Sumerian texts reveal humanity at the dawn of history – 07/18/2023 – Marcelo Viana

Archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia have unearthed hundreds of thousands of cuneiform texts. Many are of interest only to specialists: tax records, lists of goods, diplomatic correspondence, etc. But many others deal with the daily lives of ordinary people: fascinating, they reveal humanity at the dawn of history, with surprisingly current anxieties and concerns.

Among the texts excavated in Sumeria (present-day southern Iraq), where writing was invented, are the first account of juvenile delinquency, the first love song, the first written version of the universal flood, the first recipe for beer, the first fables with animals, the first use of the word “mankind” (namlulu, in Sumerian). My favorite, which must have been a “bestseller” in Sumeria as over 20 copies have been found, tells of the life of a student around 2500 BC.

The educational system was private, accessible only to those who could pay. Each school was run by a teacher with the help of an assistant, who handwritten texts for students to copy. There were also specialized professionals: the “drawing supervisor”, the “Sumerian supervisor”, and even the “whip supervisor”!

The curriculum centered around reading and writing, but it also included foreign languages ​​and math, of course. Initially, the objective was only professional: to train scribes for the administration of the temple and the palace. But over time these schools evolved to become centers of knowledge production and literary creation.

Underpaid (some things haven’t changed much in millennia), professors and assistants were hungry and grumpy, and took it out on the pedagogy of the whip. The hero of our story pleads with his father: “invite the teacher to eat at our house, seat him in the place of honor at the table, give him a good dinner with wine, and dress him in a new tunic, because I I can’t take it anymore.”

Happy with the meal and the gifts, the master approves of the student: “Young man, since you have paid attention to my teachings, I am certain that you will have a brilliant career, you will be an example to your colleagues and the right arm of your bosses”. It is the first record of bribery in history. And in the school context!

Reading ancient languages ​​in cuneiform is a difficult task, reserved for a few specialists. As a result, only a small fraction of Mesopotamian texts have been read to date. But a translation algorithm created earlier this year will put gems like this within everyone’s reach. I’ll talk about this artificial intelligence next week.

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