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[NightMare-Ryder]

Seeing as I have finished my favortie series and have nothing else to read yet, do any of you lovely people out there have any good books about different pantheons? Greek/Roman are easy to find but when I look to research other cultures divine beings, I usually end up with a stuffy anthology (Although I do love reading those too )
I really wanna learn about mesopotamian gods/ddesses but have yet to find many books about that civilization at all (Stupid history, getting all buried under sand.)
Do you remember a book you read about a different culture's faith that was mostly about their myths? Please tell me!

[dark magus]

You could start with the Epic of Gilgamesh

[Earthbound Spirit]

The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley

[NightMare-Ryder]

thanks!

[Mountain_Mamma]

Yes.. What EBS said, The mists of Avalon, great read... And they didn't do bad on the movie either.  But as with all books that become movies, read the book first.

 

[NightMare-Ryder]

Yes.. What EBS said, The mists of Avalon, great read... And they didn't do bad on the movie either.  But as with all books that become movies, read the book first.

of course! I totally agree...I learned that the hard way with Eragon...watched the movie first cuz I'm a hipster and didnt wanna read the books. I tried to read the first one and I totally didnt get what was happening. However I did manage to read the second without too much trouble.

[wolfstormmoon]

i bought world complete mythologies. it a big book about 40 bucks but it covers the whole world.

[oldghost]

NightMare- Ryder , you might want to contact  The Folklore Society and see what the recommend . They used to do book reviews.

[nettlegrrl]

I don't know if you already have the information you need (since the original post is from 2011), but I still figured I would give it my input. It might help someone, if you are already covered. *smiles*

Book examples:

Sumer and the Sumerians
By Harriet Crawford
A book written for students about Sumer.

Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, The Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others
By Stephanie Dalley
The title says it all, Myths of Mesopotamia. Based more on Akkadian sources rather than Sumerian.

The Literature of Ancient Sumer
The late Jeremy Black, Graham Cunningham, Eleanor Robson, Gábor Zólyomi
A book about Sumerian literature. Expensive as hell, I'm still saving to buy this one.

I've found that when you are using a book written about Sumerian religion as a source, you have to make sure that writer actually knows what they are talking about. There are surprisingly many books written by people, who have very little or no knowledge at all about the society and culture of Sumer. They just take myths and their own assumptions of what it was like back then and make their interpretations based on that. So, I prefer to use books that have a lot of information and historical facts (or are accurate translations of historical texts). But it's just my personal preference.

Other source examples:

http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/edition2/etcslbycat.php
That's a site hosting translated Sumerian text's that some feature the most important Gods and Goddesses of their religion. The text are quite fragmented, but it still is a good free source.

http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1116&context=stu_hon_theses
A Journey Into the Land of No Return: Death Attitudes and Perceptions of Death and Afterlife in Ancient Near Eastern Literature
By Leah Whitehead Craig
Thesis. I find that source lists in academic works are quite useful. And of course, I usually read the actual papers too.

http://www.sumerian.org/sumerlex.htm
Sumerian Lexicon. A language resource. There's also a print book by the same author (Sumerian Lexicon: A Dictionary Guide to the Ancient Sumerian Language by John A. Halloran), which in my opinion is easier and more comfortable to use than the online source. But if you don't want to pay around 50 pounds, then I'd say go with the free source.

[marisol]

nettlegrrl I looked for your introduction, would you tell us about yourself a little?

[oldghost]

Yes nettlegrrl , that way we can welcome you . Good list of books by the way.
 
Here another one by Graham Cunningham you should read
 
" Deliver Me From Evil ; Mesopotamian Incantations 2500-1500BC "

[nettlegrrl]

I apologize for the off-topic, but I wanted to let marisol and oldghost know that I have now posted an introduction. *smiles*

[marisol]

And I did read it, Thank-you.

[oldghost]

I also read it .