Old texts continued to be recopied, and new texts were also produced, following traditional types and forms of literary language. In spite of this weight of tradition, there is a small but definable group of texts, with examples in both Late Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian dialects, where there is a clear attempt to escape from the tradition, and produce new material, whether by introducing elements from the colloquial or folk tradition, or by improvisation. In a sense, it is this small group of poetical works written in Neo-Assyrian dialect which forms the core of the present collection of texts, since it cannot be denied that it represents a native Assyrian creative initiative. It is the purpose of this volume to present these texts together with examples of literary prose in Neo-Assyrian and to bring them into association with a larger group of texts written contemporaneously in Assyria in the Standard Babylonian or Late Babylonian dialects, but which belong to the category of Sargonid Court Poetry, or specifically represent the Assyrian as opposed to the Babylonian cultural view-point.
Alasdair Livingstone
Alasdair Livingstone, 'First Millennium Literature', Court Poetry and Literary Miscellanea, SAA 3. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 1989; online contents: SAAo/SAA03 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2020 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa03/culturalandhistoricalbackground/firstmillenniumliterature/]