The natural and cultural elements in the Sumerian Temple Hymns with special reference to the Kesh Temple Hymn

Abstract

The Sumerian Temple Hymns are a genre that hymns temples seen as cosmic houses in ancient Sumer. The concept of a normal house lay behind the thought process that leads to the building of temples. The ancient people of Mesopotamia used this concept of the house as a metaphor called the building- and filling topos. The metaphor of the house lay behind the building of the great temples. This could be understood from the architecture in structures such as the temple platforms, the monumental nature of the temple and the sacred furniture. All of this can be deduced from the study of archaeology. Ancient Mesopotamians utilized the same concept in the literature. Literature such as the Kesh Temple Hymn therefore, expressed in literature exactly what the archaeology informs us that the ancients built in brick and mortar.