The Tale of the Poor Man of Nippur

by Baruch Ottervanger (Editor), Yigal Bloch

The Poor Man of Nippur is an Akkadian story dating from around 1500 BC. It is attested by only three texts, only one of which is more than a small fragment.

The poor man only has a much worn shirt, and he is very hungry, so he trades the shirt for a goat, but then realizes he has no beer, and that his neighbors and family will be angry with him.

Instead he presents the goat to the mayor. This is interpreted as a bribe and Gimil-Ninurta is given only a mug of third-class beer and the leavings of the meal before being thrown out. Through the medium of the gatekeeper Gimil-Ninurta vows to avenge his mistreatment three times over but when the mayor hears this he laughs all day.

Gimil-Ninurta hires a chariot and robe from the king on credit. Returning to the mayor's house with a locked chest containing two birds he presents himself as a royal courier conveying gold to the temple of Enlil. Arising in the night and opening the chest to release the birds, he beats the mayor for the purported theft and is compensated with two minas of red gold, twice the sum owed to the king.

Gimil-Ninurta calls upon the mayor again disguised as an itinerant physician come to treat his wounds. Claiming that his medication is only effective in the darkness, he lures the mayor into a private room, binds the mayor's hands and feet to stakes and beats him once more.

The mayor instructs his staff to watch for his persecutor but Gimil-Ninurta hires an accomplice to identify himself as 'the man with the goat' at the mayor's gate and draw them out. He hides under a bridge near the mayor's house and beats the mayor nigh to death while he is alone.

Genres: Ancient, Classics

61 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1501

Reviews

[Sense of History]

The ancient Mesopotamians have a rather gloomy reputation: their myths mainly portray life on earth as a vale of tears, and long laments take a prominent place in their literature. But apparently there was also laughter. This short story, barely 160 lines, proves that. It tells how a poor man from the city of Nippur is mistreated by the ruler of his city and how he takes revenge in a cunning way, even up to three times. It is clearly written with sympathy for the underdog. Humor is paramount, but it also indirectly exposes the social relationships within Mesopotamian society.

The oldest version is dated to around 1500 BCE, when Mesopotamia was divided into several major empires (Assyria, Mitanni, Kassite Babylonia, and the previously obscure “Empire of the Sea People”). Apparently, it was a text that was used to teach students to write (in the difficult cuneiform). For example, the most complete version of this story was found in the famous library of Ashurbanipal, in Niniveh. The nice thing is that at the end of the text, the student gives us his name (“[...] written and checked [...] Nabu-rehtu-uṣur, scribal apprentice”) and that of his master, dates his cuneiform tablet (in our chronology 701 BCE), and casts a curse on whoever destroys the tablets and the library.

[Vaishali · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few portions of this text are missing, so following both the storyline and protagonist’s motives is a bit challenging. That being said, I’ve always found archaic verse so stately and beautiful, which made the overall read interesting if you love this sort of ancient stuff :)

[Marc]

Short, satirical story dating back to an original text from the 15th century BCE, perhaps written in the Sumerian-Babylonian city of Nippur. The story it rattles a bit and not everything is intelligible, but it does make you smile. In fact, it is a picaresque novel with a strong social background. More about that in my History account on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Milica Trajković · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting story, and there is also a short movie on YouTube which is based on this story produced by Cambridge University. It's actually first and probably only movie in Babylonian so it's definitely worth checking out.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humorous political satire, quite understandable from a current day perspective despite the 3.5 millennia that have passed since this was written

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious to read. Reminds me of the humor in Don Quixote. I laughed everytime the man took his revenge on that poor greedy mayor. I also love that this has survived this long. To think that people laughed at these things 3000 yrs ago, just as we do today. I have read this multiple times now, and it's still funny.

I read it free at http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/cams/gk...