View source for Complaint tablet to Ea-nāṣir

{{Short description|Oldest known written complaint (c. 1750 BC)}}
{{use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox artifact
| image = Complaint tablet to Ea-Nasir 2023.JPG
| image_caption = Tablet on display in the British Museum
| material = Clay
| writing =
| created = {{circa|1750 BC}}
| discovered =
| location = [[British Museum]], London
| id =
| registration =
| height = {{convert|11.6|cm|abbr=on}}
| width = {{Convert|5|cm|abbr=on}}
}}
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The '''complaint tablet to Ea-nāṣir''' ({{abbr|UET V|Ur Excavations: Texts (see footnote)}} 81)<ref>{{Cite book |title=Letters and Business Documents of the Old Babylonian Period |publisher=British Museum Press |year=1953 |editor-last=Figulla |editor-first=H. H. |series=Ur Excavations: Texts |volume=V |location=London |page=5, Pl.&nbsp;XIV |editor-last2=Martin |editor-first2=W. J.}}</ref> is a [[clay tablet]] that was sent to the ancient city-state [[Ur]], written {{circa|1750&nbsp;BCE}}. The tablet, measuring 11.6 cm high and 5 cm wide, documents a transaction in which Ea-nāṣir,{{efn|{{langx|akk|𒂍𒀀𒈾𒍢𒅕|lit=[[Ea (god)|Ea]] is (his) warden}}, [[Akkadian language#Reconstruction|reconstructed pronunciation]]: [[Help:IPA|/ˈe.a ˈna:t͡sʼiʁ/]]}} a trader, allegedly sold sub-standard copper to a customer named Nanni. Nanni, dissatisfied with the quality, wrote a [[cuneiform]] complaint addressing the poor service and mistreatment of his servant.
Discovered by [[Leonard Woolley|Sir Leonard Woolley]] in Ur, it is currently kept in the [[British Museum]]. Written in [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] cuneiform, this tablet is recognized as the "Oldest [[customer complaint|Customer Complaint]]" by [[Guinness World Records]]. From 2015 onwards, the tablet's content and Ea-nāṣir in particular gained popularity as an [[internet meme]], due to its modern-sounding nature of dissatisfaction with goods.<ref name="ucl">{{Cite web |date=8 December 2022 |title=The Legend of Ea-Nāsir: how a Babylonian businessman became an internet meme |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/events/2023/jan/legend-ea-nasir-how-babylonian-businessman-became-internet-meme |access-date=27 April 2023 |website=[[UCL Institute of Archaeology]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kern |first=Emily |date=3 November 2021 |title=The Radical Promise of Human History |url=https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/the-radical-promise-of-human-history/ |work=[[Boston Review]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Brinkley |first=Liv |date=17 March 2022 |title=The World's Oldest Customer Complaint Is Almost 4000 Years Old |url=https://www.grunge.com/802606/the-worlds-oldest-customer-complaint-is-almost-4000-years-old/ |work=Grunge}}</ref>
==Description==
The tablet is {{convert|11.6|cm|in|frac=16}} high, {{convert|5|cm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}} wide, {{convert|2.6|cm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}} thick, and slightly damaged.<ref name="British Museum - tablet" />
==Content==
[[File:Ea Nasir tablet transcription.jpg|thumb|A transcription of the text on the obverse, reverse, and left edge of the tablet<ref>{{Cite web |title=UET 5, 0081 (P414985) |url=https://cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts/414985 |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=CDLI}}</ref>]]
The tablet details that Ea-nāṣir travelled to [[Dilmun]] to buy [[copper]] and returned to sell it in [[Mesopotamia]]. On one particular occasion, he had agreed to sell copper [[ingot]]s to Nanni. Nanni sent his servant with the money to complete the transaction.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Crawford |first=Harriet |author-link=Harriet Crawford |date=July 2015 |title=Sir Leonard Woolley and Ur of the Chaldees |url=https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/2015/07/cra398015 |website=The Bible and Interpretation |publisher=[[University of Arizona]]}}</ref> The copper was considered by Nanni to be sub-standard{{sfnp|Oppenheim|1967|pp=82–83}} and was not accepted.
In response, Nanni created the cuneiform letter for delivery to Ea-nāṣir. Inscribed on it is a complaint to Ea-nāṣir about a copper delivery of the incorrect grade and issues with another delivery;<ref name="British Museum - tablet">{{Cite web |title=tablet |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1953-0411-71 |website=[[British Museum]] |id=object W&nbsp;1953-0411-71}}</ref> Nanni also complained that his servant (who handled the transaction) had been treated rudely. He stated that, at the time of writing, he had not accepted the copper, but had paid for it.
Ea-nāṣir was part of a group of traders called alik Tilmun, or "Dilmun traders". He is known from other texts to have been active in the 11th and 19th regnal years of the [[Larsa]] ruler [[Rim-Sîn I]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Konstantopoulos |first=Gina |title=As Above, So Below |date=2021 |publisher=[[Penn State University Press]] |isbn=978-1-64602-153-6 |editor-last=Konstantopoulos |editor-first=Gina |pages=3–27 |chapter=Gods in the Margins: Religion, Kingship, and the Fictionalized Frontier |doi=10.1515/9781646021536-003 |editor-last2=Zaia |editor-first2=Shana}}</ref>
==Acquisition==
[[File:Ur 1 old street.svg|thumb|Illustration of the interior of an old Babylonian house found in the ruins of Ur, which may have been the residence of Ea-nāṣir]]
The tablet was discovered and acquired by Sir [[Leonard Woolley]], leading a joint expedition of the [[University of Pennsylvania]] and the [[British Museum]] from 1922 to 1934 in the [[Sumer|Sumerian]] city of [[Ur]].<ref name="British Museum - tablet" /><ref name="woolley-bio">{{Cite web |title=Sir Leonard Woolley |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG63157 |website=[[British Museum]] |series=Collections online |department=Biography}}</ref>
==Translations==
[[A. Leo Oppenheim]] translated several of the tablet's lines in a 1954 article for ''[[Journal of the American Oriental Society]]''.<ref>{{harvp|Leemans|1960|p=39 n. 1}}, citing {{harvp|Oppenheim|1954|pp=9ff.}}</ref> An English language translation of the tablet was made by {{ill|Wilhelmus François Leemans (1912-1991)|nl|lt=W. F. Leemans}} in 1960;{{sfnp|Leemans|1960|pp=39–40}} Leemans' translation incorporated these lines which Oppenheim had translated as well as some input from {{ill|Fritz Rudolf Kraus|de}} on the meaning of a few lines.{{sfnp|Leemans|1960|p=39 n. 1}} Oppenheim published a full translation of the tablet himself in 1967,{{sfnp|Oppenheim|1967|pp=82–83}} unaware of any other translations of this tablet.{{sfnp|Oppenheim|1967|p=200}} A translation inspired by that of [[Marc Van de Mieroop]] sent in a personal communication to [[Steven J. Garfinkle]] was published in 2010;{{sfnp|Garfinkle|2010|p=198, 198 n. 39}} a [[book review]] by {{ill|Walter Farber|de}} noted that this translation "is not always true to details".{{sfnp|Farber|2012|p=321}} I. M. Diakonoff published a translation into Russian in 1990.{{sfnp|Diakonoff|1990|p=116}}
==Other tablets==
Other tablets have been found in the ruins believed to be Ea-nāṣir's dwelling. These include a letter from a man named Arbituram who complained he had not received his copper yet, while another said he was tired of receiving bad copper.<ref name="killgrove">{{Cite magazine |last=Killgrove |first=Kristina |date=11 May 2018 |title=Meet the worst businessman of the 18th century&nbsp;BCE |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2018/05/11/meet-the-worst-businessman-of-the-18th-century/#c1875012d5de |access-date=22 July 2020 |magazine=[[Forbes]]}}</ref>{{sfnp|Leemans|1960|pp=48–54}}
==Legacy==
The complaint tablet has become an internet meme due to its seemingly [[anachronistic]] nature.<ref name="ucl" /><ref name="killgrove" />{{sfnp|Podany|2022|pp=1–2}}
It has been recognized by the Guinness World Records as the "Oldest Customer Complaint".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Complaint Tablet To Ea-Nasir - World's Oldest Complaint Letter |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/537889-oldest-written-customer-complaint |access-date=2023-04-05 |website=Guinness World Records}}</ref>
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
==References==
{{reflist|25em}}
===Bibliography===
{{refbegin|25em}}
* {{Cite magazine |last=Baraniuk |first=Chris |date=2 March 2015 |title=Ancient customer-feedback technology lasts millennia |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27063-ancient-customer-feedback-technology-lasts-millennia/ |access-date=27 April 2023 |magazine=[[New Scientist]]}}
* {{Cite book |last=Diakonoff |first=I. M. |publisher=Akademija Nauk |year=1990 |isbn=978-5-02-016568-7 |location=Moscow |pages=97–125 |language=ru |script-title=ru:Люди города Ура |trans-title=People of the City of Ur |script-chapter=ru: Купец, мореплаватель, литейных дел мастер |trans-chapter=A Merchant, Seafarer, and Copper Founder}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Farber |first=Walter |date=April–June 2012 |title=Review: ''Opening the Tablet Box: Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Benjamin R. Foster'' |department=Review of Books |journal=[[Journal of the American Oriental Society]] |volume=132 |issue=2 |pages=319–321 |doi=10.7817/jameroriesoci.132.2.0319}}
* {{Cite book |last=Garfinkle |first=Steven J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2aq43z3at0wC |title=Opening the Tablet Box: Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Benjamin R. Foster |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-90-04-18652-1 |editor-last=Melville |editor-first=Sarah |series=Culture and History of the Ancient Near East |volume=42 |location=Leiden |pages=197–199 |chapter=Merchants and State Formation in Early Mesopotamia |doi=10.1163/9789004186569_012 |editor-last2=Slotsky |editor-first2=Alice}}
* {{Cite web |last=Kruszelnicki |first=K.S. |author-link=Karl Kruszelnicki |date=24 March 2015 |title=The oldest known complaint letter |url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2015/03/24/4200708.htm |access-date=27 April 2023 |website=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]}}
* {{Cite web |last=Kalinauskas |first=Nadine |date=10 March 2015 |title=Clay tablet with oldest recorded customer-service complaint on display at the British Museum |url=https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-buzz/at-the-british-museum-oldest-recorded-184633671.html |website=[[Yahoo News]] |series=Canada}}
* {{Cite web |last=McNally |first=Victoria |date=27 February 2015 |title=Ancient Babylonians were just like us: Complained about poor service from retailers |url=https://www.themarysue.com/ancient-babylonians-were-just-like-us/ |website=[[The Mary Sue]]}}
* {{Cite book |last=Leemans |first=W. F. |title=Foreign Trade in the Old Babylonian Period as Revealed by Texts from Southern Mesopotamia |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |year=1960 |series=Studia et Documenta ad Iura Orientis Antiqui Pertinentia |volume=6 |location=Leiden |pages=36–55 |chapter=Ur: Time of Rim-Sin |lccn=a61001806 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/foreigntradeinol0000leem/page/36/mode/1up |chapter-url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Oppenheim |first=A. L. |year=1954 |title=The Seafaring Merchants of Ur |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=74 |issue=1 |pages=6–17 |doi=10.2307/595475 |jstor=595475 |s2cid=163967835}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://isac.uchicago.edu/research/publications/misc/letters-mesopotamia-official-business-and-private-letters-clay-tablets |title=Letters From Mesopotamia: Official, Business and Private Letters on Clay Tablets from Two Millennia |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |year=1967 |editor-last=Oppenheim |editor-first=A. Leo |series=The Oriental Institute |pages=82–84 |chapter=Old Babylonian Letters: Trade |lccn=67020576}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rice |first=Michael |url=https://archive.org/details/MichaelRiceTheArchaeologyOfTheArabianGulf1994 |title=The Archaeology of the Arabian Gulf |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-415-03268-1 |series=The experience of archaeology |location=London |pages=276–280 |chapter=The Merchants of Dilmun: Ea-Nasir, the Dilmun Merchant}}
* {{Cite web |last=Wheaton |first=Oliver |date=5 March 2015 |title=Believe it or not, this carving is actually a 3,750&nbsp;year-old customer service complaint |url=https://metro.co.uk/2015/03/05/believe-it-or-not-this-carving-is-actually-a-3750-year-old-customer-service-complaint-5090917/ |website=[[Metro (British newspaper)|Metro]]}}
* {{Cite book |last=Podany |first=Amanda H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EuF8EAAAQBAJ |title=Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-19-005904-0 |location=New York, NY |pages=1–10 |chapter=Introduction |doi=10.1093/oso/9780190059040.003.0021}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Woolley |first1=Leonard |title=The Old Babylonian Period |last2=Mallowan |first2=Max |date=1976 |publisher=British museum publ |isbn=978-0-7141-1087-5 |series=Ur Excavations |volume=VII |location=London |pages=123–125 |chapter=Detailed Description of the Private Houses: The AH Site: Old Street |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/ur-excavations-vii.-the-old-babylonian-period/page/n140/mode/1up}}
{{refend}}
==External links==
* {{Cite web |title=British Museum Object |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1953-0411-71 |access-date=1 February 2024 |website=[[British Museum]] |publisher=British Museum |id=BM 131236}}
* {{Cite web |title=UET 5, 0081 |url=https://cdli.ucla.edu/search/search_results.php?SearchMode=Text&ObjectID=P414985 |access-date=28 September 2022 |website=[[Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative]] |publisher=University of California, Los Angeles |id=CDLI no. P414985}}
* {{Cite web |title=16814A {{!}} 1953,0411.71 |url=http://www.ur-online.org/subject/17625/ |access-date=28 September 2022 |website=UrOnline - The Digital Resource for the Excavation of Ur |publisher=The British Museum |language=en}}
* {{Cite web |title=UET 5 81 [BM 131236 = 1953-04-11, 71 = U.16814a] |url=https://www.archibab.fr/T12972 |access-date=28 September 2022 |website=Archibab |publisher=Collège de France}}
* [https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/clay-tablet-0903925c9bbd4f55abf00571196f98e4 3D scan of the tablet]
{{Authority control}}
{{British Museum}}
[[Category:Clay tablets]]
[[Category:Mesopotamian literature]]
[[Category:Middle Eastern objects in the British Museum]]
[[Category:Customer service]]
[[Category:18th-century BC works]]
[[Category:Copper industry]]
[[Category:Akkadian inscriptions]]
[[Category:Internet memes introduced in 2015]]
[[Category:Archaeological discoveries in Iraq]]
[[Category:Letters (message)]]