Almost 4,000 years before Beckett, two men were already waiting for Godot: '"I will go today" is what a herdsman says; "I will go tomorrow" is what a shepherd-boy says. "I will go" is "I will go", and the time passes.' (Sumerian proverb) #Mesopotamia #cuneiform #waitingforgodot, links in comment

Almost 4,000 years before Beckett, two men were already been waiting for Godot: '"I will go today" is what a herdsman says; "I will go tomorrow" is what a shepherd-boy says. "I will go" is "I will go", and the time passes.' (Sumerian proverb) #Mesopotamia #cuneiform #Godot, links in comment

"The dog understands: 'Take it!' It does not understand: 'Put it down!'" True 3,900 years ago when a young Mesopotamian scribe copied the proverb onto a round school tablet; still true today! #cuneiform #Mesopotamia #dogs Tablet: BM U.17207.77, CDLI P346305; sculpture: Louvre AO 4349, CDLI P386356

Rishiya, the chief musician at Mari c. 1760s BCE, served under King Yasmah-Addu. Surprisingly, he was retained by Y-A's antagonist and successor, Zimri-Lim, even though Rishiya had neglected his allocated farmland, which had been taken away from him. He must have been a terrific musician!

I suspect Google's AI was the source of the crossword clue, though I have no idea where the AI summary got this!

From long ago in my non-Assyriological past: this photo showed up in the NY Times today, in an article about the excellent new Bangles biography, 'Eternal Flame'! (We were Those Girls then, playing at the Troubadour. I'm in the pink shirt.) www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/a...
Now, back to cuneiform!

Little Ba'la-bia, her twin toddler brothers and baby sister, victims of famine, were sold by their desperate parents to a rich man in ancient Emar. These are the footprints of two of them, pressed into clay and sealed like contracts, when the children were taken away from home c. 2200 years ago.

A glimpse of a past time: c. 2,700 years ago the Neo-Assyrian govt deported 977 people from Que. They're listed here: 334 men, 349 women, 172 boys, 121 girls. 45 were toddlers and 50 were nursing, some no doubt born en route. SAA 11 167: oracc.org/saao/P335907/, Weavers, Scribes, and Kings, 451-452.

"When I came to Babylon, for the messengers of Zimri-Lim (king of Mari) there were unending servings of pork, fish, fowl, and nuts, while I was totally ignored!" Here's hoping your festivities are happier than those of this ancient messenger! ARM 26 384, J. M. Sasson, From the Mari Archives, 88.

These two people, Shara-igizi-Abzu and her father Ushumgal, are two of the earliest people on Earth whose names are recorded on their images, c. 2900 BCE. He was a Mesopotamian priest, apparently giving land, houses, and animals to his daughter. Met 58.29. See Weavers, Scribes, and Kings, Ch. 3.

A chief barber in Mesopotamia could trim beards, shave heads, do surgery, advise the king, and serve as a high official. See fingerprints of a barber here, next to a rolling of his elaborate seal. Barbers were trusted to wield sharp blades carefully! Rouault TFR2 5-17; Podany aeon.co/essays/in-th...

With many new followers, I thought I should introduce myself! I'm an ancient historian and author of 5 books, including Weavers, Scribes, and Kings (2022). It explores the Middle East from 3500-323 BCE, through the lives of real people--rich and poor, old and young, women and men. Audiobook as well!

Paw prints prove that good boys and girls have been casually walking across wet concrete (actually drying Mesopotamian mudbricks, in this case) for thousands of years. (Penn Museum B16461, Hearst Museum PAHMA 9-1765, VA Bab 04060.005, British Museum 137495)

Ever had one of those days when you just delete everything you've written? A scribe in Ebla, 4,300 years ago, had the same kind of day. Here's the clay tablet he crushed in his hand! See: Biga, Maria Giovanna. "An angry scribe of the third millennium BC." SCIENZE DELL'ANTICHITÀ (2011): 281-282.

This Sunday Nov 17 in DC, in person and on-line: I'll do a public lecture, "Securing Peace in the Ancient Middle East," about Bronze Age diplomats from 6-7:30 pm, and check out the exciting papers on recent Amarna research from 10-4!