Babylonian and Assyrian Poetry and Literature Read Aloud

From http://www.soas.ac.uk/baplar

This website collects recordings of modern Assyriologists reading ancient Babylonian and Assyrian poetry and literature aloud in the original language. It is intended to serve several purposes, some for Assyriologists, and some for the wider public. First, it aims to foster interest among students of Babylonia and Assyria in how these civilizations’ works of verbal art were read aloud in the past, and how they should be read aloud today. Second, it provides a forum in which scholars who have theories about Babylonian and Assyrian pronunciation, meter, etc. can present a concrete example of how their theories sound in practice. Third, as a record of the ways in which contemporary scholars read Babylonian and Assyrian, it will some day serve a historical function. Finally, but not least, the questions which students of ancient languages most frequently hear from laymen are: "How did they sound? And how do you know?" This website is meant to serve as an introduction to these issues, providing the public with some idea of how modern Assyriologists think Babylonian and Assyrian were pronounced.

Access the website at http://www.soas.ac.uk/baplar