The Sumerians were big on putting one another down, and the language has quite a few mean insults! This post will give you some examples of useful Sumerian insults and how to use them, in case you need to tell anyone off in a dead language.

Sumerian insults I’ve found useful include uzuh “unclean person”, igibala “traitor”, and shabarra “bastard”. Less intense ones would be hara “rascal, ruffian”, lutumu “dishonest or unreliable person” or nungarra “foolish, disorderly (adj.)”. Many Sumerian insults refer to a person’s bad activities or behavior, like nibulung “pompous”, ninggu “glutton” and lunamtagga “sinner”.

My personal favorite insults in Sumerian are agaashgi “most awkward person” and sangdu nutuku “idiot”, which literally means “(one) not having a head”.

I don’t know if the Sumerians used any insults regarding specific foreign groups, but lukurra “stranger, enemy” is a pretty common negative word for anyone not Sumerian.

Make sure to know that, to insult just one person, use the subject pronoun zae and the singular verb form -men, as in Zae haramen “you are a rascal”. It’s important to use zae because otherwise it might be interpreted as (ngae) haramen “I am a rascal”, which is not what you mean. To insult several people, just take the noun and add -menzen “you (plural) are”, e.g. Haramenzen “y’all are rascal(s)”. In sentences with the verb “to be” you don’t specifically pluralize nouns (and a video on plural pronouns & verb me forms is coming soon!) Also note that if you’re using an insulting adjective, make sure to attach lu- “person” before it: Zae lunibulungmen “you are (a) pompous (person)”.

Now go forth and insult away!

While doing some research on the Mesopotamian goddess Belet-Ṣeri, I came across this well-preserved Akkadian incantation for someone who “constantly sees dead people.”  Ereškigal is queen of the Netherworld, and Ningeštinanna/Belet-Ṣeri is her (female) scribe.  I am not familiar with “Abatu the Queen,” but her name literally means “to destroy,” so presumably she was another goddess associated with death.

…

Incantation:

Dead people, why do you encounter me—you whose cities are ruined mounds, you who are bones?
I do not go to Kutha, the assembly of ghosts.  Why do you constantly chase me?
You are adjured by Abatu the Queen, by Ereškigal the Queen, by Ningeštinanna the Scribe of the Gods, whose stylus is lapis and carnelian.

Recitation (to be used when) one continually sees dead persons.

(The description of the ritual follows, but is somewhat broken.  It involves pouring a ritual liquid into a western-facing pit while reciting the incantation.)

More than 2,600 years after their creation, Assyrian reliefs continue to amaze us.

The "Ashurbanipal Lion Hunt" is a group of bas-reliefs, originally located in the "North Palace" of Nineveh and now exhibited in Room 10 of the British Museum, considered a masterpiece of Mesopotamian art.

These magnificent reliefs were carved on large panels of alabaster and limestone between 645-635 BC. and they show hunting scenes of King Ashurbanipal (reign, 668-631 BC) and in a very real way, the pain of the animals.

In this unpublished tablet, held by the British Museum, we find the copper merchant Ea-Naṣir and his associate Ilushu-illassu writing to a couple of men to reassure them.  Although the situation is missing some context, there are some real gems in the context of the famous letter to Ea-Naṣir.

• One of the men intimidating the recipients is named Mr. Shorty (kurûm).
• Ea-Naṣir complains that people don’t believe him.
• Ea-Naṣir mentions giving “the ingots that we talked about” to someone.
• The repeated encouragements — “don’t be scared!” “don’t be critical!” “don’t worry!” — sound a lot like Ea-Naṣir is trying to reassure someone that a situation hasn’t gone sideways (but it has).

…

Say to Shumun-libshi and the Zabardabbû: [1]

Ea-Naṣir and Ilushu-illassu say:

As for the situation with Mr. “Shorty” and Erissum-matim, who came here, don’t be scared.

I made them enter the temple of the Sun-God and take an oath.  They said, “We didn’t come about these matters; we came for our businesses.”

I said, “I will write to them” — but they didn’t believe me!

He said, “I had a quarrel with Mr. Shumun-libshi.”  He said, “[…] to his partner.  I took, and you did not […]  You didn’t give to me.”

Within 3 days, I’ll come to the city of Larsa.

Also, I spoke with Erissum-matim and said, “What is your sign?” [2]

I said to the kettle-maker (?), “Go with Ilum-gamil the Zabardabbû, and take the shortfall for me, and put it in the city of Enimma.”

Also, don’t neglect your […].

Also, I have given the ingots that we talked about to the men.

P.S. Don’t be critical!  Get the […] from them!  Don’t worry!  We’ll come to you.  [3]

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