Debate between tree and reed: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Sumerian disputation text}}

{{Distinguish|The Oak and the Reed}}

{{Distinguish|The Oak and the Reed}}The '''Debate between tree and reed''' ([[Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature|CSL]] 5.3.4) is a work of [[Sumerian language|Sumerian literature]] belonging to the genre of [[Sumerian disputations|disputations poem]]. It was written on [[Clay tablet|clay tablets]] and dates to the [[Third Dynasty of Ur]] (ca. mid-3rd millennium BC).{{Sfn|Van Dijk|1953|p=35–36}} The text was reconstructed by M. Civil in the 1960s from 24 manuscripts{{Sfn|Jimenez|2017|p=20n57}} but it is currently the least studied of the disputation poems and a full translation has not yet been published.{{Sfn|Jimenez|2017|p=16, 20}} Some other Sumerian disputations include the dispute between [[Debate between bird and fish|bird and fish]], [[Debate between sheep and grain|cattle and grain]], and [[Debate between Winter and Summer|Summer and Winter]].

== Synopsis ==

The poem begins with a [[Ancient near eastern cosmology|cosmogonic]] prologue describing the copulation between Heaven ([[Anu|An]]) and Earth ([[Ki (goddess)|Ki]]). Earth gives birth to vegetation, and the for the purpose of the poem, this prominently includes Tree and Reed. Though they are first in harmony, a disputation begins between the two as they enter into a shrine and. Reed, crosseswho fails to respect the pathproper order of Treethings, infuriatingsteps in front of Tree, causing the latter to be infuriated. The prologue covers the first 49 lines, after which the disputation proceeds for another two hundred lines. It is divided into four speeches: Tree speaking (lines 50–91), Reed speaking (96–137), Tree speaking again (144–191), Reed speaking again (197–228). The adjudication scene (230–254) begins with Tree invoking the judgement of [[Shulgi]] (a king), who declares that Tree has prevailed over Reed. The poem also mentions the king [[Puzrish-Dagan]], suggesting its composition during his time.{{Sfn|Jimenez|2017|p=20–21}}{{Sfn|Mittermayer|2023|p=183}}

== Partial translation ==

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== Historical context ==

In Mesopotamian disputation literature, debates between trees is a recurring theme. In Akkadian disputations, examples include the ''[[Tamarisk and Palm]]'', ''[[Palm and Vine]]'', and ''[[Series of the Poplar]]''.{{Sfn|CeccarelliOtero|2020|p=152}} A much later example from [[Aesop]]'s fables is ''[[The Oak and the Reed|''The Oak and the Reed'']]''.{{Sfn|West|2013|p=421, 421n16}}

== References ==

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=== Sources ===

* {{Cite book |last=Ceccarelli |first=Manuel |url=https://wwwbooks.google.cacom/books/edition/Disputation_Literature_in_the_Near_East/U43_DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpvid=0U43_DwAAQBAJ |title=Disputation Literature in the Near East and Beyond |date=2020 |publisher=De Gruyter |editor-last=Jimenez |editor-first=Enrique |pages=33–56 |chapter=An Introduction to the Sumerian School Disputes: Subject, Structure, Function and Context |isbn=978-1-5015-1021-2 |editor-last2=Mittermayer |editor-first2=Catherine}}

* {{Cite book |last=Jimenez |first=Enrique |url=https://brill.com/display/title/32443 |title=The Babylonian Disputation Poems |date=2017 |publisher=Brill}}

* {{Cite book |last=Lisman |first=J.W. |title=Cosmogony, Theogony and Anthropogeny in Sumerian texts |date=2013 |publisher=Ugarit-Verlag}}

* {{Cite book |last=Mittermayer |first=Catherine |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IAPXEAAAQBAJ&dq=debate%20hoe%20plough%20sumerian&pg=PA181 |title=Back to School in Babylonia |date=2023 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |editor-last=Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures of the University of Chicago |pages=181–190 |chapter=Learning Rhetoric through Sumerian Disputations}}

* {{Cite book |last=Otero |first=Andrés Piquer |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U43_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT133 |title=Disputation Literature in the Near East and Beyond |date=2020 |publisher=De Gruyter |editor-last=Jimenez |editor-first=Enrique |pages=143–156 |chapter=Those Who Cannot Do, Reign? The Sources of the Fable of Jotham |editor-last2=Mittermayer |editor-first2=Catherine}}

* {{Cite book |last=Van Dijk |first=J.J.A. |url=https://archive.org/details/lasagessesumroac0000dijk |title=La sagesse suméro-accadienne. Recherches sur les genres littéraires des textes sapientiaux avec choix de textes |date=1953 |publisher=Brill}}

* {{Cite journal |last=Van Dijk |first=J.J.A. |date=1965 |title=Le motif cosmique dans la pensée sumérienne |url=https://journals.uio.no/actaorientalia/article/view/5247 |journal=Acta Orientalia |volume=28 |pages=1–59}}

* {{Cite book |last=West |first=M.L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vHdCAgAAQBAJ&dq=aesop%20oak%20and%20reed%20sumerian%20tree%20and%20reed&pg=PA421 |title=Hellenica: Volume III: Philosophy, Music and Metre, Literary Byways, Varia |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-960503-3 }}

[[Category:Clay tablets]]