www.lesswrong.com/posts/DMswzhPQqkqx2XAma/a-full-epistemic-stack-knowledge-commo...
1 correction found
the Sumerians and their written customer complaints[4]
The famous “customer complaint” tablet the post cites is Old Babylonian and written in Akkadian, so attributing it to “the Sumerians” is inaccurate.
Full reasoning
The LessWrong post links “written customer complaints” to the well-known Complaint tablet to Ea-nāṣir.
However, the artifact that’s widely cited as the “oldest customer complaint” is Old Babylonian (c. 1750 BCE) and written in Akkadian, not Sumerian:
- CDLI (Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative) catalog entry for UET 5, 0081 (P414985)—the complaint tablet—lists the period as Old Babylonian and the language as Akkadian.
- National Geographic likewise describes the merchant as “a fellow Babylonian” and states the tablet is “inscribed in Akkadian.”
While Ur is historically a major Sumerian city, the specific “written customer complaint” being referenced here is not a Sumerian-language document and is commonly treated as part of the Old Babylonian/Akkadian textual corpus. So describing it as a “Sumerian” customer complaint is not supported by the primary catalog metadata and reputable secondary descriptions.
3 sources
- UET 5, 0081 (P414985) - Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI)
Catalog metadata for the complaint tablet lists Period: Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC) and Language(s): Akkadian.
- Think customer service is bad now? Read this 4,000-year-old complaint letter | National Geographic
National Geographic describes Ea-nāṣir as “a fellow Babylonian” and states the tablet (dating from 1750 B.C.) is “inscribed in Akkadian.”
- tablet | British Museum Collection Online (W_1953-0411-71)
British Museum entry describes the object as an Old Babylonian clay tablet (production date 1750BC), a letter from Nanni to Ea-nasir complaining about copper delivery.