#2047-1750BCE

[whencyclopedia]

The Home of the Fish

The Home of the Fish is a Sumerian poetic monologue, most likely from the Ur III Period (2047-1750 BCE), in which the speaker tries to coax various fish into a newly built home. The meaning of the poem depends on whether the speaker is sincere in his or her invitation or has actually built a trap.

According to some interpretations (including that of scholar Jeremy Black), the speaker is a fisherman who has constructed an elaborate trap he then tries to entice the fish to enter. This interpretation casts all the praises of the speaker in a sinister light as they are only being used to lure the fish into the trap. Another interpretation, however, gives the speaker as Nanshe, the Sumerian goddess of social justice and divination, who also presided over water and aquatic life. The fish, in fact, was one of her symbols. If the speaker is Nanshe, she is sincere in her praise of the fish and her welcome to the home she has created for them.

Both interpretations cite the final line of the work – "Just you come to me! Nanshe, the queen of the fishermen, will be delighted with you" (C17) – in support. If the speaker is a fisherman, Nanshe would be invoked in her capacity as his patron goddess – who cared for those who caught fish as well as the fish themselves – and, if the speaker is Nanshe, it would not be unusual for the goddess to refer to herself in the third person as this is quite common in Sumerian poetry. The goddess Inanna, for example (Nanshe's sister), refers to herself in this same way in some works.

It is up to a reader to decide who is speaking and what their intentions are, but both interpretations, relying on the same words, can be equally valid. The work was part of the curriculum of the edubba ("House of Tablets"), the Sumerian scribal school and would have been used to help students memorize the names of different fish and their defining characteristics. The poem is among the more popular works of Mesopotamian literature today and seems to have also been in its time based on the number of fragments discovered, beginning in the 19th century, in the ruins of ancient cities throughout Iraq.

Commentary & Summary

The poem was most likely composed around the same time – c. 2000 BCE – as The Debate Between Bird and Fish, The Debate Between Sheep and Grain, and the other literary debates which were popular during the Ur III Period. Shulgi of Ur (r. 2029-1982 BCE) made literacy a priority in his kingdom and so established more scribal schools and commissioned more works for the curriculum. Scribes in ancient Mesopotamia learned their craft from a young age (possibly beginning at eight years old) through their early twenties, progressing from simple to more difficult compositions. The Home of the Fish would have most likely been included in the texts toward the end of a student's education when one was expected to be able to memorize and copy intricate works.

This probability is suggested by the names of the fish and their characteristics that appear throughout as scribes were expected to be well educated in all disciplines. Black writes:

Many different kinds are specified and are described in vivid and probably humorous terms. Mostly the varieties cannot be securely identified with modern species, so here their names are left in Sumerian. There is an intimate lexical relationship between the names of the fish enumerated here and those in the traditional list of fish, one among the many word lists which had been learnt for centuries by apprentice scribes in Mesopotamian schools. This strongly suggests that the composition had been adapted for school use by incorporating extra pedagogical material. (240)

The poem, if the speaker is understood as Nanshe, would have also underscored the goddess' care for the creatures of the waters of Mesopotamia as she has built them a new home where they will be safe from predators and could therefore be considered a song of praise. If the speaker is a fisherman, the work would still function as a praise song, as Nanshe would have inspired the fisherman to create his elaborate trap.

The poem begins with the speaker announcing a "new home" for the fish, and throughout Segment A, it is described as a place of safety to which all fish should come quickly. The house is described as a haven to which all are welcome – in keeping with Nanshe's role as a protectress of refugees and the homeless – and the fish are encouraged to bring all their friends and neighbors. Lines A45-67 reference Dumuzid and Acimbabbar Suen – a fertility/underworld god and the moon god, respectively – both having to do with transformation. The earlier lines (A25-33) encouraging the fish to enter quickly before the night comes, in some interpretations, may be referencing stability (the house) in the face of change (the water) – the concept of transformation from the world of mutability to that of unchanging eternity.

In Segments B and C, the speaker notes how, in this new home, the fish will be safe from birds who carry them off in their claws, and the work concludes with a call to hurry because "time is pressing" before ending with the ambiguous line, "Nanshe, the queen of fishermen, will be delighted with you", the pivotal line in interpreting who is speaking and what their intention might actually be.

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