars to identify possible connections because, as Hays reminds us, "[t]he 'original homeland' of the Sumerians is not known, nor is it known when the Sumerians arrived in southern Mesopotamia" (p. 6).

In his review of cuneiform. Hays states that "many of our problems in...