Sumerian Proverbs
Hi,
One of my random interests is Sumerian, and so a year ago I read all of the Sumerian wisdom literature and proverbs.[1] There is a lot, but only relatively speaking, like 30 or so tablets in total.
At the time I was struck by how truly timeless some were, though others are more obscure (“The duck was not eaten in time”). Still, it is shocking to see five thousand year old proverbs that speak directly to universal experiences:
- May you find the response to an insult hurled at you in a dispute.
Sometimes there is a pretty good perspective:
- No matter how small they are, they are still blocks of lapis lazuli
Or an accurate observation that survives across the millennia:
- He is fearful, like a man unacquainted with beer
They can sound a bit like an Instagram influencer preaching to their audience:
- Nothing at all is to be valued, but life should be sweet. You should not serve things; things should serve you. My son, …….
Solid advice that still works 5000 years after it was written down.
- You should not work using only your eyes; you will not multiply your possessions using only your mouth.
- You should not pass judgment when you drink beer
Awesome ways of expressing something I didn’t know I needed to express:
- One does not return borrowed bread.
The Point
But what I want to talk about is actually a specific proverb that resonates so well it has been recreated in modern times, which I find absolutely amazing. There’s quite a lot of background necessary to establish the scene, so bear with me.
The topic is death and injury during war. What security studies scholars call “the nature of war” (which is unchanging), rather than “the character of war” (which is always changing.)
Popular Culture
In Sam Fuller’s “The Big Red One” there’s a scene where a replacement in the platoon, Private Smitty, asks The Sergeant, “hey sarge, do you think I’ll get it?” The Sergeant replies, “Why? What makes you special?”
What the sergeant is saying is that there is no rhyme or reason to who is killed or injured and who is spared. No one has any special claim to either surviving or being killed. It is just fate/luck/chance. This is a sentiment expressed frequently during interviews with soldiers on the frontlines in Ukraine.
The Big Red One is based on Sam Fuller’s World War Two experiences as an infantryman in the first division (the big red one.) It is one of the best war movies ever made. Strong recommendation.
Murphy’s Laws of Combat
It’s not the one with your name on it; it’s the one labeled “to whom it may concern” you have to watch out for
Here we have the same sentiment about fate, although it dates to approximately the Vietnam war. The idea is expressed in a similar way; death and injury isn’t personal, it is random.
The list of murphy’s laws of war dates mostly from the Vietnam era experiences. They are quite cogent, and some of them are very applicable to cyber.
Sumerian Proverb
https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.6.1.03&charenc=&lineid=t.6.1.03.84#t.6.1.03.84The battle-club would not find out your name -- it would just find your flesh.
Alternate:
https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.6.1.28&charenc=&lineid=t.6.1.28.1#t.6.1.28.1The battle-club does not find out his name, it just finds his flesh.
The expression of the Sumerian proverb and the Murphy’s Law of War are almost identical (modulo 5000 years or so.) Death and injury aren’t personal, they are just events that happen to some and not others.
That there is a continuity of thought on the nature of war from the soldiers perspective is amazing to me. They are separated by 5000 years, and yet they are essentially the same statement.
To put things in perspective, the Roman republic is closer to us in time than when the Sumerian proverbs were composed. The Trojan War happened two thousand years after the Sumerian proverb. The proverbs are older than the pyramids!
Final Thoughts
Granted, the Sumerian saying is probably not directly a warning about warfare and more likely some sort of broader concept… idk, maybe “powerful people will destroy you without even noticing you exist” (there is a lot of that sort of sentiment in the sayings) Still, I think the text on its surface is saying the same thing as the more recent “law.” I find that really fascinating. 5000 years! And still soldiers are saying the same sort of thing. Injury and death aren’t personal during war, they just happen. Not bad for an example of how the nature of war never changes.
After five thousand years the soldier’s views on war are unchanged.
Cheers, —gq