wisdom-fateWe're still mapping where this idea was first discussed. Key passages and related ideas below.
Wisdom & Instruction (the Counsels of a Father)
A father's oldest advice, four thousand years on: guard your tongue, choose your friends, fear your god.
One of the oldest forms of Mesopotamian thought is practical wisdom: a father instructing his son, or a sage his pupil, in how to live well and prudently. The Instructions of Shuruppak — among the oldest works of literature anywhere — gathers terse counsels on honest work, careful speech, choosing friends, avoiding quarrels, treating dependents fairly, and respecting the gods. The Akkadian Counsels of Wisdom continue the tradition. This is not lofty metaphysics but the distilled common sense of an old civilization: how a person of sense conducts a life.
Key passages(11)
Very high
Very high
High
High
High
High
The advice of a supervisor to a younger scribe (E-dub-ba-a C)
High
High
High
High
High