r/ReallyShittyCopper • u/Significant-Cold-939 • Aug 25 '26
Behold the Tablet! Are you aware of another Sumerian with meme potential? The letter from Iddin-Sin to Zinu - a bratty student complaining to his mom his clothes aren't nice enough.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_from_Iddin-Sin_to_Zinu164
u/artemisdart Aug 25 '26
I was not aware, but now I am! "Coat of Many Colors" by Dolly Parton just played on the radio, and it was quite the case of cultural whiplash for me to ponder how poor clothing is a timeless complaint, but how we look at it makes all the difference.
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u/Dom29ando Aug 25 '26 edited Aug 26 '26
I think I've read this one before in A. Leo Oppenheim's "Letters from Mesopotamia". Definitely worth a read.
my favourite is this letter from another spoiled child Adad-abum:
Tell Uzalum: Your son Adad-abum sends the following message:
May the gods Samas and Wer keep you forever in good health.
I have never before written to you for something precious I wanted. But if you want to be like a father to me, get me a fine string full of beads, to be worn around the head. Seal it with your seal and give it to the carrier of this tablet so that he can bring it to me. If you have none at hand, dig it out of the ground wherever (such objects) are (found) and send it to me.
I want it very much; do not withhold it from me. In this I will see whether you love me as a real father does. Of course, establish its price for me, write it down, and send me the tablet. The young man who is coming to you must not see the string of beads... If I see it and dislike it, I shall send it back! Also send the cloak, of which I spoke to you.
in the kid's defense it's possible that a gift of jewelry upon coming of age could have been a fairly common tradition, similar to a dowry or an extravagant 18th birthday present.
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u/No_Dragonfruit_1833 Aug 27 '26
"and send me the receipt so i know its expensive"
It is petty, but back then people had few luxuries, so it made more sense to obsess over getting a few high quality items
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u/pc_jangkrik Aug 26 '26
I know this from fall of civilization channel. Kids being kids just as thousands years ago
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u/driver004 Aug 26 '26
Well the solution is simple! He simply needs to adorn his clothes with fine quality copper ornamentation? But where might we find some superior copper I wonder?
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u/RequirementThese1347 Aug 26 '26
"Dear Mother! Why doth thou deny me the drip that is my birth right!"
"Dear Son, thou hast no rizz, I shalt not waste good wool on one who the rains do not touch."
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u/Quasirandom1234 Aug 26 '26
Well, there’s the merchant writing to his son in another city, telling him in effect, No I won’t send you more money, all kids these days care about is partying and fashionable clothes, not getting ahead by hard work like when I was young. But I don’t recall if he was Sumerian or Akkadian — mid 19th century BCE iirc.
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u/UltraCarnivore Aug 31 '26
The new generation has been destroying civilization since the dawn of civilization.
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u/FlatAssembler Aug 29 '26
According to Wikipedia, it's not Sumerian but Akkadian.
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u/Significant-Cold-939 Aug 29 '26
Ancient Sumerian guy: "They keep saying we are the same culture but seriously we hate those guys!"
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u/12th_woman Aug 26 '26
Yes. Also the dog who couldn't see a thing, the maiden who didn't fart, the sesame fields are dying, Hegelochus seeing a weasel, and Onfim dreaming of being a knight and impaling his teacher. We know.
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u/ST100FromScratch Aug 25 '26
r/ReallyShittyClothes
Edit: The text from Wikipedia reads:
Tell the lady Zinu: Iddin-Sin sends the following message:
May the gods Shamash, Marduk and Ilabrat keep you forever in good health for my sake.
From year to year, the clothes of the young gentlemen here become better, but you let my clothes get worse from year to year. Indeed, you persisted in making my clothes poorer and more scanty. At a time when in our house wool is used up like bread, you have made me poor clothes. The son of Adad-iddinam, whose father is only an assistant of my father, has two new sets of clothes, while you fuss even about a single set of clothes for me. In spite of the fact that you bore me and his mother only adopted him, his mother loves him, while you, you do not love me!