Sumerian Origins

The Babylonian civilization, for the most part, had its origins in the Sumerian culture of the third millennium BC. This is also true of Babylonia literature, which first emerged in the Old Babylonian Period. Babylonian scribes were often busy translating Sumerian literature into their own tongue. Therefore some portions of Babylonian literature consist of Sumerian writings in the Akkadian language, and other portions are in the Babylonian language. Much of it depends upon the period, Old, Middle, and Neo-Babylonian periods.