this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2024
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[–] [email protected] 98 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (16 children)

IIRC "books" were a medieval-period invention. Before the common era, everythign would have been scrolls or tablets. The first codices wouldn't have existed until about 100BCE in Rome. So, assuming that this is (roughly) what a cuneiform tablet was saying, I wonder what the actual work used for 'book' was, and what more accurate translation there would be, if we had the relevant cultural understanding?

But, more so than that - the earliest proto-novel that we know of is The Tale of Genji, that dates to roughly the 11th century ~~B~~CE (Edit: this is a typo; it is definitely CE, not BCE). Which makes the question of what kind of 'books' this is supposed to refer to even more interesting.

Or--alternatively--is it just a shitpost?

[–] [email protected] 45 points 7 months ago (5 children)

The Tale of Gengi is for 11th century CE, not BCE.

I'm pretty sure this tablet is fake, but I do remember how similar people in those times were to us when I read the translated tablets from that period. One that I remember most was talking about a parent who tried to bribe a teacher to give his son better grades.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Don't forget the Egyptian tablet recording work absences from 1250 BCE. Not much has changed.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Damn I wish I could justify work absence with "brewing beer"

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