Sumerian - 2025 ACF Nationals

Tossup

A praise song in this language repeats words punning on the name of a tool used “Where Flesh Came Forth.” An oft-copied poem in this language beginning “In those days, in those far-off days” (10[2])was highlighted as a “literary borrowing” (-5[1])by Samuel Noah (10[1])Kramer. Subjects such as a sheep and grain (-5[1])or a hoe and plough (10[2])contest their superiority (10[1])in this language’s (10[1]-5[1])“disputation literature.” (10[3])Tutelary goddesses chronicle destruction (-5[1])in five poetic “city laments” that use this language’s female eme-sal dialect. A High Priestess (10[1]-5[1])who used this language for a set of Temple Hymns and an “Exaltation” (10[1])of a goddess is often labeled the world’s first (10[1])named (-5[1])author. (10[1])The hero (-5[1])of a story originally recorded in this language slays the Cedar Forest’s guardian with his “wild man” friend. For 10 points, name this language used to first record the Epic of Gilgamesh. ■END■ (10[5]0[2])

ANSWER: Sumerian [accept eme-gir] (Clues include “Song of the Hoe,” Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld, and Enheduanna.)

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Buzzes

Player	Team	Opponent	Position	Value
Ryan Sun	UC Berkeley B	Northwestern	33	10
Soren Heydari	North Carolina B	Waterloo B	33	10
Sky Li	Toronto A	Columbia B	39	-5
Joseph Chambers	Virginia	Chicago B	42	10
Michał Gerasimiuk	Stanford	Virginia Tech	50	-5
Kushal Aluru	Rutgers	Illinois A	55	10
Ben Wismath	Toronto C	Penn State	55	10
Skand Parvatikar	Arizona State	Texas	58	10
Alex Akridge	Indiana	Florida	61	10
Amogh Kulkarni	Georgia State	UCF	61	-5
John John Groger	WUSTL B	Michigan	63	10
James McCurley	Harvard	North Carolina A	63	10
Ned Tagtmeier	Chicago A	Winona State	63	10
Jacky Xu	Cornell A	Vanderbilt	67	-5
Albert Yingzhi Nyang	LSE	Ottawa	82	-5
Sinecio Morales	Johns Hopkins	Ohio State	82	10
Eve Fleisig	UC Berkeley A	Georgia Tech	95	10
Jem Burch	Yale	Iowa State	104	10
Joel Miles	Minnesota	British Columbia	105	-5
Ryan Rosenberg	NYU	RIT	106	10
Brian Hoff	Cornell B	Illinois B	108	-5
Shardul Parthasarathy	Illinois B	Cornell B	141	0
Adrian Wong	Ottawa	LSE	141	10
Matthew Wang	British Columbia	Minnesota	141	0
Noah Chin	Virginia Tech	Stanford	141	10
William Groger	Columbia B	Toronto A	141	10
Anthony Lovegren	UCF	Georgia State	141	10
Gavin Markoff	Vanderbilt	Cornell A	141	10

Summary

Tournament	Exact Match?	TUH	Conv. %	Power %	Neg %	Average Buzz
2025 ACF Nationals	Yes	21	90%	0%	33%	85.16