Family Values in Sumerian and Dravidian-1
Dr K.Loganathan, feb 2011
That Sumerian is Archaic Tamil is a fact and the very readability or recognisability of Sumerian sentences even as they are with all imperfections in transliteration conventions and translations, as Tamil but certainly an Archaic Form of it, is already a proof and evidence but something denied by Western scholars and Brahmanist Brahmins for political reasons.
They are both loath to admit that the worlds first literary civilization was developed by the Blacks, the sag gig-ga, the Black People as the Sumerians called themselves and who were already Tamil-speaking by the time they arrived in Sumeria.
Now despite all these I want to continue such studies to impress upon the scholarly world how Sumerian is Archaic Tamil and how the culture and religion of the Sumerians is continued even now by the Dravidian folks and also perhaps the whole of India.
Now I want to take the immensely fascinating Suruppak’s NeRi(nari), translated as The Moral Instructions, probably to be dated around 3000 BC for a detailed study but focusing upon the anthropology implicit and where I single out the family values.
I use a copy as edited by Bendt Alster and published by Akademisk Forlog , Copenhagen 1074.
What is surprising is that despite a gap of nearly 5000 years to the present time there is continuity not only in language but also the family value system- those values formulated by Suruppak seem to have shaped the Dravidian ethics and which lasts to this day.
Enem Galam and AruG kalam
It is interesting that the technical words related to moral instructions are available in Tamil to this day.
The Su.nari is quite obviously the Ta. NeRi and where around the 16th cent AD Swami Sivappirakasar (I think) wrote an ethical treatise called Nan NeRi that is still available. The NeRi is the Path , the Way and ARa NeRi is the righteous way put in Prakrit as Dammapada.
In line 4 below we have Su. enem galam and which means the precious words- the same concept as in the title of a Jain ethical treatise probably of the 9th cent Ad, AruGkalac Ceppu where ‘ceppu’ means sayings and aruGkalam means a treasure chest of precious stones. The ‘kal’ here means precious stones also one of the meanings in Sumerian
Gestu and Ta. Agastiam
The Su. gestu stands even now in Tamil as ‘akastiyam, akattiyam’ meaning profound metaphysical insights. Frequently we hear people saying “akastiyam peesaatee” meaning do not talk mystical things. The Su. gestu is related to Tamil Kattu meaning ‘to shout” ‘to recite aloud’ etc. It appears that there was a tradition of incantations, loud recitations of perhaps some oral literature, a habit perhaps retained in the Vedic traditions where even Suruppak is mentioned. The children attending edubba the Tablet house practice gest-gizzal i.e kattu kiiccal : reciting in loud and shrill voice as it happens even now in many Tamil schools.
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4. u-ba gestu.tuku inim.galam inim.zu-a kalam-ma ti-la-am ( In those days, the intelligent one, who made the elaborate words, who knew the (proper) words, and was living in Sumer .
ஊப கெஸ்த்துதொகு எனம்கலம் எனம் சூவ களம்ம தில்லாம்
uuba kestu.toku enam.kalam enimcuuva kaLamma tillaam
5.Suruppak gestu.tuku inim.galam inim.zu-a kalam-ma ti-la-am ( Suruppak - the inelligent one, who made the elaborate words , who knew the (proper) words, and was living in Sumer
5. சூருபாக்கு கெஸ்த்துதொகு எனம்கலம் எனம் சூவ களம்ம தில்லாம்
Cuurupaakku kestu.toku enam.kalam enam cuuva kaLamma tillaam.
Note:
Any one who knows C.Tamil will RECOGNIZE immediately the Tamil character of these sentences where agreement extends to word morphology, grammatical features and semantics. When the matter is so obvious it is quite ridiculous that people demand proofs and evidences for my claim that Sumerian is Archaic Tamil
To continue -1
Family Values in Sumerian and Dravidian-2
The lines that follow the above are the ones that show the cultural continuity over and above the quite obvious linguistics.
The Father as Guru
There is a proverb in Tamil : Tantai col mikka Mantiram illai: There are no mantras( words of advice) that are better that of one;s own father. Almost the same sentiment is expressed in the lines below attesting a cultural continuity to this day. The line 13 below says almost the same : NeRi appaa nika kallaam : the advise of a father is very precious.
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6. suruppak-e dumu-ni-ra na na-mu-un-ri-ri ( Suruppak gave instructions to his son)
சூருப்பாக்கே தமுநீ(ன்)ற நன(ம்) முன் உரி-உரி
7. suruppak dumu ubartu.tu-ke
8 zi.u.sud-ra dumu-ni-ra na na-mu-un-ri-ri ( Suruppak, son of Ubartutu, gave instructions to his son Ziusudra)
சூருப்பாக்கு தமு உபர்தூதுக்கே
ஜீவசூத்திரா தமு நீ(ன்)ற நன(ம்) முன் உரி உரி
9. dumu-mu na ga-ri na-ri-mu he-dab ( My son, let me give you inச்truction, may you take my instructions!0
தமுமோ நன் கரை நெறிமோ ஏய்தபு ( My son! don't neglect the well meaning words I utter)
10. zi.u.sud.ra inim ga-ra-ab-dug gizzal he-em-si-ak ( Ziusudra, let me speak a word to you, may you pay
attention to it!)
ஜீயுசூத்திரா எனம் ஙா(ன்)ற அவ்தூக்கு கீச்சல் வீயிம் சீ ஆக்கு
11. na-ri-ga-mu su nam-bi-bar-re ( Do not neglect my instructions)
NeRiGaan moo cuur naambipaallee (Do not trangress the way I instruct you on in times to come)
நெறி ஞான் மோ சூர் னாம்பி பால்லே
12. inim dug-ga-mu na-ab-ta-bal-e-de ( Do not transgress the word I speak)
enam tuukka moo naa aabta paalidee
எனம் துங்க மோ நா ஆப்து பால்யிடே
13. na.ri ab.ba nig kal-la-am gu-zu he-em-si-gal (The instructions of old man are precious, may you submit to
them)
neRi appaa nika kallaam kuuvju iiemciikaal
நெறி அப்பா னிக கல்லாம் ஈஎம் சீ கால்
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Here we see the filial relationships quite well mentioned: Suruppak is the son of Ubartutu amd Jiusuda is the son of Suruppak. These names themselves are absolutely fascinating and as is the case even now among the Dravidian folks- they embody metaphysical notions. The name Loganthan or Ulaganathan is not only a personal name but also a metaphysical concept “ The Lord of the Universe” applied to the great gods Siva and VishNu.
Ubartutu is Ta. Upper tuutu: sayings (tuutu) from above(upper) a notion the same as in Upa-ni-sad. Suruppak means the sharp( suuru> kuuru) axe ( paak< paku : to cut) probably here one of the weapons carried by Siva called in later times the Mazu : the axe. Jiusudra is the long lived (sudra) soul(jiiva) perhaps here the soul that has attained Moksa and hence swum across the sea of births and deaths. The jiusudra is also the hero of Deluge and which may be a metaphysical story related to man;s emancipation from being thrown into embodied existence endlessly and which notion is termed PiRappu ARuttal in Bakit literature.
No Gotra and Caste
Now we must not fail to notice that in these personal names we do not have the habit of mentioning Gotras and castes as in the Vedic literature. Such expressions as < suruppak dumu ubartu.tu-ke> means Suruppak is the son of Ubartutu and similarly Jiusudra the son of Suruppak. Here a person is identified only as the son of so and so and without the gotras jati and so forth. This is true of personal names even in CaGkam literature where we do not have caste identities like Ayer Pillai Mutaliyar Nadar and so forth, Such a habit must have come to prevail in Dravidian society as the result of the influence of the evil and criminal Brahmanism that introduced varNas and along with it perhaps also the caste identities
na na-mu-un-ri-ri Ta. nalam mun urai urai
Here we have the important word ‘na-na’ that also occurs, as we shall see ‘nanam” the arche form of Ta, nanam, nalam etc the well being , goodness etc. The ‘ri-ri” or Ta. urai, urai is the telling, saying informing etc. Thus what the father does to his son is tell him some basic things about life so that he can, if he takes the advice and pays attention to it, lead a good life, a life of happiness and prosperity.
The advises come along with such expressions as : keep in mind what I say : na-ri-mu he-dab , pay attention to what I say: gizzal he-em-si-ak etc.
But what are the advises?
Eetu Nutaliya Mutumozi
In Tolkaappiyam we have such advises termed Mutumozi- words of wisdom and which are NOT unreasonable advises but something with reasons (eetu). We see here the beginnings of Hermenutic Logic with the technical terms ‘eetu’ (reason) ‘edukkaaddu” (demonstration) occuring for the first time in Indian Histroy in Tolkaappiyam. We see the beginings of it in such words of wisdom as that of Suruppak. One cannot simply ask another person to do something just because one is the father etc – to convince that person of the need to take it seriously, one has to give also the REASONS, the eetu for such instructions. This is what is done by Surruppak here. We can illustrate the matter with an advice and which is also linguistically quite fascinating.
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14. dur gu-di na-ab-sam-sam gu egir-zu sa-ra-ab-si-il ( Do not buy an ass which bleats (too much), behind
you it will scream with a ear- splitting voice )
tuur kuti naa aabsumsum etirju sara aab sel ( Do not buy a horse galloping (to much), in future it
will go away from you galloping)
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Here Su. dur is Ta. turakam the horse where the root Su dur(Ta,tur) means to be hasty, move about fast. ‘gu-di” is Ta. kuti: to jump gallop etc. ‘sa-ra-si-il” is Ta. sari sel: will drop out and go away.
The point is there is an advise; Don’t buy a restless horse (in a market) but why ? the reason is such a horse will run away quite easily from you. So the implication is that buying such a horse will be an economic waste and which constitutes the eetu the reason for the advise.
To continue-2
Family Values in Sumerian and Dravidian-3
Now I will select a few words of wisdom, enem galam as is said in Sumerian related to sexuality the basic biological pressure that leads to the institution of a family as such and this even in the animal world. This basic and instinctual impulse has to be regulated and channeled in the right direction for the stability of family and sustaining with that a life of happiness in general. So it is not surprising at all, that even in the wolrd’s earliest literature on Ethics, this matter is dealt with.
Sexuality and Ethics
The lines below deal with some aspects of it.
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38. ki-sikil dam tuku-e-da nam-mu-un-ne-e inim.sig.ga mah-am ( Do not speak(?) with a girl if you are married (?), the slander is strong)
kaisukkil tam tokuyida naam munni eey, enam (a) siGka maa aam.
39. dumu-mu daggan-na lu dam.tuku-da tus nam-bi-ga-ga ( [My] son, do not sit (alone) in a [chamber] with someone's wife)
tamu-moo taGkanna uLu tam.tokuvuda tunjcu naam biikaalkaal
54. geme-zu-ur gis na-an-du zu-ur su-mu--ri-in-sa ( Do not have sexual intercourse with your slave girl, she will call you: Traitor ! (?)
*Ta. kaimmee soora kuc.i naa.an idu soor suu muRaiyin col ( Do not have sexual intercourse with an immoral woman, she will announce it to the public)
59. sun-na-da e na-an-da-ga-ga-an ( Do not manage your house with discord)
*Ta. saniyuda il naan idu kaalkaalan ( “)
60. gi-in-se du-de si-me-si-ib-sub-sub ( When you go to the slave girl, she will thorw it back to you)
*Ta. kannisee eduyidee siimmee seyyib.u cuumb.u-cuumb.u ( When you approach a virgin , she may ( initially) withdraw)
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The Value of Virginity
As is the case even now, the virginity of unmarried women was highly regarded as is shown by the terms used to describe young women. In line 60 we have gi-in> Ta. kanni : the virgin. Such a female is also described ‘ki-sikil’ in line 38, Here ‘si’ exists now as the suffix that indicates the feminine gender : si> I and hence probably ‘si’ by itself means a female. The sikil is ‘sukil’ a word retained in Sk and which means ‘pure, while, clean etc’ Thus the Kanni: the unmarried young lady is also a female who is Pure or undefiled. This implies that a young lady loosing her virginity (prior to marriage) is equivalent to being defiled.
While this value may be quite universal or at least present in many cultures, it has been maintained quite strongly by the Tamils to this day where any values contrary to this is vehemently opposed.
KaRpu or Fedelity in Marriage
First we notice that in line 38, a married man( dam toku-e-da) should not approach an unmarried young woman with sexual intentions and if he does then there will be great slander (inem sig-ga mah-am ) Thus there is a social control of the sexual behaviour of a married man so that he is required to be faithful to his wife.
The line 39 is very direct: it forbids a young man staying alone and sleeping with a married woman(dam toku). While it may be an admonition directed at a young man, indirectly it also implies that a married woman must sleep with only her husband.
Now what about women who fail in this and betray their husband by having clandestine affairs with other men? Such things must have happened and such immoral women were called ’ge-me zu-ur” Ta kaimai soor where ‘sooram pookutal” is becoming relaxed with respect to marital fedelity, the kaRpu. In line 54 we have an admonition for all men: don’t have sexual intercourse with such morally loose women, she will announce it to all and bring about lose of social respect.
Family Discord
Line 59 mentions the nedd to avoid family discord and its undesirable effect. The word for marriage is ‘dam toku’ which really means ‘adding on (toku) a women (dam) words still in use in Tamil. The word Ta. tam-pati means wife-husband where pati also exists in Sumerian as Pate-si: the governor. The expression dam-toku as well as tam-pati clearly indicates male dominance in marriage. In Sumerin times itself it was the man who added on a woman as his life partner and which installs many controls and obligations. When these natural obligations are transgressed, the fights and quarrels burst out destroying calm and peace of family life.
The word ‘sun-na-da’ may be the arche form of Ta, saNdai : quarrel fight and so forth. It is advisable that one should manage the family so that there are no domestic quarrels violence and so forth. It may the number of advises or injunctions related to sexual behaviour, both the married and unmarried is ultimately recommendations towards leading domestic life in peace- free of bitter quarrels.
To continue-3
Family Values in Sumerian and Dravidian-4(Final)
The following lines are concerned with children and sibling relationship which are continued to this day and quite surprisingly.
Property Division
The two lines below describe how a father (jivasudra) here should transfer properties to his son and daughter. The key word is im-me and which I take as Ta, iimmee: give(you!)
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129 ibila-zu e-zu-se im-me ( Your successor is for your house)
Ta. ii pillaaju iljusee aammee ( For your son goes your house)
130. dumu.mi-zu ama-ni-se im-me ( Your daughter is for her women’s house)
Ta. tumu.mai ju ammaanii see aammee ( For your daughter goes her mothers(property)
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The word ‘ibila’ stands now simply as Ta. piLLai : child but mainly the male child. The advise is the the male child should be give the house perhaps as a legacy to be owned after the death of the father.
Tin the line 130 the phrase ‘dumu-mai” means the female child, now obsolete and where the properties of her mother should be given.
This suggests that a women brings along with her some properties when getting and which may be something like the dowry system now.
Both lines also suggest that on getting married while the son remains in his parental house, the daughter on the other hand moves out to the house of husband, a system still work among the Tamils to this day.
Sibling Relationship
The following lines carry valuable information on kinship terms and how the sibling relationship was cultivated in those ancient days and which parallels those which are prevalent even now. The elder brothers and sisters were almost father and mother to the younger ones.
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177. ses-gal a-a na-nam nin-gal ama na-nam ( (The elder brother is indeed a father, the elder sister is indeed a mother!)
Ta. cisukaL aiya nanam ningaL ammaa nanam ( “)
சிசுகள் அய்யா நனம் நின்கள் அம்மா நனம்
178. ses-gal-zu-ur gizzal he-em-si-ak ( May you pay attention to your elder brother)
Ta. ( cisugaL ju urai kiiccal iyim cii aak.u ( “)
சிசுகள் ஜு உரை கீச்சல் ஏயெம் சீ ஆக்கு
179. nin-gal ama-zu-gim gu he-em-si-gal ( May you submit to your elder sister like to your mother)
நின்.கள் அம்மாஜு ங்இம் கூவ் ஏயம் சீ கால்
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Interestingly these clauses can paas for even as Modern Tamil – ayya nanam ammaa nanam and so forth are immediately intelligible for the Tamil scjolars. The eldest son is projected as another father to the younger ones and whose advise they should understand and follow. Similarly the eldest daughter is projected as almost a Mother and whose words must be attended to.
Such prescriptions serve to augment the LOVE and CARE between the siblings and hence fostering family unity and coherence.
It is interesting that by and large such relationships are cultivated to this day at least among the Tamils where the eldest in family are noted to sacrifice enormously for the further growth and development of the younger ones.
Concluding Remarks:
This is an anthropological study as suggested by the almost naturalistic observations of Suruppak in this fascinating Book. While the family is a universal institution and the values between the male and female who become the husband and wife and later the father and mother may not all be anthropological universals. Some of them are culture soecific and this is what we see here – a commonality in the essential family values between the Sumerians and Dravidians and which may even extend to the whole of India as a cultural group.