The literary genre of Mesopotamian Naru Literature first appeared in the region around the second millennium BCE and the stories not only became very popular, but seemed to replace the actual historical events in the minds of the people. Naru literature featured a famous person, usually a king, as the main character, and the stories often concerned the relationship between humans and the gods.
These stories are written as first-person accounts of significant events, and from them, the audience is meant to learn something important, whether that be the meaning of some historical event, a religious moral, cultural value, or any other lesson that the audience may have benefited from. The term naru was originally used for boundary stones, memorial stones, and monuments and, at the beginning of the second millennium, tablets that were used for building inscriptions and tablets that accompanied gifts were also called naru.
Hello and welcome to World History Encyclopedia. My name is Kelly and today's video is all about
the popular literary genre from ancient Mesopotamia known as Naru literature,
which was essentially the world's first historical fiction. We're also going to look
into the meaning of a story about a king who is humbled by an invading army, only to learn to
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or via the Patreon link down below. The literary genre of Mesopotamian Naru
literature first appeared in the region around the second millennium BCE, and the stories not
only became very popular, but seemed to replace the actual historical events in the minds of the
people. Naru literature featured a famous person, usually a king, as the main character, and the
stories often concerned the relationship between humans and the gods. These stories are written as
first-person accounts of significant events, and from them the audience is meant to learn
something important, whether that be the meaning of some historical event, a religious moral,
cultural value, or any other lesson which the audience may have benefited from.
The writers of Naru literature are mostly anonymous, so they must have staked their
immortality on the popularity of the tales, without the need to attach their names to the work.
Although, it's also possible that they may have signed them, and the original tablets have just
been lost. The term Naru was originally used for boundary stones, memorial stones, and monuments,
and at the beginning of the second millennium, tablets that were used for building inscriptions
Even earlier, at the end of the third millennium, Naru was associated with religious transactions,
but they became bearers of memory, if only symbolically, in the second millennium BCE,
which means they came to preserve an event, even if the story differed from the actual historical
record. Before the development of Naru literature, it was a pretty common practice for Mesopotamian
kings to inscribe buildings and stele. The earliest form of writing in Mesopotamia was pictograms,
with symbols that represented objects, but later writing developed into phonograms,
with cuneiform being the widespread script of the Mesopotamian region, and so literature became
possible. Finally, the kings could fully record for posterity their glory and victories, and their
inscriptions focused both on their great deeds, as well as the gods, and would often address a
deity or a future audience. Naru literature developed from these inscriptions, in that they
took the same form, but were written as stories that concern themselves with the deeds of the king
and his relationship with the gods. The main difference between the Naru literature and the
Naru inscriptions is that where the inscriptions tell of a king's triumphs and the events of their
reign, the literature often tells us of a king's struggles and failures, the details of which may or
may not have actually occurred though. As in modern day historical fiction, Naru literature featured
recognizable figures and events from the past, but placed them in imaginative settings, sometimes
involving supernatural beings, and almost always focusing on the will of the gods. Unlike today's
historical fiction, the main character, usually a historical king, makes decisions and takes action the
real person would never have done in order to drive home a certain lesson or moral. One of the best
examples of Naru literature is the tale The Legend of Kutha from the 2nd millennium BCE that features
the Akkadian king Naram-Sin. The tale tells of how a superhuman army invades Akkadian lands.
Although Naram-Sin is explicitly told by the gods not to do anything about these invaders,
he defies them and goes with his own judgment in the matter. Naram-Sin engages in battle against
these superhumans, who have been associated with the Gutians, actual human invaders, and he suffers
massive losses. He tries military force two more times before he realizes he's doing something
wrong. Naram-Sin is truly humbled by this point, and both asks forgiveness and seeks guidance from
the gods. The gods say that they had plans to destroy the invaders, and didn't need or want
the help of Naram-Sin. From this, the king understands that he should trust the will of
the gods, regardless of his own personal judgment or what he thinks is right. He learns from his
error, and the tale ends with Naram-Sin addressing the future rulers of the Akkadian empire,
telling them to learn from his mistake and to trust the gods. The largely anonymous writers
of the Nauru literature seem to have all had the same focus, which was to preserve the past while
creating entertaining and memorable tales that relate to the vital cultural values of their
society. In the legend of Kutha, for example, the memory of the Gutian invasion of circa 2083 BCE
is preserved, but placed earlier, during the reign of the historical Naram-Sin, 2261 to 2224 BCE.
The invasion, which was remembered as some kind of curse of the gods for unknown reasons,
is here given meaning, and Naram-Sin is chosen as the main character for his famous name, and
to show that even so great a king could make mistakes and learn from them. The inscriptions
of a king victorious over his enemies and who conquered many cities was a good marker of the
successes of that king, but didn't do much for the people who lived under him. Nauru literature,
on the other hand, provided the people with entertaining stories they could learn from,
remember, and make use of in their daily lives. Do you know of any examples of Nauru literature
in later civilizations? Let us know in the comments below. If you enjoyed this video,
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