Summer Primary Documents--Read them!

A primary source or a primary document come from the time or close to the time that we are studying. They are tremendously valuable for historians and scholars because they aid us in understanding what it was like to live then and there.

A secondary source comes from a much later time and it is a document that attempts to examine or explain a past event. Your history books are secondary sources. They are extremely valuable and often rely on primary sources.

Read these documents and read the questions at the end of each document. The questions will not be turned in but they will be helpful for a later assignment. 

 

Primary Document 1

Shuruppak, “Advice to My Son,”

Written about 2600 B.C.E. The original document from which this text comes is a clay tablet written in Old Sumerian, and dating from about 2600 B.C.E. This is one of very few tablets from the so-called “Early Dynastic” era that contains literature as opposed to record keeping. The clumsy, repetitive style is typical of the earliest Sumerian literature, resulting from the primitive writing symbology used. Passages contained in square brackets are supposed or extrapolated from incomplete original symbols.

Shuruppak [son of Uburtutu gave instructions], To Utnepushtu [his son he gave instructions, saying], “My son, [I will give you instructions, take my instructions]; Utnapushtu, [I will give you instructions], [Do not neglect] my instructions. [Do not disobey] the words [I have spoken to you].” [One should not buy an] ass who [brays (too much)]. [One should not locate] a cultivated field on a road[way]. [Do not . . .] your field. In your cultivated field [do not . . .]. Do not harm the daughter of a free man, for the courtyard will find out about it. Do not talk [with a tale] bearer, Do not consult [with a . . .] . . . who is an idler; Because of your good qualities, you will be made into an example for them. Then you will reduce your own work, forsake your path, And will let your wise, modest opinion be perverted. Let your mouth be restrained and your speech guarded; [That] is a man’s pride--let what you say be very precious.

Let insolence and blasphemy be an abomination for you; Speak nothing profane nor any unjust report. A talebearer is looked down upon. Do not set out to stand around in the assembly. Do not loiter where there is a dispute, For in the dispute they will have you as an observer. Then you will be made a witness for them, and They will involve you in a lawsuit to affirm something that does not concern you. In case of a dispute, get away from it, disregard it. If a dispute involving you should flare up, calm it down. A dispute is a covered pit, A . . . wall which can cover over its foes; It brings to mind what one has forgotten and makes an accusation against a man.

Do not return evil to your adversary; Requite with kindness the one who does evil to you, Maintain justice for your enemy, Be friendly to your enemy. ***[A number of lines are damaged and unreadable.] Give food to eat, beer to drink, Grant what is requested, provide for and treat with honor. At this one’s god takes pleasure. It is pleasing to Shamash, who will repay him with favor. Do good things, be kind all your days. Do not honor a slave girl in your house; She should not rule [your] bedroom like a wife. . . ., do not give yourself over [to] slave girls. If she goes up your . . . you will not go down. Let this be said [among] your people: “The household which a slave girl rules, she disrupts.” Do not marry a prostitute, whose husbands are legion, An ishtaritu-woman who is dedicated to a god, A kulmashitu-woman whose . . . is much. When you have trouble, she will not support you, When you have a dispute she will be a mocker. There is no reverence or submissiveness in her. Even if she is powerful in the household, get rid of her, For she pricks up her ears for the footsteps of another man.

My son, if it be the wish of a ruler that you belong to him, If you are entrusted with his closely guarded seal Open his treasure house [and] enter it, For no one but you may do it. Uncounted wealth you will find inside, But do not covet any of that, Nor set your mind on a secret crime, For afterwards the matter will be investigated And the secret crime which you committed will be exposed. The ruler will hear of it [and] will . . ., His happy face will . . ., ***[A number of lines are damaged and unreadable.]

Do not speak ill, speak [only] good. Do not say evil things, speak well of people. He who speaks ill and says evil-- People will waylay him because of his debt to Shamash. Do not talk too freely, watch what you say. Do not express your innermost thoughts even when you are alone. What you say in haste you may regret later. Exert yourself to restrain your speech. Worship your god every day. Sacrifice and [pious] utterance are the proper accompaniment of incense. Have a freewill offering for your god, For this is proper toward a god. Prayer, supplication, and prostration offer him daily, then your prayer will be granted, And you will be in harmony with your god. Since you are learned, read in the tablet: “Reverence begets favor. . . .”

1. Why do you think this father is writing this advice for his son?
2. What do you think the father and son did for a living?
3. What kind of values did they have?
4. What kind of society did they live in?

 

 Primary Document 2

“I Am a Man,” a Sumerian Poem, Written about 2700 B.C.E.

I am a man, a discerning one, yet who respects me prospers not, My righteous word has been turned into a lie, The man of deceit has covered me with the South wind, I am forced to serve him, Who respects me not has shamed me before you. You have doled out to me suffering ever anew, I entered the house, heavy is the spirit, I, the man, went out to the streets, oppressed is the heart, With me, the valiant, my righteous shepherd has become angry, has looked upon me inimically. My herdsman has sought out evil forces against me who am not his enemy, My companion says not a true word to me, My friend gives the lie to my righteous word, The man of deceit has conspired against me, And you, my god, do not thwart him. . . .

I, the wise, why am I bound to the ignorant youths? I, the discerning, why am I counted among the ignorant? Food is all about, yet my food is hunger, On the day shares were allotted to all, my allotted share was suffering. My god, [I would stand] before you, Would speak to you . . . my word is a groan, I would tell you about it, would bemoan the bitterness of my path, [I would bewail] the confusion of. . . . Lo, let not my mother who bore me cease my lament before you. Let not my sister utter the happy song and chant. Let her utter tearfully my misfortunes before you, Let my wife voice mournfully my suffering, Let the expert singer bemoan my bitter fate.

My god, the day shines bright over the land, for me the day is black. The bright day, the good day has . . . like the . . . Tears, lament, anguish, and depression are lodged within me, Suffering overwhelms me like one chosen for nothing but tears, Evil fate holds me in its hand, carries off my breath of life, Malignant sickness bathes my body. . . . My god, you who are my father who begot me, lift up my face. Like an innocent cow, in pity . . . the groan, How long will you neglect me, leave me unprotected? Like an ox . . . How long will you leave me unguided? They say--valiant sages--a word righteous and straightforward: “Never has a sinless child been born to its mother, . . . a sinless youth has not existed from of old.” ***[portion damaged] The man--his god harkened to his bitter tears and weeping, The young man--his lamentation and wailing soothed the heart of his god. The righteous words, the pure words uttered by him, his god accepted. The words which the man prayerfully confessed, Pleased the . . . the flesh of his god, and his god withdrew his hand from the evil word, . . . which oppresses the heart . . . he embraces, The encompassing sickness-demon, which had spread wide it wings, he swept away. The [disease] which had smitten him like a . . ., he dissipated, The evil fate which had been decreed for him in accordance with his sentence, he turned aside, He turned the man’s suffering into joy, Set by him the kindly genii as a watch and guardian, Gave him . . . angels with gracious mien.

1. What is the overall tone of this poem?
2. What does this tell you about Sumerian religion?
3. What is the main complaint of the author?