When this book first appeared in 1944, Sumerian mythol-
ogy was virtually terra incognita in cuneiform studies and
Oriental research. To be sure, there were hundreds of tablets
and fragments inscribed with Sumerian mythological tales
lying about in museum drawers, and quite a number of them
had been copied and published in the preceding half century
by various scholars. But because of the fragmentary nature
of most of the published pieces, not to mention their abundant
linguistic difficulties and ambiguities, no adequate translation,
interpretation, and synthesis was possible. The preparation
and publication of Sumerian Mythology followed a decade of
intensive study of the unpublished Sumerian literary tablets
and fragments in the Museum of the Ancient Orient in Istan-
bul and the University Museum of the University of Pennsyl-
vania in Philadelphia, many of which were first identified,
transliterated, and copied by the writer. On the whole, the
book has stood the test of time; it is still a trustworthy and
useful compendium for both scholar and layman. However,
close to three decades have now elapsed since its first printing.
The accumulation of new texts and deeper insights into the
old, resulting from numerous contributions by various schol-
ars, ¹ make some corrigenda and addenda essential. ² In this
enlarged preface prepared especially for the present edition
of the book, I shall try to bring its contents up to date with
the help of the most recent, and hopefully, most trustworthy,
translations of the relevant Sumerian literary documents.

Cosmology and cosmogony. As yet no Sumerian myth
concerned primarily with the creation of the universe has been
unearthed, and the résumé of the Sumerian cosmological
assumptions and cosmogonic concepts on pages 40 - 41 still
stands but requires some explanatory and qualifying
comment. ³

-xi-