Babylon & Sumer Myths & Legends

Tales from a crucible of civilization – the pocket between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers where language, astronomy, religion and mythology grew from some of the earliest cultures known to humankind. Undiscovered until 200 years ago, the stories, hymns and ancient king lists of Sumer and Babylon reveal a rich culture of city states, each with their own gods and tales of floods, adventures, the heavens and the netherworld. From myths of creation and love, and tales of Nisaba (Goddess of Writing) and Inana (or Ishtar), to stories of Everyday Folk and the famous Epic of Gilgamesh, this brand new collection offers lively and evocative tales retold by contemporary storytellers Fiona Collins and June Peters, and introduced by expert Professor Martin Worthington.

Fiona Collins (co-author) is a storyteller and author. She has a long-standing interest in the stories of Ancient Sumer, and was a founder member of Zipang, the storytelling company specializing in stories from Mesopotamia, told in English for modern audiences. Zipang worked closely with Professor Jeremy Black’s Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. She lives in Wales and has published books of Welsh folktales in English and Welsh.

June Peters (co-author) is a storyteller and author. She was chair of the Society for Storytelling in the UK. She is a member of the Enheduanna Society and Zipang Performers, which promote the history, culture and literature of ancient Iraq. Her performances of Mesopotamian stories can be heard in the Zipang Recording Project online. She has published three books of folktales.

Martin Worthington (Introduction) is Professor in Middle Eastern Studies at Trinity College Dublin. He directed the world's first Babylonian-language film and is currently, with Mark Chetwood, writing The Cambridge Introduction to Sumerian. His book Ea's Duplicity in the Gilgamesh Flood Story and his paper 'Sargon's Riddle' attracted international media coverage.