The further we go back in time, the easier it is to forget that ancient people were, well, people. The most well-known texts of the Ancient Near East are royal inscriptions, decrees, treaties, hymns, inventory lists, and other documents that don’t tell us much about everyday life. Once in a while, a more relatable text will be discovered and shared around: most of Tumblr has heard about Ea-Naṣir and his subpar copper, for example.
But what most of Tumblr doesn’tknow is that this kind of text is far from rare. The correspondances of Mesopotamian merchants are abundantly preserved, and yes, that involves a lot of complaining, bargaining and justifying. And these texts are not alone! From letters to prayers to dream diaries, the ancient Near East is full of small glimpses into the private lives of its inhabitants.
Curious to see some examples? Let me take you to Anatolia (now Turkey) in the second millennium BC.
Enter Lamassī. Lamassī is the wife of an Assyrian merchant who regularly travels to Kaneš, in Anatolia, to trade. She is involved in her husband’s business, often sending him goods to sell, and she can even write. Of course, she isn’t just a businesswoman. She’s also a parent, and like most parents, her children come first:
As for why I didn’t send you the textiles you wrote about, please don’t be angry. Because the little girl is grown up, I had to make a pair of thick textiles for the chariot. I also made some for the household members and for the children. That’s why I wasn’t able to send you the textiles.** (CCT 3, 20)
Here we can glimpse a very mundane event: Lamassī’s little daughter isn’t so little anymore, so she has to use the textiles that were meant to be sold for “the chariot” (possibly involved in a coming of age ceremony) instead. Notice how she jumped on the occasion to give textiles to the rest of the household as well!
Next, let’s move further north and fast forward a few centuries. Tarḫunmiya is a scribe working for the Hittite king: one of his responsibilities is to write the king’s letters to the town of Tabikka. Many of these letters have small sections at the end, where Tarḫunmiya writes his own message to the scribe at the other end. At least once, it’s to ask for a bit of help:
Thus speaks Tarḫunmiya: tell Uzzu, my dear brother: may the Gods maintain your life, and may they keep you well and safe. My stylus from the scribal school is broken/lost. My dear brother, send me a stylus from the scribal school. (Mşt. 75/111)
It’s unclear what exactly happened to Tarḫunmiya’s stylus, as the verb he uses literally means “to perish”. Either way, he’s in a sticky situation – what’s a scribe without his writing instrument?
Moving away from letters, one of the most interesting collections of Anatolian texts we have is dream accounts. Many of these can be attributed to Puduḫepa, one of the most – if not the most – powerful Hittite queens. She’s known for being a shrewd, diplomatic and resourceful politician. But some of her dreams reveal quite a different picture:
And the horses […] were going to trample me. I, the queen, sat down and I started to scream. The horse drivers kept laughing at me. In the end, they did lead those horses away. None of them trampled me. None of them peed on me. (CTH 584)
Here Puduḫepa finds herself in a nightmare we can all recognise: something embarrassing has happened and everyone is laughing. Here she’s not Puduḫepa, queen of Ḫatti – she’s just a human being, vulnerable and afraid of being humiliated.
Lastly, let me take you to the bedside of an old man. His name is Ḫattušili, and he is the founder of the Hittite kingdom; but now he’s sick, and he has called a scribe to write down some last instructions before he dies. The ending doesn’t sound like the conclusion of a political document. Rather, it’s probably Ḫattušili’s confused, anxious last words:
I’m making my words known to you: wash me well, hold me to your breast, yes, to your breast… Protect me from the earth. (CTH 6)
A scribe took this down in the 17th century BC – probably without even expecting to hear it – and thirty-eight centuries later, we can still read it. The whisper of a dying king.
Because even in the Bronze Age, people were people. History has always been human.
Those people obviously don’t realize the extremely high kill rate for cats at shelters, not to mention that people literally dump indoor cats outside when they don’t want them anymore, and indoor cats often die due to starvation/predators (duh they have no survival skills).
Also – I might also be crying.
Jackson Galaxy is awesome. His story is is that he used to be a drug addict, and that while he was in the beginning of his recovery he saved a stray cat and nursed it back to life, and in return the cat essentially did the same for him, and ever since then, he’s taught himself everything there is to know about cats and their behavior. Cats saved his life, so he’s saving cats lives. He’s awesome.
His show has taught me more about how to take care of a cat than I learned from growing up with one.
Jackson Galaxy is the patron fucking saint of cats and I swear to god I will fight anybody coming for him.
You will catch these hands.
I don;t like when people make fun of Jackson Galaxy when he gets emotional.
Because a.) I get really fucking emotional over cats too, fuck you
and b.) it’s mostly because he’s a man and a patriarchal belief that men can’t cry or have feelings.
PLUS! He actually gives GREAT behavior advice, unlike another TV personality who works with canines and shall not be named because my blood pressure can’t handle his ass rn
Obviously I want you to take care of your pets and make sure they get food and fresh water on a regular basis, but cats being huge drama queens and screaming hysterically at you and acting like they’re tragic famine victims who haven’t eaten in weeks and are about to drop dead from starvation right mcfuckin now, because you’re 10 minutes late feeding them is always going to be one of the funniest things to me
the cat who lives at the vet clinic i volunteer at was mad yesterday because his dinner was half an hour late due to a busy day. he proceeded to go to all the (empty dw) garbage cans and tried to knock them over and started desperately scavenging for scraps of food because obviously no one loves him or cares about him and if he must eat garbage to survive then so be it
not food related, but one time my cat cried at me for 20 minutes before i worked out that the reason why she was upset was because there was a coat hanger on her favourite cushion
This is absolutely beautiful and changed my life, thank you so much. Please protect her from hangers at all costs
wow. am STORVING and humaines here making joke laugh at cate honger ?!
My cat is a social eater who is not food motivated at all, so I was baffled when I first got him because he didn’t seem to care about food but he would SCREAM at me for hours when I knew his bowl was full. Any time I went to double check that he did indeed have food, he’d book it to the bowl and snarf like his life depended on it, but as soon as I walked away he’d follow me screaming again.
Eventually I figured out that he just wanted a dining companion and was screaming about how we’re a family and families eat together, god damnit! I moved his food bowl under my computer desk and it fixed the problem. But if I’m ever out for more than 12 hours I’ll come home to find him in a passive-aggressive kitty huff because dinner has been ready for hours but he’s been trying to be considerate (unlike some humans) and waiting for me to eat it.
My cats are indoor cats. Being indoor cats, they can’t go outside to hunt for food (mice, rats, birds, etc) to gift to my sister and I.
But they know that the kitchen has food. They know where the easily accessible cat food is. And obviously my sister and I are just Really Big Stupid Hairless cats.
So if my sister and I go without leaving our rooms for too long? My cats will sit outside our doors and scream for our attention, lead us to their food bowls, and then only stop the screaming and leading once they see us sit down at the table and eat something. Because they think we’re hungry.
Your cats are the sweetest beings on the Earth, it makes my heart warm knowing that they exist. They love you very much and they care so much, they want you healthy and happy and will make sure you don’t neglect yourself and oh god they are so perfect. Real pure love exists, I am happy to be alive today.
My neighbor is a hardcore drunk. Like, 9am and dude is drinking vodka, but he had a cat that’s pretty much his honest to god caregiver because I have seen this cat visibly screaming at this man to keep him from hurting himself and sometimes when he hasn’t been outside for a while, the cat will scream at my door until I go outside to knock on the door to check on him. Cats are literal angels.
I have a cat named a Kitty Pryde who has an extra thumb and these giant paws and while she’s not super bright she did learn that she likes being pet. So I must like being petted right? So if I’m watching TV alone she’ll come up and just with her giant paw gently stroke my arm or hand until I pet her back and she waits and pets me again and it goes on a while. Cats are angels.
My cat once stuffed my bath mat into the litter box
That’s a really nice litter box
my cat, like most cats, like to steal food from the kitchen surfaces. my dog doesn’t like this because she can’t reach, so she’ll come and snitch to us that he’s there so we can throw him off. so my cat started pushing bits of food off the surfaces to pay off the dog so she wouldn’t tattle.
My cat used to do something similar, except she was never interested in eating the food. Back before our last dog passed away; Mittens (the cat) used to push food off the counter and watch Roxy (the dog) eat it.
Whenever I’m battling a depression downswing (I’m always depressed but some periods are worse than others) I tend to stay up very late. Part of this is that I have a delayed circadian rhythm, but part of it is that I sacrifice physical needs (sleep) for emotional needs (contact with friends, my favorite video game). My cat Sephie noticed this pattern. She already has a vocabulary that’s distinct and understandable. She invented a new sound to make for “you need to go to bed, mama.”
So now, if I’m still up around 11pm, she jumps on my chair and scolds me that it’s past my bedtime. She takes good care of me.
the ross sisters: come for the three part harmony about potato salad, stay for the choreographed three part exorcism
Look I recommend a lot of content on this ole blog of mine but if I may click bait you for a second with a screenshot of the first stunt in this video to straight up make me scream in terror and awe:
You Won’t Believe What Happens Next
This scene is so fucking wild y’all I’m not even touching on the song which I literally cannot comprehend and hey have listened to ten times today (I am still unclear on whether “solid potato salad” is a good thing or bad thing. what is the ideal matter state of potato salad) but the bending, the bending, we must address the bending
Nightmare
Extra Nightmare
FUCKING INHUMAN STUNTS PERFORMED BY WOMEN MADE OF STEEL AND JELLY AND BEFORE YOU ASK NO THIS SCENE DOES NOT APPEAR TO HAVE HAD ANY PARTICULAR RELEVANCE TO THE PLOT, IT ENTERS AS INEXPLICABLY WONDERFULLY AS IT LEAVES
This is the 10th one of these flowers Slash has stolen and brought home.
Here is number 11…
Here’s his third catch of the night.
And that second photo is his face right after I told him “People on the internet love your flower catching skills, Mr. Slash!”
Guess what Mr. Slash is up to tonight?
And, he’s back at it again tonight.
He got another one, and he is proud of himself.
He brought in another one tonight.
Thank you, Mr. Slash!
He is so beautiful 😭
He’s aware of that, and loves being told that. 😛
Sometimes, he will hold my hand when I ask him about the flowers.
He brought these two flowers in last night, and decided to pose for me when I put them near him to take photos.
Plot twist! He brought back a hibiscus tonight instead of the usual ones.
He must be feeling more tropical.
He’s back to the normal ones now…
Even when it’s raining, he still decides to go and find these. Good thing for him that whatever breed of cat he is, he has remarkably water-resistant fur!
He had a very busy night while everyone was asleep last night…
He had a busy night while I was watching SummerSlam.
He gave us one more last night, bringing his total from last night to 6! That’s a new one-night record for him!
Mr. Slash’s flower hunting adventure master post keeps on growing.
He was back at it again today.
And two more from last night…
Thank you, Mr. Slash!
Such a good kitty!
He is!
I wish Oreo brought me flowers instead of birds, lizards, mice, and squirrels 😂😂
Mr. Slash even wanted to hold hands after giving me this one.
He’s a special cat. 😀
He was asleep this morning after bringing me this one last night…
Two more gifts from Mr. Slash tonight.
Please tell Mr. Slash I love him.
Feeling sad? Have a big fluffy kitty bringing flowers to his people.
down the block is a person who is inexplicably losing all the flowers in her garden
@thoughts-of-an-x-factor did you ever find out where Mr. Slash got the flowers from? I’m so curious now!!
Oh! I’ve explained it before, but I know some people haven’t seen the explanation, so here it is:
Mr. Slash has made friends with an elderly woman who lives about three houses down from me. He gets the flowers from her garden. They are Camellias, so they grow, and fall off the bush by the handful, and he goes over there at night, and takes every single one from the ground, to bring back to me.
So, when I said he was stealing them, it was somewhat inaccurate. It’s actually more like he’s helping an old woman clean her garden up, and giving me gifts at the same time. She knows who he is, and where he comes from, and knows what he does.
This is delightful, and what a beautiful cat he is!
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 
You must be logged in to post a comment.