Morality
Morality
Piety. In the ancient Near East, a pious person was one who told the truth, avoided blasphemy, gave charity, and avoided controversy. These actions by themselves were nevertheless insufficient without constant devotion to sacrifice and prayer. These concepts were expressed in a series of Wisdom texts. In one text, Counsels of Wisdom, a wise man instructs his “son” about piety.
Every day worship your god
Sacrifice and benediction are the proper accompaniment of incense
Present your free-will offering to your god,
For this is proper toward the gods.
Prayer, supplication, and prostration
Offer him daily, and you will get your reward
Then you will have full communion with your god. (Lambert)
Moral Code. The modern maxim “Don’t rock the boat” was an idea expressed throughout Mesopotamian history. One sought to live a cautious quiet life without discord, aspiring to success without change. This pragmatic approach to life is included in the earliest known piece of Wisdom literature, the Instructions of Shuruppak, dating to around 2600 b.c.e. In this collection a father gives his son practical advice and moral precepts—what modern people would term a “code of proper conduct”—standards of action providing guidelines for a family-centered, urban, civilized society ruled by a monarch. A son is advised to seek success; to avoid undue risk; to pay attention to the authority of parents, law, gods, and ruler; and to seek lasting rather than temporal values. The following are excerpts from this text:
You should not steal anything. … You should not break into a house. … A thief is a lion, but after he is caught, he will be a slave. My son you should not commit robbery, you should not cut yourself with an axe. …
You should not sit alone in a chamber with a married woman.
You should not travel during the night: it can hide both good and evil.
You should not have sex with your slave girl: she will chew you up (?).
You should not curse strongly: it rebounds on you.
You should not drive away a debtor: he will be hostile towards you.
My son, you should not use violence (?)… You should not commit rape on someone’s daughter; the courtyard will learn of it.
With your life you should always be on the side of the warrior; with your life you should always be on the side of Utu (the god of Justice).
The palace is like a mighty river: its middle is goring bulls; what flows in is never enough to fill it, and what flows out can never be stopped.
You should not pass judgment when you drink beer.
Heaven is far, earth is most precious, but it is with heaven that you multiply your goods, and all foreign lands breathe under it.
You should not buy a prostitute: she is a mouth that bites. You should not buy a house-born slave: he is a herb that makes the stomach sick. You should not buy a free man: he will always lean against the wall. You should not buy a palace slave girl: she will always be the bottom of the barrel (?). You should rather bring down a foreign slave from the mountains, or you should bring somebody from a place where he is an alien; my son, then he will pour water for you where the sun rises and he will walk before you. He does not belong to any family, so he does not want to go to his family; he does not belong to any city, so he does not want to go to his city.
You should not speak arrogantly to your mother; that causes hatred for you. You should not question the words of your mother and your personal god. The mother, like Utu, gives birth to the man; the father, like a god, makes him bright (?). The father is like a god: his words are reliable.
The instructions of the father should be complied with. (Black et al.)
The Moral Canon. The moral injunctions of Mesopotamians parallel the prohibitions and precepts of many of their neighbors. There existed in Sumerian, Babylonian, and Hittite civilizations a common body of ethics resembling in part that found in Hebrew and Christian scriptures. In contrast to later biblical theology, however, there did not exist any uniform moral code. A section of an omen collection called by scholars the Moral Canon comprises sayings about praiseworthy conduct that are similar in many respects to the sayings called the Beatitudes in the Christian scriptures (Matthew 5 and Luke 6):
If he says “I am powerful,” he will become rich.
If he says “I am weak,” he will become strong.
If he says “I am poor,” he will become rich.
If he says “I am w eak,” he will be shamed.
If he is impetuous, he will not obtain what he wishes.
If in his heart he wants mortification, he will prosper.
If he is surrounded by wealth, he will let go of everything, he will die soon.
If their heart is troubled, it will rejoice, it will light up.
If he is sick in his heart, he will be answered in his inmost desires.
If his heart is in the dark, he will rejoice.
If in his heart he weeps constantly,…
If he asks himself, “Why should I keep it up?” he will rejoice.
If he is in joy, a depression will seize him.
If he says all the time “When shall I see? When shall I see?” his days will become longer.
If there is too little for him, he will prolong his life, he will have sufficient food.
If everything goes well for him, either death or poverty will come.
If his health is good, a serious disease will overtake him.
If he is just, and nevertheless things go wrong, later on things will go better.
If he speaks according to justice, he will have a good recompense.
If he is just, he will see light.
If he is flattered, he will not obtain …
If he is always praised, he will remain well.
If he loves what is good, only goodness will follow him all the time.
If he has a great heart, he will reach old age.
If he is endowed with fear (of god?), he will be victorious.
If he is merciful, he will die in abundance.
If he does favors, people will do favors to him.
If he is limpid in his heart, he will find honor.
If he is pure …
If “yes” and “no” follow in good order in his mouth, hunger will go from his granary.
If he is tranquil in his heart …
If he is concerned about helping others, the gods will follow him all the time. (Buccellati)
Moral Texts in the Hellenistic Period. Even as late as the first century b.c.e., after the conquest of the Near East by Alexander III (the Great) of Macedon (336–323 b.c.e.), inscriptions written in Greek still expressed values and ethics that can be shown to have roots in Mesopotamian texts. A Greek foundation inscription found in Asia Minor describes the revelation of a man called Dionysus who dreamt that the god Zeus gave him commandments to be observed by all visitors to his sanctuary. The instructions require strict observance of moral injunctions and ritual purity in order to prevent the desecration of holy sites; misdeeds angered the gods, endangering the health of the individual and the purity of the sanctuary. All who entered the shrine of Zeus were instructed to swear to obey the following injunctions:
Not to rob
Not to murder
Not to steal anything
Be loyal to the sanctuary
If somebody commits (a transgression) or plans (to commit one), he shall not be allowed to, and it will not be kept silent, but they will make it known and punish him.
A man shall not lie with a strange woman except for his wife … not with a boy and not with a virgin.
A man or woman who has committed one of these transgressions shall not enter this sanctuary, for here great gods sit (on their seats) who keep watch against these transgressions and will not tolerate transgressors. … The gods shall pardon the obedient and grant them blessings, and they will hate those who transgress (against the commandments) and impose upon them great punishments. … The men and women who are certain of their uprightness shall touch the inscribed pillar every month and year at the time of offering sacrifices. (Weinfeld)
Sources
Bendt Alster, The Instructions of Suruppak: A Sumerian Proverb Collection, Mesopotamia: Copenhagen Studies in Assyriology, volume 2 (Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag, 1974).
Alster, Proverbs of Ancient Sumer: The World’s Earliest Proverb Collections, 2 volumes (Bethesda: CDL Press, 1997).
Giorgio Buccellati, “Ethics and Piety in the Ancient Near East,” in Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, 4 volumes, edited by Jack M. Sasson (New York: Scribners, 1995), III: 1685–1696.
W. G. Lambert, Babylonian Wisdom Literature (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960).
Moshe Weinfeld, Deuteronomy 1–11: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, The Anchor Bible, volume 5 (New York, London, Toronto, Sydney & Auckland: Doubleday, 1991).