The Akkadian disputation poem or Akkadian debate, also known as the Babylonian disputation poem, is a genre of

Akkadian literature Akkadian literature is the ancient literature written in the East Semitic languages, East Semitic Akkadian language (Assyrian people, Assyrian and Babylonian language, Babylonian dialects) in Mesopotamia (Akkadian Empire, Akkadian, Assyria and Bab ...

in the form of a

disputation Disputation is a genre of literature involving two contenders who seek to establish a resolution to a problem or establish the superiority of something. An example of the latter is in Sumerian disputation poems. In the scholastic system of e ...

. They feature a dialogue or a debate involving two contenders, usually cast as inarticulate beings such as particular objects, plants, animals, and so forth. Extant compositions from this genre date from the early 2nd millennium BC, the earliest example being the ''

Tamarisk and Palm ''Tamarisk and Palm'' is an Akkadian disputation poem written on clay tablets and dates to the 18th century BC from the reign of Hammurabi. The poem features an argument between a tamarisk and a date palm; the Tamarisk leads in the name of the poe ...

'', to the late 1st millennium BC. These poems occur in verse and follow a type of meter called 2, , 2 or ''Vierheber'', which is the same meter found in some other Akkadian texts like the Enuma Elish. None of the known Akkadian disputation poems are translations of works of the same, but earlier genre, in the

Sumerian language Sumerian ) was the language of ancient Sumer. It is one of the List of languages by first written account, oldest attested languages, dating back to at least 2900 BC. It is a local language isolate that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia, in the a ...

, namely the

Sumerian disputations The Sumerian disputation poem or Sumerian debate is a genre of Sumerian literature in the form of a disputation. Extant compositions from this genre date to the middle-to-late 3rd millennium BC. There are six primary poems belonging to this genre. ...

; Akkadian disputations utilize different literary conventions and verse structure, debate different topics, and so on, although ''Tamarisk and Palm'' has one Sumerian loanword. Nevertheless, some remarkable phraseological continuity is attested, such as between ''Hoe and Plough'' with the Akkadian ''

Palm and Vine ''Palm and Vine'' is an Akkadian disputation poem. It contains a disputation poem between two litigants, Palm (designated by the rare name ''arḫānû'') and Vine (Akkadian ''karānu''), each of which praises its own merits and many uses, and d ...

'', even though two millennia separate their composition. The disputants of some of the poems are also similar to the disputants of some Sumerian disputations. For example, ''Tamarisk and Palm'' and ''Palm and Vine'' both feature two plant contenders: this is alike the Sumerian ''

Debate between tree and reed The Debate between tree and reed ( CSL 5.3.4) is a work of Sumerian literature belonging to the genre of disputations poem. It was written on clay tablets and dates to the Third Dynasty of Ur (ca. mid-3rd millennium BC). The text was reconstruc ...

''. Akkadian disputations, despite being more recent than their Sumerian counterpart, have significantly more fragmentary manuscripts. A dozen lines survive of the '' Donkey Disputation'' and that less than a tenth is now known of the ''

Series of the Poplar The "Series of the Poplar" is an Akkadian disputation poem containing a discussion between a Poplar, an Ash, and probably other trees, who each tries to establish his preeminence in the vegetal kingdom by listing their many uses and excellent ...

'' and the '' Series of the Fox'', which, originally, would have been hundreds of verses in length. Scholarly work on the Akkadian disputations was first synthesized by Wilfred Lambert.

Structure

Akkadian disputations share a rigid structure alongside earlier Sumerian disputations, which is also evident in disputations that occur in disputations from later periods in languages including Syriac,

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, and Turkish. The structure is as follows: # Prologue # Disputation between two contenders # Adjudication scene (where the winner is declared) The prologue introduces the story from the beginning of time and presents a

cosmogony Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the cosmos or the universe. Overview Scientific theories In astronomy, cosmogony is the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used in ref ...

explaining the origins of the cosmos, and in this context, alludes or foreshadows the rivalry between the two contenders even from this early period. The disputation is a dialogue between the two (or, one occasion, more) contenders. Arguments either involve citing their own positive quality or utility to humans, or degrading the utility of the other. Narration is frequent, unlike in some of the disputations that occur in

Aesop's fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a Slavery in ancient Greece, slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 Before the Common Era, BCE. Of varied and unclear origins, the stor ...

, occurring only in small segments in ''Series of the Fox'' and ''Nissaba and Wheat''. The adjudication scene involves one or both contenders appealing to a third-party to determine the winner of the dispute. In Sumerian disputations, the third party is either a king or a god (like

Enlil Enlil, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by t ...

). The fragmentary nature of Akkadian disputations prevents a clear determination of whether this continued in these texts. Some probably did, however the two Akkadian poems whose adjudication scenes are preserved, ''Series of the Fox'' and ''Nissaba and Wheat'', do not end in such a manner.

List of Akkadian disputations

* Donkey Disputation * Nissaba and the Wheat *

* Series of Ox and Horse * Series of the Fox * Story of the Poor, Forlorn Wren *

* Series of the Spider *

References

Citations

Sources

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External links