Satire, Humor & the School Joke

Mesopotamian literature was not all solemn. The scribal schools produced satire and broad humor: burlesques of pompous teachers and lazy students, the comic tale of 'The Three Ox-Drivers from Adab' who bring an absurd dispute before the king, and biting rivalry-dialogues in which two scribes trade elaborate insults. This comic vein punctures pretension, mocks incompetence, and revels in clever abuse and absurd situations. It reveals a culture with a lively sense of the ridiculous — capable of laughing at its own institutions, its self-important experts, and the everyday follies of human beings.