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umerian Wisdom TextTRANSLATOR S N KRAMER

Man and his GodA SUMERIAN VARIATION OF THEJOB MOTIF

This lamentation to a man's god, as the ancient author him-self describes it, is an edifying poetic essay composed, no doubt,for the purpose of prescribing the proper attitude and conductfor a victim of cruel and seemingly undeserved misfortune, TheSumerians, like all peoples throughout the ages, were troubledby the problem of human suffering, particularly relative to itsrather enigmatic causes and potential remedies. Their teachersand sages believed and taught the doctrine that man's misfor-tunes were the result of his sins and misdeeds. They were con-vinced, moreover, that no man is without guilt; as our Sumerianpoet-theologian puts it: Never was a sinless child born to itsmother. l In spite of surface appearances to the contrary, there-fore, there are no cases of unjust and undeserved human suffer-ing; it is always man who is to blame, not the gods. But thetruth of such theological premises and conclusions is by nomeans readily apparent, and in moments of adversity, more thanone sufferer must have been tempted to challenge the fairnessand justice of the gods, and to blaspheme against them. It maywell be that it was in an effort to forestall such resentmentagainst the gods and to ward off potential disillusionment withthe divine order, that one of the sages of the Sumerian academy,the edubba 2 composed this instructive essay.The main thesis of our poet is that in cases of suffering andadversity, no matter how seemingly unjustified, the victim hasbut one valid and effective recourse, and that is to continual yglorify his god and keep wailing and lamenting before himuntil he turns a favourable ear to his prayers. The god concernedis the sufferer's personal god, that is the deity who, in accord-ance with the accepted Sumerian credo, acted as the man'srepresentative and intercessor in the assembly of the gods.s Toprove his point our author does not resort to philosophical specu-lation and theological argumentation. Instead, with characteristicSumerian pragmatism, he cites a case: Here is a man, unnamedto be sure, who had been wealthy, wise and righteous, or atleast seemingly so, and blest with both friends and kin. One daysickness and suffering ove~whelmed him. Did he defy the divineorder and blaspheme? Not at all He came humbly before hisgod with tears and lamentation, and poured out his heart inprayer and supplication. As a result his god was highly pleasedand moved to compassion; he gave heed to his prayer, deliveredhim from his misfortUnes and turned his suffering to joy.

1This dogma was in line with the accepted world-view of theSumerian theologian, according to which the gods in control of thecosmos planned and institUted evil, falsehood and violence as part andparcel of civilization; d. S. N. Kramer, The Sumerian< pp. 125 if.2For a discussionof the Sumerian edubba its faculty, student bodyand curriculum, d. S. N. Kramer, The Sumerians pp. 229 if.SThe notion of a personal god was evolved by the Sumerian theo-logians in response to the feeling that the leading deities of thepantheon were too distant and aloof from the individual man, andthat the latter should therefore have an intermediary, a kind of goodangel, to intercede on his behalf when the gods assembled (probablyevery New Year's Day) to judge all men and decide their fates; d.especially H. and H. A. Frankfort, et aI. Intellectual Adventure ofAncient Man pp. 203-04. Just how these personal gods were selectedby the individual or head of a family is uncertain, but we actUallyhavethe names of the personal deit ies of a number of Sumerian rulersfrom the second half of the third millennium B.C.

Structurally speaking, our poetic tract. may be tentativelydivided into five sections. First comes a brief introductory ex-hortation that man should praise and exalt his god and soothehim with lamentations (lines 1-9). The poet then introduces theunnamed individual who, upon being smitten with sickness andmisfortune, addresses his god with tears and prayers (lines 10-20plus). There follows the sufferer's petition which constitutes themajor part of the poem (lines 26 minus-II6). It begins with adescription of the ill treatment accorded him by his fellow men-friend and foe alike (lines 26-55); continues with a lamentagainst his bitter fate, including a rhetorical request to his kinand to the professional singers to do likewise (lines 56-95); andconcludes with a confession of guilt and a direct plea for reliefand deliverance (lines 96-II6). Final y comes the happy ending,in which the poet informs us that the man's prayer did not gounheeded, and that his god accepted the entreaties and deliveredhim from his afflictions (lines II7-129). All this leads, of course,to a further glorification of his god (Jines 130-end).

Two pieces belonging to this composition were first publishedin STVC Nos. 1 and 2, bUt the text was there assumed to be acollection of proverbs rather than a connected essay. Later Iidentified three other pieces, one in the University Museum, andtwo in the Istanbul Museum of the Ancient Orient, and thesewere published in Supplement to VT III (1960), pp. 172-82,together with a transliteration and translation of the text, whichcould now be recognized as an essay concerned with the problemof human suffering and what to do about it. Still later, E. 1.Gordon identified another small piece in the University Mu-seum; this was published in Bi. Or. XVII,pp. 149ff., where thereader will also find a number of useful bibliographical details.Let a man utter constantly the exaltedness of his god,Let the young man5 praise artlessly the words of his god,Let the inhabitant of the straightforward land moanIn the house [of] s[ ong] let him interpret. . . to hiswoman-friend and man-friend,Soothe [his he ]art,Bring forth. . . , utter. . . ,Measureout. . . ,Let his lament soothethe heart of his god,(For) a man without a god would not obtain food.The youngman-he usesnot his strength for evilin the placeof deceit,Yet. . . , sickness,bittersuffering. . . d him,. . . , fate, . . . brought. . . close to him,Bitter. . . confused its. . . , covered his. . . ,. . . placed an evil hand on him, he was treated as. . . of his god,...inhis...,...heweeps,. . . he directeda . . . , .

(10)

. The primary poetic de,'ice utilized by the author is cumulativeparallelism; d., e.g., lines 1-9; 26-29; 31-36; 42-43; etc., etc.5 Young man renders the Sumerian word guru; that has a se-mantic range equivalent to the Hebrew gebher.{589 }

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-SUMERIAN WISDOM TEXTSpeaks [tearfully] to him of his suffering. . . ,. . . in his. . . wrath,. . . s . . . .(approximately 5 lines destroyed)

I am a young man, a discerning one, (yet) whorespectsme prospers not,8My righteous word has been turned into a lie,The man of deceit has covered me (with) the South-wind, 1 (am forced to) serve him,Who respects me not has shamed me before you.

(20)

(3)ou have doled out to me suffering ever anew,1 entered the house, heavy is the spirit,I, the young man, went out to the street, oppressed isthe heart,\Vith me, the valiant,my righteous shepherd has becomeangry,? has looked upon me inimically,My herdsman has sought out evil forces against me whoam 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,You carry off my understanding,The wicked has conspired against meAngered you, stormed about, planned evil.I, the wise, why am 1 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.The brother. . . quarrelled, planned [evi]l,[He...s]my...,

(4)

. . . ,Raisesup . . . ,Carriesoff . . . ,Writes on clay. . . the wise. . . ,Seeksout the. . . of the journey,Cuts down like a tree the . . . of the road,. . . [ . . . s] the supervisor,. . . [. . . s] the steward.My god, [I would stand] befo[re yo]u,Would speak to you, . . . , my word is a groan,1 would tell you about it, would bemoanthe bitterness

of my path,[Would bewail] the confusionof . . . .

(50)

Let the wise. . . in my plans, lament will notcease, (60)8F or lin~s 26-30, 35-39, 101-103, 111-113, d. Jacobs~n, PAPS,Vol. 17. No. 16, pp. 482-83.?Th~ sh~ph~rd and h~rdsman of this and th~ following Iin~probably refer to th~ Icing; th~ suff~r~r th~refor~ s~~ms to hav~ b~~na m~mb~r of th~ court.

I . . . to my friend,I . . . to my companion.La, let not my mother who bore me cease my lamentbefore 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 theday is black,The bright day, the good day has. . . like the. . . ,Tears, lament, anguish, and depression are lodgedwithin me,Suffering overwhelms me like one who does(nothing but) weep,(The demon of) fate in its hand. . . s me, carries off

my breath of life,The malignant sickness-demon bath[ es] in my body,The bitterness of my path, the e[vil] of [my.. .],. . . s the kindly. . . ,. . . s the unsettled. . . .

(7)

I who am not the. . . of the. . . ,1 who am not the. . . of the. . . ,[L ]ike . . . 1 . . . beforeyou,(lines80-94largelydestroyed). . . I weep not.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-the sages8-a word righteous (and)

straightforward:Never has a sinlesschild been born to its mother,. . . a sinless workman has not existed from of old.

(100)

My god, the . . . of destructionwhich 1 have. . . dagainst you,The. . . of . . . whichI havepreparedbeforeyou,Let them not. . . the man, the wise; utter, (my god),wordsof graceupon him,When the day is not (yet) bright, in my . . . , inmy . . . , make me walk before you,My impure and my lack-lustre. . . -touch their. . . ,

Utter words of grace upon him whom you. . . d onthe day of wrath,Whom you. . . d on the day. . . -pronouncejoy upon him. (lID)8 Lit~rally: . .th~ wis~ m~n of valor.

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SUMERIAN WISDOM TEXTMygod,now that you haveshown memy sins. . . ,In the gate of . . . , I would speak. . . , the youngman, would confessmy sins beforeyou.May you rain upon the assembly. . . like a cloud,Mayyou. . . in your chambermy groaning mother. . . ,Me, the valiant may you. . . in wis[dam my] groan-ing . . . .

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The man-his bitter weeping was heard by his god,When the lamentation and wailing that filled him hadsoothed the heart of his god for the young man,

The righteous words, the artless words uttered byhim, his god accepted, (120)

The words which the young man prayerfullyconfessed,

Pleased the . . . , the flesh of his god, (and) his godwithdrew his hand from the evil word,. . .which oppresses the heart, . . . he embraces,9The meaning of this fragmentary line is quite unceruin; but maybelong with the preceding lines rather than the following.

The encompassing sickness-demon, which had spreadwide its wings, he swept away .The. . . , which had smitten him like a . . . , hedissipated,The (demon of) fate, who had been placed (there) inaccordance with his sentence he turned aside

He turned the you[ng m Jan s suffering into joy,Set by him the . . . good. . . spirit (as a) watch (and)

guardian,Gave him. . . the tutelary genii of friendly mien.[The man uttered] constantly the exaltedness ofhis god, (130)Broughtforth. . . , madeknown. . . ,

(lines 132-137destroyed). . . may he return for me,. . . may he release,. . . may he set straight for me.The antiphon of the lamentationto a man sgod.1O

(140)(personal)

10It is quite uncertain which of the preceding lines formed theantiphon.

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