Saturday, October 22, 2011
Changed My Mind
I had previously stated that the Sumerians must have done some serious prioritization about what they wrote since writing was clumsy and time consuming. However, last class period changed my mind. The lecture illuminated the fact that they kept detailed records of all their business transactions, and the tablet she showed us was small and intricate. This makes it seem like writing actually wasn't the obnoxious process I was making it sound like. So it looks to me like my theory falls short. This leaves me with the question, why then did they write down some things, and not other things seemingly so well-suited to recording?
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Perhaps because business transactions are numerical and maybe numbers were easier to write? And maybe their business transactions had contacts that needed to be "set in stone" (haha get it?)
ReplyDeleteI think part of the reason business agreements were one of the main things recorded is that they would be used in legal proceedings. If you lived in some little Mesopotamian village or maybe even a moderately sized city, chances are that you knew the people around you and some of their family history. Things like births and marriages didn't really need to be recorded as much because people generally knew these things. But if you make an agreement to buy four sheep for X amount of money and then your associate tries to sell you three sheep for that amount instead, you have a signed document stating that you agreed to four sheep for that price. The business recordings not only served to help one keep track of his finances but also as testimonials for agreements. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteBoth suggestions are feasible, and likely. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHow does a Sumarian determine what is worth writing down? Perhaps they wrote down what was most relevant to them in their daily life in the here and now (such as business transactions) and for some reason, didn't see a need to record things that would be valuable in the long-term. I would imagine that people often take their culture for granted and don't see a complete need to write things down until their culture is in someway threatened. . . Could this apply to Sumerians, Alex?
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