The Oldest Proverbs In History
About 150 years ago, in 1877, what is considered to be the first great civilization in history, the Sumerian, was discovered. From his writings, his culture and his first customs we still keep some of the oldest proverbs in history.
Be that as it may, speaking here of the oldest proverbs in history is complex. We know the first ages of the human being from remains found, such as cave paintings, studies of bones and skeletons, etc.
Now, proverbs, like sayings, have reached our time through oral tradition, but all of them belong to cultures that already handled writing, such as the Sumerians, the Chinese or the Arabs.
The Sumerians expanded their powerful society at the end of the IV Millennium BC and the beginning of the III Millennium BC That is, about 5000 years ago now. If there was a previous civilization, a detail is evident, we have not found it yet.
The Sumerians
The Sumerians were a people who, as we have said, lived in the Mesopotamia area about 5000 years ago. The region was known as Sumer, hence the name by which they have gone down in history.
The language handled by the Sumer people is considered a binder. They invented cuneiform writing and gave rise to the first polytheistic religions, with gods such as the powerful Uruk, Umma or Nippur.
It was a very advanced society for its time. Their mythology, their science and their organization, seen from a current perspective, may seem archaic, but it shows great wisdom, given the age of their civilization.
Discover the oldest proverbs in history
Next, we begin to reel off some of the Sumerian proverbs that demonstrate the wisdom of this people. Let’s not forget that they originated from myths, such as creation or the Universal Flood, which have been so important throughout history.
Don’t spend more than you have
There are proverbs that, whatever the years go by, will always be true and true. This is a clear example. 5000 years ago they thought the same as now, it does not matter that we are not like that civilization. If you spend more than what you have or think you will have, it is likely that you will end up being a slave to debt.
The worry of having a lot
This is one of the Sumerian proverbs that attracts the most attention. Apparently, even then they believed that a person who lives with a lot of money and possessions may end up being more concerned about not losing what he has than about enjoying it. Meanwhile, those who have nothing, fear nothing, can sleep better every night.
Appearance counts
More than 5000 years ago they already cared about appearance. It is true that, in general, the person who dresses elegantly tends to arouse more sympathy and trust than the one who does not, something that, as we see, the Sumerians were already very clear.
The male chauvinism
This proverb shows us that machismo does not understand borders, times and cultures. In this case, the man complains that neither his wife nor his mother are there to feed him.
We can see that this problem is conjunctural to almost any society in history. In fact, more than 5000 years later, we still haven’t found a way to fix it.
The family
We do observe that the first societies already placed great value on the family. Blood ties have always been very important to the human race, something that happened 5000 years ago and now happens in almost all known cultures.
If something can be extracted from the oldest proverbs in history, it is that our dilemmas and concerns remain, although in different settings and with different technology, similar to those of then.
