יחסי משפחה בספרות הפתגמים והעצות ממסופוטמיה

This paper examines the image of family life as reflected in the did a ctic wisdom literature from Mesopotamia. This body of texts, documented from the mid third-millennium to the Hellenistic Period, includes proverbs and instructions written in Sumerian and Akkadian. The paper reviews a variety of exemplary proverbs and instructions dealing with family relations, investigating the ways in which they reflect the image and reality of contemporary family life and institution. The examination reveals a fundamental difference between proverbs and instructions. The instructions present a didactic approach, describing an ideal patriarchal family who lives according to traditional values of discipline and hierarchy. Proverbs,on the other hand, allow a glimpse into the reality of Mesopotamian everyday life, depicting their family relations from a popular perspective,often accompanied by amusing undertones. Issues such as obedience to family authorities, power balance in the family, honor and friends hip among family members, sexual fidelity, and even the very importance ofthe family institution as part of the social order, are all treated differently by each sub-genre. Additional differences between proverbs and instructions are revealed on the dialect ological and registerial levels: proverbs some times use the Emesal sociolect, which is associated with women, while instructions consistently use the main dialect. Additionally, proverbs tend to use a popular register, whereas instructions employ a higher, standard one. In light of these findings we may portray Mesopotamian proverbs as popular literature, which gives voice to Sumerian-speaking men and women, belonging to various social classes and groups. The last part of this paper is dedicated to a brief discussion of the implications of the a boveconclusions on the scholarly discussion of the dating, origin and function of Mesopotamian didactic wisdom.