Ancient Mesopotamian Literature 9: Proverbs and Aphorisms

Proverbs and aphorisms are one of the important forms of ancient Mesopotamian wisdom literature. Until then, first the Hebrews and then the ancient Egyptians had enjoyed the reputation of being the earliest creators of proverbs and aphorisms, but with the revival of Sumerian-Babylonian literature, this crown naturally fell to on the heads of the Sumerians and Babylonians.

Most, if not all, of the Sumerian collection of proverbs and sayings predates the ancient Egyptians by several centuries. A considerable part of the extant collections of Sumerian-Babylonian proverbs and sayings are bilingual, that is, written in Sumerian with Akkadian translations between the lines, and some are written only in the Babylonian dialect. Some of the inscriptions date from the first millennium BC, while others date from the early second millennium BC. But many proverbs and maxims must have existed in oral literature for a long time before they were written down.

A basic characteristic of ancient Mesopotamian proverbs and sayings is that they cover a wide range of topics. Generally speaking, the production and formation of a nation's proverbs and mottos are based on many factors such as the nation's cultural background, social environment, and national habits. They are a high-level and incisive summary of their long-term production and life experience. Therefore, they in turn must be able to truthfully reflect the cultural characteristics, social, political and economic development status and daily life customs of the nation in a certain historical period or stage of social development. The same goes for the proverbs and sayings of the Sumerians and Babylonians.

The contents or themes reflected in Sumerian-Babylonian proverbs and aphorisms can be generally summarized as follows; first of all, there are a large number of proverbs and aphorisms that reflect the lives of poor and rich people, and they have reflected the social Awareness of class distinctions. For example:

A rich person may be very happy,

A person with barley may also be very happy,

But a person with nothing may sit back and relax.

On the one hand, this passage reflects that the rich live a hedonistic life, but they often have to worry about their property being stolen or robbed, and suffer from sleepless nights; on the other hand, it reflects that although the poor have nothing, , but it also has its own unique enjoyment, that is, you can sleep peacefully. But behind this humorous proverb, there is undoubtedly the helplessness of the poor.

The following set of maxims vividly reflects the situation of the poor:

It is better for the poor to live than to die,

If he has bread, he has no salt,

If he had salt, there was no bread;

If he had meat, there was no lamb;

If he had lamb, there was no meat.

The poor do not even have the most basic necessities of life and live a life of lack of food and clothing. The ultimate irony is that poor craftsmen cannot afford to buy the items they make, as evidenced by the adage that tailors are always ragged.

Secondly, there are many proverbs and mottos that reflect the political concepts and social systems of the ancient Mesopotamians. For example:

The people without a king (like) the sheep without a shepherd;

The crowd without a leader (like) the river without a manager;

The laborers have no overseers ( Like) a field without a plowman;

A house without an owner (just like) a woman without a husband.

This reflects people's yearning for a better social system and political order, and may have some similarities with the ancient Chinese people's desire for a good emperor.

Amazingly, the proverbs and mottos of the Sumerians and Babylonians also show insights into the rise and fall of nations and the security of their communities. For example:

The country's military equipment is weak and

is unable to defend itself against foreign enemies.

This motto expresses the relationship between military power and national independence. There are also mottos and proverbs that reflect the love of peace. For example:

Robbing the enemy's land,

The enemy will also rob your land.

This may also more or less reflect the idea of ??"I will not offend others unless they offend me" or "Those who do many unjust deeds will be killed".

In addition to "foreign troubles", the Sumerians and Babylonians also had "famous sayings" about "internal troubles":

You can have masters and kings,

< p>But I am most afraid of tax officials!

This is so similar to the famous saying of Confucius handed down from ancient China: "A harsh government is fiercer than a tiger"!

There are also reflections on family life:

My wife went to the temple,

My mother went down the river,

I Starving here.

On the one hand, this reflects that women actively participate in social activities, especially religious activities. On the other hand, it also reflects the role of women in family life. Without them, men would have nothing to eat. They are obviously responsible for cooking. task.

Women's housework may also be heavier, and the only way for them to escape from labor is to get sick (or sometimes to pretend to be sick), which can be seen from the following motto:

< p>The hard-working woman is in pain.

Another aphorism featuring a man reflects the interdependence between family members:

A kettle in the desert is a man's life,

Shoes are a man’s eyes,

A wife is a man’s future,

A wife is a man’s protection,

A woman is a man’s rescue,

A daughter-in-law is a man’s devil.

About scribes and learning:

A scribe who writes and speaks consistently is a real scribe!

This is the standard for a good scribe, but there are other standards for unqualified scribes:

A scribe who does not understand Sumerian,

you What a scribe!

The motto about learning and knowledge is:

Words are the mother of the orator,

the father of the scholar.

There are also proverbs and mottos that reflect attitude or philosophy of life. This is reflected in the two different lifestyles chosen when facing two different situations: death and life:

We are destined to die, let us spend as much as we can;

Our destiny It will last a long time, so let’s budget wisely.

To express ill-fated or bad luck:

Escape from a wild bull and meet another wild bull.

This is roughly the same meaning as what we often say today: "Escape from the wolf's den and enter the tiger's den again" or "Just emerge from the frying pan and enter the sea of ??fire again." Another example:

I live in a house built with asphalt and fired bricks, and a handful of dirt fell on me

on the head.

Even without leaving home, misfortune still comes to your door. It is obviously very unlucky. Today, when we express the unpredictability and unavoidability of "accidents", we often say, "Even when walking on the street, bird droppings will fall on your head." There seems to be no big difference in the meaning expressed by the two.

When expressing that fate is against you in everything, the corresponding proverbs and mottos of ancient Mesopotamia are:

When you are in water, the water will become smelly.

You enter the garden and the flowers begin to wither.

Reflecting social and interpersonal relationships:

Speak kind words to young people, and he will give you everything you want;

Throw some scraps at the dog Soup, it will also wag its tail at you.

If you slander others, others will retaliate;

Don’t show anger when arguing.

There is another motto that is similar to what we call "enemies in the same profession" today:

Colleagues will quarrel, and priests will inevitably slander.

There are also mottos about the so-called friendship between people, which have different translations, here are three:

Friendship lasts for one day, and family love lasts forever.

Friendship lasts for a day, slavery lasts forever.

Friendship lasts for a day, and transactions last forever.

The first sentence compares friendship with family affection, aiming to illustrate that the so-called friendship between friends will not last long, and only blood relations will last forever. The second and third sentences contrast friendship with slavery and transaction respectively, aiming to illustrate that there is no real friendship between people, only mutual enslavement and mutual use. Although these three sentences metaphor different objects of friendship, they undoubtedly express the same theme. There is no real friendship in the world, only permanent interests, thus showing the so-called "trouble in the world." This also reflects to some extent the Sumerians’ negative attitude towards life and the naked interest relationship between people in a class society.

There are also reflections on the relationship between labor and harvest:

If you build like a noble, you will live a slave-like life;

If you build like a slave, you will live a slave-like life. Live an aristocratic life.

This means that if people are as afraid of getting dirty and tired as nobles are, they will not be able to create wealth and will naturally live a miserable life; if they are all like slaves who work day and night, they will be Create more wealth and your life will naturally get better. This motto undoubtedly illustrates the simplest truth from the perspective of encouraging people to be diligent and enterprising, but this is not always the case in real life. In fact, the nobles were idle all day long and could still live and drink, while slaves were still at the bottom of society even though they were constantly engaged in heavy labor. The creator of this motto obviously did not stand in the position of aristocrats, nor in the position of slaves, but in the position of common people. For commoners, if they want to live a noble life, they must work hard, otherwise they will associate with slaves.

Proverbs and aphorisms that reflect social issues are also interesting:

A hungry man can break through the brick wall of a house.

This motto undoubtedly reflects a relatively common social problem, which is equivalent to what we call today "hungry leads to stealing."

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