History Begins at Sumer : Thirty-Nine Firsts in Recorded History

Preface to the First Edition ix List of Illustrations xiii Photographic Sources xvii Introduction xix Education: The First Schools 3(7) Schooldays: The First Case of ``Apple-Polishing'' 10(4) Father and Son: The First Case of Juvenile Delinquency 14(4) International Affairs: The First ``War of Nerves'' 18(12) Government: The First Bicameral Congress 30(6) Civil War in Sumer: The First Historian 36(9) Social Reform: The First Case of Tax Reduction 45(6) Law Codes: The First ``Moses'' 51(5) Justice: The First Legal Precedent 56(4) Medicine: The First Pharmacopoeia 60(5) Agriculture: The First ``Farmer's Almanac'' 65(5) Horticulture: The First Experiment in Shade-Tree Gardening 70(5) Philosophy: Man's First Cosmogony and Cosmology 75(26) Ethics: The First Moral Ideals 101(10) Suffering and Submission: The First ``Job'' 111(5) Wisdom: The First Proverbs and Sayings 116(8) ``Aesopica'': The First Animal Fables 124(8) Logomachy: The First Literary Debates 132(9) Paradise: The First Biblical Parallels 141(7) A Flood: The First ``Noah'' 148(6) Hades: The First Tale of Resurrection 154(14) Slaying of the Dragon: The First ``St. George'' 168(13) Tales of Gilgamesh: The First Case of Literary Borrowing 181(42) Epic Literature: Man's First Heroic Age 223(22) To the Royal Bridegroom: The First Love Song 245(5) Book Lists: The First Library Catalogue 250(5) World Peace and Harmony: Man's First Golden Age 255(4) Ancient Counterparts of Modern Woes: The First ``Sick'' Society 259(11) Destruction and Deliverance: The First Liturgic Laments 270(7) The Ideal King: The First Messiahs 277(7) Shulgi of Ur: The First Long-Distance Champion 284(5) Poetry: The First Literary Imagery 289(14) The Sacred Marriage Rite: The First Sex Symbolism 303(22) Weeping Goddesses: The First Mater Dolorosa 325(4) U-a a-u-a: The First Lullaby 329(4) The Ideal Mother: Her First Literary Portrait 333(3) Three Funeral Chants: The First Elegies 336(6) The Pickaxe and the Plow: Labor's First Victory 342(6) Home of the Fish: The First Aquarium 348(10) Corrigenda and Addenda to the Second Edition 351(7) Glossary 358(11) Appendix A: A Curse and a Map: New Gleanings from the Tablets of Sumer 369(12) Appendix B: The Origin of the Cuneiform System of Writing: Comments on the Illustrations 381