The Sumerian disputation or Sumerian debate is a topical

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

created in the middle-to-late 3rd millennium BC. Seven major debates are known, with specific titles. The list of the majority of the known debates is as follows (from Kramer): (alphabetical) :#–''

Debate between bird and fish The "Debate between bird and fish" is an essay written in the Sumerian language on clay tablets, dating back to the mid to late 3rd millennium BC. Seven ''"debate"'' topics are known from Sumerian literature, falling in the category of 'disputat ...

'' :#–'' Debate between cattle and grain'' :#–''Debate between the millstone and the gulgul-stone'' :#–''Debate between the pickaxe and the plough''
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Debate between silver and mighty copper Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, ...

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Debate between Summer and Winter Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, ...

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Debate between tree and the reed Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, ...

'' Additionally, four compositions of the disputation type with the Sumerian school, and its graduates or teachers: :#–''The Disputation between Enkmansi and Girnishag'' :#–''The Colloquy between an'' ungula ''and a

Scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...

'' :#–''The Disputation between Enkitalu and Enkihegal'' :#–''

Disputation between Two School Graduates In the scholastic system of education of the Middle Ages, disputations (in Latin: ''disputationes'', singular: ''disputatio'') offered a formalized method of debate designed to uncover and establish truths in theology and in sciences. Fixed ru ...

'' An additional text concerns women: :#–''

Disputation between two unnamed ladies In the scholastic system of education of the Middle Ages, disputations (in Latin: ''disputationes'', singular: ''disputatio'') offered a formalized method of debate designed to uncover and establish truths in theology and in sciences. Fixed ru ...

References

* Kramer, 1963. ''The Sumerians: Their History, Culture and Character,''

Samuel Noah Kramer Samuel Noah Kramer (September 28, 1897 – November 26, 1990) was one of the world's leading Assyriologists, an expert in Sumerian history and Sumerian language. After high school, he attended Temple University, before Dropsie and Penn, both in ...

, c 1963, The University of Chicago Press, Chapter 5, ''Literature: The Sumerian Belles-Lettres,'' pp. 165–228; Disputation literature, pp. 217–228.

External links

Disputations or Literary Debates, at Gateway to Babylon
Rhetoric Sumerian language {{MEast-myth-stub