Spectral Etiologies in “Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta.”

Abstract

This article examines the invention of writing as represented in the Sumerian epic “Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta.” I argue that a close analysis of the techniques of literary figuration in this episode reveals a kind of circular “spectrality” or “hauntedness” in the poem: the invention of writing seems to be described as if writing had already been invented. This has consequences for both how we understand the poem, as well as more limited consequences concerning the modes of realism and the construction of similes in Sumerian poetry. After analyzing the relevant key passages, I expand my analysis by observing that the poem is more broadly haunted by predetermined, spectral outcomes. For instance, Uruk is already seen to have achieved the acme of its greatness before it is made glorious by Enmerkar; the export of writing as a technology precedes the inventions of exports. In moving toward a conclusion, I connect all these spectral etiologies to the broader problem of historical “progress models” that Sumerian literary works employ to rewrite history to suit specific, presentist political contexts and to propose determined futures for civilization. We will see that the specific contribution of “Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta” to this broader discourse is that it embeds the invention of writing within these progress models, which were previously more centered on the perceived shifts from nomadism to agriculturalism and finally to city life.