Song of the Hoe: the angrily accusing laye

The older a language is, the more sophisticated it is likely to be. Sumerian, an ancient language of Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and arguably the oldest written language, shows every sign of such sophistication.

Although I have shown it to be Setswana-like in both grammar and words, the puns and double-entendres its scribes employ far exceed the capabilities of modern Setswana scribes. For example, they could pack several layers of meaning in one poem or epic, one layer being innocuous and palatable to the ‘gods’, but several others being decidedly risqué and not meant for the gods to understand. What aided this complex process is a contrivance whereby they were economical with vowels, which practice was later adopted by the Egyptians, who in turn influenced Hebrew writing. This allowed someone clued into their vernacular to add his own vowel ‘fillers’ – which process, however, followed certain strict rules that are unfortunately well beyond the intended scope of this article.

Not understanding that it is Setswana-like, the conventional translations of Sumerian formally adopted by scholars are way off-mark. Firstly, whenever the term al appears in the text, these translators interpret it to mean ‘hoe’. They then envisage a Genesis-type creation process enacted by Enlil, a Creator-god of sorts – an outlook that helps bolster the supposition that ‘gods’ were mere figments of ancient, primitive imaginations, whereas all indications are that they were real, flesh-and-blood beings of super-advanced technology who for millennia dominated the affairs of ordinary beings; who, even 5000 years ago, evidently had spacecraft when mankind was supposed to be wallowing in primitiveness.

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