Acrostic (1)

Text
Babylonian literature has acrostics formed by syllabic signs, of which examples are found in hymns and prayers to the gods as well as in the Babylonian Theodicy. In this composition an acrostic accompanies the stanza form, giving the syllables of the author’s name at the beginnings of the lines, the author being a sage, just as in earlier, Sumerian compositions the name of the first sage Oannes was used, barely concealed in the opening line. Concealed information has a serious purpose in leading the initiated reader to the original, semi-divine source of inspiration. Several psalms in the Bible incorporate alphabetic acrostics, for instance 119 in which each group of eight verses begins with the successive letter of the alphabet. Acrostics are also found elsewhere, for instance, in Lamentations 1-4.

Sources (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Lamentations 1
Lamentations 2
Lamentations 3
Lamentations 4
Psalm 119

Bibliography

Stephanie Dalley

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