oldest known complaint letter

[Pete M]

Quote

 

A translation of the tablet from Leo Oppenheimer’s Letters from Mesopotamia is given below:

Tell Ea-nasir: Nanni sends the following message:

 When you came, you said to me as follows : “I will give Gimil-Sin (when he comes) fine quality copper ingots.” You left then but you did not do what you promised me. You put ingots which were not good before my messenger (Sit-Sin) and said: “If you want to take them, take them; if you do not want to take them, go away!”

What do you take me for, that you treat somebody like me with such contempt? I have sent as messengers gentlemen like ourselves to collect the bag with my money (deposited with you) but you have treated me with contempt by sending them back to me empty-handed several times, and that through enemy territory. Is there anyone among the merchants who trade with Telmun who has treated me in this way? You alone treat my messenger with contempt! On account of that one (trifling) mina of silver which I owe(?) you, you feel free to speak in such a way, while I have given to the palace on your behalf 1,080 pounds of copper, and umi-abum has likewise given 1,080 pounds of copper, apart from what we both have had written on a sealed tablet to be kept in the temple of Samas.

How have you treated me for that copper? You have withheld my money bag from me in enemy territory; it is now up to you to restore (my money) to me in full.

Take cognizance that (from now on) I will not accept here any copper from you that is not of fine quality. I shall (from now on) select and take the ingots individually in my own yard, and I shall exercise against you my right of rejection because you have treated me with contempt.

 

 

[Pete M]

some things never change.   apparently this isn't the only complain letter against Ea-nasir found.  

 

original page:

https://web.archive.org/web/20150310133210/http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp363-ss15/2015/03/05/customer-service-in-ancient-mesopotamia/

[Eagle]

There's one in every crowd. If they had had an Amazon back then, I'm sure he would have collected a bunch on one-star reviews.

[johnj92131]

This is really a great read! 

 

People are People, all the world over, we have the same issues in our every day lives, no matter where, when or who we are!

 

None of us have changed much at a certain level.  True, we may be a bit more literate, a good bit better off, better educated, etc.  But we are still the same people we were thousands of years ago.

[JMO413]

It's a problem that the world will always have. What one person thinks is nice another sees as not nice enough.