In the realm of the blind the one-eyed man is king

25 February 2021

The equivalent of this Latin proverb can already be found in Mesopotamia as: "In the city of the lame, a cripple is the messenger." Similarly, the Sumerian proverb "You are like an elephant trying to raise a sunken ship" evokes our "bull in the china shop" which contrasts cumbrous with delicate.

Proverbs, which attest to popular wisdom, represent one of the genres of sapiential literature alongside fables, maxims, collections of instructions, or even certain more elaborate stories conveying a moral. Mesopotamian proverbs have a Near Eastern background that finds parallels in the Bible's Book of Proverbs.

"He who eats too much cannot sleep" is a Sumerian proverb that has universal content and can be adopted by many civilisations of the past or present. On the other hand, other proverbs are difficult to interpret because they do not evoke anything similar in our language, such as "There is no cake baked in the middle of the dough".

Sumerian proverbs deal with all subjects of everyday life. They may have a satirical tone or, like fables, use animals and highlight their behavioural characteristics: the lion is powerful, the fox is cunning, and the donkey works hard. For example, "The donkey, after throwing away his bundles, said 'Now I can forget my former burdens'".

These short, general sayings were passed down orally from generation to generation and sometimes quoted in cuneiform correspondence found on clay tablets in the Near East. Gathered into collections during the 3rd millennium, they were copied in the context of schools for learning Sumerian, especially from the 2nd millennium onwards when this language was no longer spoken.

One of the favourite themes of Sumerian proverbs was therefore scribes and apprentice scribes. There were the dunces: "What kind of scribe is a scribe who does not know Sumerian?"  the studious: "If a scribe knows only one line but his writing is good, he is a scribe"; those who were swift: "A scribe whose hand can follow the dictation is indeed a scribe"; and the opposition – then already – between literary and mathematical: "A scribe good at calculation is bad at writing, a scribe good at writing is bad at calculation"; there were also the unruly: "The guilt of a talkative scribe is great". In this list of proverbs related to learning to write, there was also a dig at the clergy: "A fallen scribe becomes a priest".

Other themes found in Sumerian proverbs included politics: "A people without a king is like a herd without a shepherd”; social inequalities: "The poor man inflicts all kinds of diseases on the rich man", or the worries of the rich who did not know how to protect their possessions: "Possessions make trust crucially important". They also dealt with friendship, which could be ephemeral: "'My friend' may last only a day. 'My colleague' lasts forever", and friends for whom one had only good intentions: "Let those who are dear to you reach their goal as a ship reaches a friendly port"; or to the wisdom of the ancients: "Pay attention to the words of an old man and reap the fruits".

Many Sumerian proverbs resembled advice or moral lessons on how to act in a given situation. For example, it was recommended that one always have the means to achieve one's ambitions: "Build like a rich man, you will live like a poor man; build like a poor man, you will live like a rich man"; that one know how to be patient: "Don't pick things now, they will bear fruit later", and that one make hay while the sun shines:  "'I will go today' is what a shepherd says; 'I will go tomorrow' is what a shepherd says. 'I will go' is 'I will go', and time passes".

Some proverbs that attest to Mesopotamian popular wisdom can be quite relevant today. For example, political leaders might do well to ponder the following Sumerian proverbs: "A heart never created hatred, but speech creates hatred; or Speak from the heart and not out of turn".