Complaint Tablet to Ea-nasir

Confirmed 123,812

About

The Complaint Tablet to Ea-nasir is an ancient Babylonian clay tablet dating back to 1750 BC inscribed by customer Nanni to merchant Ea-nasir, complaining about Ea-nasir selling him sub-par copper, a practice Ea-nasir was known for. The tablet is known as the first complaint ever and has been the subject of niche memes since at least 2017, particularly on Tumblr, Reddit, and 4chan. Ea-nasir memes occasionally crossover with Soomer posts.

Origin

In 1953, explorer Sir Leonard Woolley discovered and acquired the tablet from what is believed to be the ruins of Ea-nasir's home while on an expedition to the city of Ur.^[1] Several other similar tablets complaining about poor copper quality were also recovered, suggesting Ea-nasir frequently sent his customers poor-quality goods.^[2] The tablet is currently held at the British Museum.

On February 25th, 2015, Redditor u/tbc34 posted an image to /r/pics^[3] of the tablet on display at the museum with its plaque clearly visible, reading, "Complaint about delivery of the wrong grade of copper" under the title, "1750 BC problems" (shown below, left). The post gained over 44,700 upvotes, leaving many wanting to know more about it (paper drawing of the tablet shown below, right).

On that day, Redditor^[4] u/labarna commented a translation of the tablet under the post, taken from the 1967 book Letters from Mesopotamia^[5]. The translation reads:

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.

On the same day u/tbc34 posted the tablet to Reddit, Tumblr^[6] user tastefullyoffensive posted the same image with the caption, "Babylonian era problems" crediting the Redditor. The post went viral, gaining over 587,000 notes in six years.

On March 22nd, Imgur^[7] user Mesomerry uploaded a series of screenshots showing a string of notes associated with the Tumblr post in which users discuss Ea-nasir and his infamy for being a con-artist, garnering over 10,500 views in six years (shown below). Versions of the screenshot were reposted a number of times over the following years, with numerous uploads going viral.^[8]^[9]^[10]

Spread

On April 30th, 2017, the Facebook^[11] page "Complaint Tablet to Ea-Nasir Memes for Teens Who Are Not of Good Quality" was opened, dedicated specifically to memes about the tablet. They posted their first meme that day (shown below, left) continuing to post consistently throughout 2021 (additional 2017 examples shown below, center and right).

On March 13th, 2018, Tumblr^[12] user probablybadrpgideas posted, "Your players are faced with an ancient Sumerian curse! However, since the early ancient Sumerian language was only used for recording tax debts, it turns out to actually be an ancient Sumerian bill" with the intention of Tumblr users expanding on the scenario. The post gained over 114,000 notes in three years.

On March 22nd, Redditor u/GLAvenger posted a screenshot of the post with a series of notes subtly referencing Ea-nasir and the tablet to /r/tumblr,^[13] garnering over 580 upvotes in a comparable span of time (shown below).

On December 27th, 2019, Redditor u/Arcaeca posted an Ea-nasir-themed political compass meme to /r/politicalcompass^[14] (shown below, left). On October 14th, 2020, Redditor u/vulpineleather then posted a Virgin vs. Chad comic referencing Ea-nasir to /r/virginvschad (shown below, right).

Ea-nasir has also received significant attention on 4chan^[15]^[16]^[17] since the story became popular in 2015, often resulting in debates over whether or not he "did anything wrong" (example shown below).

On March 9th, 2021, a story of a man getting sent painted rocks instead of copper was reported by multiple news sources, including the BBC.^[18] On that day, Tumblr^[19] user brightwanderer posted a screenshot of the story along with the caption, "….. Ea-Nasir is that YOU" garnering over 23,900 notes in two days (shown below).

Memes about Ea-nasir saw a boost in popularity in late March and early April 2023. On March 29th, 2023, Twitter^[20] user @Chinchillazllla posted, "GUY IN 1750 BC: can everyone please stop chiseling tablets complaining about Ea-Nasir, you're just giving him a bigger platform," garnering over 3,300 likes in a week. On April 3rd, xkcd posted a webcomic referencing the story to Twitter,^[21] garnering over 12,700 likes in a day (shown below).