A letter written by a student to his mother in Babylon about 3,800 years ago shows that children’s behavior has not changed much until today.
The student Iddin-Sin’s letter to his mother Zinû offers a glimpse of life in 18th century BC Mesopotamia.
At the time the letter was written, Iddin-Sin was away from his mother. Instead of writing a letter to his mother telling her how his studies were going, perhaps even saying that he missed her, Iddin-Sin was angry with her because of the state of his clothes.
The letter reads: “Tell Mrs. Zinû: Iddin-Sin sends the following message. May the gods Šamaš, Marduk and Ilabrat keep you healthy forever for my sake.”
Iddin-Sin then puts aside his good wishes and begins to complain.
“The clothes of the young people here are getting better year by year, but you let my clothes get worse year by year. Indeed, you insisted that my clothes become poorer and worse. You made me bad clothes at a time when wool was eaten like bread in our house.”
“Adad-iddinam’s son, whose father was only my father’s assistant, has two new sets of clothes, and you have a problem with one set of clothes for me.”
Iddin-Sin delivers one last big emotional punch after making his point.
“Even though he is adopted, his mother loves him, but you gave birth to me and you don’t love me!”
