Records showing teenagers being teenagers since the beginning of history (1 Viewer)

[Ahsoka]

And not in a hyperbolic sense, in a literal sense

We have a clay tablet from the 18th century BCE written in cuneiform, recording a letter from a teenage boy to his mother. And if this doesn’t show teenage behavior, then nothing does. It’s quite amusing to have these kinds of records that show human behavior and to be able to translate such old scripts.

Spoiler: The text as seen on the original tablet

And this is the translation:
Tell the lady Zinu: Iddin-Sin sends the following message:
May the gods Shamash, Marduk and Ilabrat keep you forever in good health for my sake.
From year to year, the clothes of the young gentlemen here become better, but you let my clothes get worse from year to year. Indeed, you persisted in making my clothes poorer and more scanty. At a time when in our house wool is used up like bread, you have made me poor clothes. The son of Adad-iddinam, whose father is only an assistant of my father, has two new sets of clothes, while you fuss even about a single set of clothes for me. In spite of the fact that you bore me and his mother only adopted him, his mother loves him, while you, you do not love me!

Context: Iddin-Sin was a teenage member of the upper class in Babylon, with a father who was a city official under the city administration under Hammurabi. He was likely a student at a boarding school. He’s comparing his clothes to the clothes of those around him, including an adopted son of an official that works for Iddin-Sin’s father. It’s implied that Iddin-Sin’s mother hand weaves all his clothes, which of course took a very long time back then. The first line of the letter (Tell the lady Zinu: Iddin-Sin sends the following message) implies that a scribe was recording what the teenager said, though aspects of the text seemed clumsy and inexperienced (mistakes expected of beginners or colloquial speech, text not fitting and added to the left side and overflowing to the bottom). It’s also believed that the line “Tell the lady Zinu: Iddin-Sin sends the following message:” shows that a scribe would read the letter to his mother. Today, the tablet is kept in the Louvre in Paris.

 

[Ahsoka]

History taglist:
@Lexie @Dreamer_of_Songs @Nina @velvet @alo @Villains @Moguri @Darkened_Aura_13 @Jungwonie @Snailmin @Chohee_nyang

 

[dark_tranquility]

it took me a good while to digest what you said

 

[Ahsoka]

it took me a good while to digest what you said

Making the text concise here was sadly not possible

 

[dark_tranquility]

Making the text concise here was sadly not possible

well at least I learned something interesting

 

[HugeBakkaeMotae]

I guess I shouldn't complain about a hole in my sock when rich kids used to only afford a single set of scanty clothes.

The "But moooom!" energy is simultaneously hilarious and sad.

 

[Snailmin]

I was at louvre a year ago! Sadly I did miss it, btw to look at all Exhibitions at louvre takes more than nine months so it’s not suprising I missed it

 

[Ahsoka]

I was at louvre a year ago! Sadly I did miss it, btw to look at all Exhibitions at louvre takes more than nine months so it’s not suprising I missed it

I’m also not sure if it’s on exhibit or not, museums typically have a lot of pieces that aren’t actively on an exhibit all the time

 

[Chohee_nyang]

That was a hilarious history!!!

 

[Nina]

They literally haven't changed.

When I was a kid, it was, "You didn't buy me Jordans. THAT MEANS YOU DON'T LOVE ME!!"

 

[TrinityJade]

Not me reading it multiple times before I understood