Students progressed in classes from the early stage of simply learning how to make clear wedge-shaped characters of cuneiform script in clay to work with more difficult texts known as the Tetrad (groups of four compositions) then the Decad (groups of ten), and finally to the most complex works, which included pieces such as A Supervisor’s Advice to a Young Scribe (also known as Edubba C), The Debate Between Sheep and Grain, and others including Schooldays (a modern-day title for the work). Whatever the original purpose of the composition was, it became part of the curriculum of the Sumerian scribal school known as the edubba (“House of Tablets”) and was copied and memorized as one of the more difficult texts to master prior to graduation. The poem (also known as Sumerian School Days, Edubba A, and Diary of a Scribe) was popular reading as evidenced by the over 21 copies, and fragments of others, that have been found throughout the region that was once Mesopotamia, especially in Iraq and Syria, the most complete tablet coming from the ruins of ancient Nippur, modern-day Iraq. The work takes the form of a first-person narration and dialogue in relating the challenges the student faces and how he resolves them by having his father bribe his teacher with expensive gifts. 2000 BCE) is a Sumerian poem describing the daily life of a young scribe in the schools of Mesopotamia. Students progressed in classes from the early stage of simply learning advanced writing. Photo by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, The Sulaymaniyah Museum, Wikimedia Commons The original statue was made of diorite and probably came from Tell Telloh (Girsu), Iraq, c. Gypsum replica of the statue of Sumerian scribe Dudu.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |