Instructions of Shuruppak: The First Book of Men

by Abu Salabikh, Amber Snow

Genres: Classics

Paperback

Published February 12, 2022

Reviews

[Manuel Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting. The wisdom of old ages can still be transported and understood today. I think I am going to read it many times, trying to read it with the eyes of a man of ancient times, and then, from a modern perspective.

[Ethan Hulbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Instructions of Shuruppak (or Shuruppag or Curuppag depending on translation version) is the oldest extant piece of human literature. It comes from before 2000 BCE, perhaps around 2500-2600 BCE, in Sumer.

I'm reading early texts because I figured, if I'm into reading, I might as well start at the beginning. The beginning of reading. Y'know?

If you're just reading the text alone it makes it seem like Shuruppak was a guy - it does literally say that his father is Ubara-Tutu, Ubara-Tutu was the father of Shuruppak, and Shuruppak is the father of Zi-ud-sura, and the text seems to be Shuruppak passing wisdom along to Zi-ud-sura.

The thing is, it seems like there's a very early error in all of this, because Shuruppak isn't a person, it's a place. The Sumerian List of Kings keeps pretty detailed accounts of these things, and Ubara-Tutu is the one and only king noted for the city-state of Shuruppak. The kingship was previously located in Sippar/Zimbir (a different city), came to Shuruppak where Ubara-Tutu was king, and then... THE FLOOD.

The Great Flood happened and, supposedly, washed away much of civilization, leaving the son in this story, Zi-ud-sura, as one of the only survivors. That's right, Zi-ud-sura is the same person as NOAH from the biblical myth, and also Utnapishtim from the earlier Gilgamesh flood story, and also Atraḥasis from the even earlier Akkadian flood story. Nothing in the Instructions of Shuruppak mention floods though, this is just some little trivia - spoilers, maybe.

Anyway after the Flood, kingship moved away from Shuruppak and onto Kish, where it remained for some time. All that to say that Shuruppak was definitely a PLACE, not a person, and Ubara-Tutu was the only king there. (It's debatable if during or right before the Flood, Zi-ud-sura technically was king for a bit, but like. King of the boat? Sure.)

It's likely that the nameless scribe recording this misinterpreted the phrase "Man of Shuruppak" as like, a man named Shuruppak. It is wonderful that humanity's first written literature has typos, it really starts us off on a good foot.

So, ANYWAY, this tablet is about Ubara-Tutu passing on his wise old man knowledge about life to his son, Zi-ud-sura. There is a lot of repetition in the piece because it's recording an oral tradition, and oral traditions relied upon repetition to commit things to memory.

So it's fascinating to see the first piece of human literature start out with a passage that follows the Rule of 3: "In those days, in those far-remote days; in those nights, in those faraway nights; in those years, in those far-remote years..." - it's remarkable that what was probably ingrained into pre-writing humanity for thousands of years with oral tradition has become something we still follow to this day. It goes on, "at that time the wise one who knew how to speak in elaborate words lived in the Land." Note that Land at the time was often just what certain cities MEANT, so Land may have specifically meant, say, Ur.

It's also nice that it starts off by stating the time and place. Establish setting early on. A rule so basic.

The instructions in this text are completely secular, with no mention of gods or magic (other than a shout-out at the end later on). The concerns they had back then were often similar to concerns we have now - some of my favorites:

"You should not place your house next to a public square: there is always a crowd there." I FEEL THAT, UBARA-TUTU!

"You should not play around with a married young woman: the slander could be serious. My son, you should not sit alone in a chamber with a married woman."

"You should not pass judgement when you drink beer."

"You should not beat a farmer's son: he has constructed your embankments and ditches."

One of the pieces of advice seems to be the earliest warning to be on the lookout for scams:
"When it is about someone's else bread, it is easy to say 'I will give it to you', but the time of actual giving can be as far away as the sky. If you go after the man who said 'I will give it to you', he will say 'I cannot give it to you -- the bread has just been finished up'."

Another seems to be a warning about women putting on airs for special occasions:
"You should not choose a wife during a festival. Her inside is illusory; her outside is illusory. The silver on her is borrowed, the lapis lazuli on her is borrowed, the dress on her is borrowed, the linen garment on her is borrowed. ... Nothing is comparable."

We also get the earliest possible version of the oft-repeated sentiment about being a slave to all the things you own:
"You should not serve things; things should serve you."

Of course, there is also plenty of advice that is no longer relevant to us, and advice that is wildly inappropriate given that it was a time when slavery existed. Slaves at the time were largely people who owed debts, or people who were conquered after a battle. So there's advice on how to pick the best slaves, that sort of thing.

There is also advice about not choosing bad donkeys or certain types/breeds, which is similar to someone today giving advice on what car brands to stay away from.

There are no mentions of An or Enlil or any other of the Anunnaki (Sumerian gods). So all of the advice is completely secular and practical. At the end, though, the scribe does give a quick shout-out to Nisaba:
"Praise be to the lady who completed the great tablets, the maiden Nisaba, that Shuruppak, the son of Ubara-Tutu gave his instructions!"

So you can see the mis-scribe here about Shuruppak being the son of Ubara-Tutu.

You might think from this that Nisaba is a maiden who wrote this down, but that's not the case; she's the goddess of writing and literature. Actually, she was originally the goddess of grain and agriculture, but then writing evolved first to keep track of grain and trading, and as writing slowly advanced beyond simple record-keeping into literature like this, Nisaba's goddess role changed with it. So the ending is the scribe sort of saying "by the grace of god this is written" or whatever, just, specifically the writing goddess.

Also, in myth, Nisaba's daughter was the goddess Sud, who was the patron deity of the city of Shuruppak. A nice connection. Sud later took the name Ninlil after marrying Enlil and/or being syncretized with later Akkadian/other belief systems.

Anyway, all this to say, it was a nice read and some parts were as relatable as if they had been written yesterday. Not bad for 4500 years ago.

So how on Earth are you not rating the first piece of literature 5 stars? I mean, what else did it have to compare to???

[Sof]

Interesting ancient text that is a collection of advices from a father to a son, based on a historical/mythological figure 'Curuppag' who gave advices to his own son 'Zi-ud-sura'. or at least the dad says. i'm sure they used religion as a means of control back then too. "My son, you should not use violence (?); ....... You should not commit rape on someone's daughter; the courtyard will learn of
it." Interesting insight into social dynamics here. Teaching sons not to rape but only because it'll be found out lol.

[Daniel Gassert · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.7, Not perfectly translated and as a result predictably fragmented. Despite this, there are profound bits of insight and wisdom which hold great value even today. Understandably numerous others are outdated or irrelevant, but to filter these out leaves many thoughts worth digesting, enabled by the structure of a father passing down wisdom to his son.

[RLD · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know why this book was on the list of miscellaneous books I want to read. But it deserves zero stars. Serious scholars might get something from it. But is is not a book most people should spend time or money on. But it was short and cheap.

[Stella · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the first books to ever be “published” these are instructions that a father passes on to his son and his sons after in the year 3.000 BCE—way before the Bible was ever written.
Lovely to be able to read something so old.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is apparently the oldest writing that history has preserved, and is from 2600 BC. I am always amazed that the issues in ancient history, are similar or the same today.

[okori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny, owing to its age, and somewhat insightful.

[Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

I recommend it for reading only for people interested in that time period of history. (Read in Russian translation by Вероника Константиновна Афанасьева, 1997)

[Happy Scrappy Hero Pup · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting read from human history! Anyone and everyone should read this very short book.