The End Is Near

[Archaic]

'Our Earth is degenerate in these later days; there are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end; bribery and corruption are common;
children no longer obey their parents; every man wants to write a book and the end of the world is evidently approaching.'



-Assyrian clay tablet, c.2800 B.C. (Just goes to show that some things are timeless.)

From Smithsonian, 'Ten Notable Apocalypses That Didn't Happen': http://www.smithsonianmag.com/histor...#ixzz286Xa8qwL

Cheers,
Archaic

PS: "Every man wants to write a book" really cracked me up. A sure sign of degeneracy.

[Robert]

Hi Bunny

I'm no Assyrian expert but the book writing business sounds to me like something has been lost or altered in translation.

[Limehouse]

[QUOTE=Archaic;241062] bribery and corruption are common
QUOTE]

No change there then!

[Archaic]

I'm no Assyrian expert but the book writing business sounds to me like something has been lost or altered in translation.

Maybe the strict translation is "every man wants to write a cuneiform tablet".


Archaic

[Robert]

Bribery and corruption....cuneiform....they wrote the books and then cooked the books.

[DVV]

For he who has written this, his own society meant the world.
We should also treat what he considered signs as causes.
And truly, that society has come to an end.
Was it due to the causes he alluded to ?
.........

[Archaic]

Hi David.

I'll have to brush up on my ancient Syrian history; I'm a little rusty. I know the country fell from power and was occupied by waves of invading Phoenicians, Sumerians, Egyptians, etc.


But when I read the line "every man wants to write a book" I keep getting this image in my head of ancient Sumerians obsessively churning out their own Ripper theories by painstakingly pressing sharp reeds into soft clay tablets.


Archaic

[Wickerman]

Hi David.

I'll have to brush up on my ancient Syrian history; I'm a little rusty. I know the country fell from power and was occupied by waves of invading Phoenicians, Sumerians, Egyptians, etc.

Syria (west of the Euphrates) is a very late term (previously known as Khatti, Mittani, and Naharin), and the Sumerians (south-east of the Euphrates) never ventured so far north-west. Also, the Sumerians preceded the Phoenicians by 'about' 2000 years

The origin of the name Syria is unknown with any certainty, some think it derived from the domination of the early Assyrians, others think it has something to do with the most influential city of the period, Tyre, which was pronounced Sur/Syr.

Because the article comes from the Smithsonian I suspect it is genuine, but obviously not a verbatim translation. The translation has been updated to appeal to a modern reader. I do own several volumes of the Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia project but this one tablet I do not recall reading.

There is also an ancient Egyptian text which bemoans the fact that the youths of today do not show any respect for their elders, they are of a rebellious nature.
Also, the ancients did not have the same concept of the "world" as we do today, a number of cultures did not even have a word for "world".
We read "Earth/World" in the Bible but the actual word is "Eretz" which only means "Land", and depending on the context it could mean anything from the soil in your hand, to the garden behind your house, to the hills surrounding your town, to a geo-political region.

Regards, Jon S.

[Hunter]

But when I read the line "every man wants to write a book" I keep getting this image in my head of ancient Sumerians obsessively churning out their own Ripper theories by painstakingly pressing sharp reeds into soft clay tablets.

Yes, indeed... And with no perspective beyond the need to satisfy the hunger of self gratification.

[Archaic]

Syria (west of the Euphrates) is a very late term (previously known as Khatti, Mittani, and Naharin), and the Sumerians (south-east of the Euphrates) never ventured so far north-west. Also, the Sumerians preceded the Phoenicians by 'about' 2000 years

The origin of the name Syria is unknown with any certainty, some think it derived from the domination of the early Assyrians, others think it has something to do with the most influential city of the period, Tyre, which was pronounced Sur/Syr.

Because the article comes from the Smithsonian I suspect it is genuine, but obviously not a verbatim translation. The translation has been updated to appeal to a modern reader. I do own several volumes of the Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia project but this one tablet I do not recall reading.

There is also an ancient Egyptian text which bemoans the fact that the youths of today do not show any respect for their elders, they are of a rebellious nature.
Also, the ancients did not have the same concept of the "world" as we do today, a number of cultures did not even have a word for "world".
We read "Earth/World" in the Bible but the actual word is "Eretz" which only means "Land", and depending on the context it could mean anything from the soil in your hand, to the garden behind your house, to the hills surrounding your town, to a geo-political region.

Regards, Jon S.

Hi Jon.

I meant to thank you for posting this info about the history of ancient Syria/Assyria.

I've read some other old texts where the writer complains about rebellious and disobedient young people in "modern" times... I expect it's an intrinsic aspect of the human experience.

Thanks,
Archaic