The Book of Lamentations is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. The prophet Jeremiah is traditionally understood to have been its author. Most scholars also agree that the Book of Lamentations was composed shortly after Jerusalem's fall in 586 BCE. Some motifs of a traditional Mesopotamian "city lament" are evident in the book, such as mourning the desertion of the city by God, its destruction, and the ultimate return of the deity