Uploads from Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry

Currently Playing: What the Oldest Literary Text Tells us About Literature

A close reading and discussion of the oldest poem* we have as of August 2026. * “Oldest surviving poem” does not necessarily mean oldest surviving literary fragment. The Kesh Temple Hymn has been reconstructed by scholars from many such fragments and dated as a whole via contextual clues not always derived from hard, concrete archaeology. That being said, this is one of those few texts whose composition is attested to by contemporary manuscripts, so I think I am justified in making the claim. There is also always the chance we may find something older, which I cannot help but be excited about. I will update the description if anything of the sort comes up in the future. Kesh Temple Hymn 0:00-2:44 The First House (lines 1-9) 2:44-13:48 The First House (lines 10-20) 13:48-23:35 Comparisons on the Tarot 23:35-25:38 The First House (lines 10-20) 25:38-30:15 Other Images and Figures 30:15-36:43 The Oxford academic website of The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature: https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section4/tr4802.htm The Instructions of Shuruppak: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructions_of_Shuruppak