Debate between bird and fish
The "Debate between bird and fish" is an essay written in the Sumerian language on clay tablets, dating back to the mid to late 3rd millennium BC. Seven ""debate"" topics are known from Sumerian literature, falling in the category of 'disputations'; some examples are: The Debate between Winter and Summer; Debate between sheep and grain; the Tree and the Reed; bird and fish; and "The Dispute between Silver and Mighty Copper", etc. These appeared some centuries after writing was established in Sumerian Mesopotamia. The debates are philosophical and address humanity's place in the world . Some of the debates may be from 2100 BC. The bird and fish debate is a 190-line text of cuneiform script. It begins with a discussion of the gods having given Mesopotamia and dwelling places for humans; for water for the fields, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and the marshes, marshland, grazing lands for humans, and the birds of the marshes, and fish are all given. The debate then begins starting with Fish addressing Bird. The debate, in short summary. Fish speaks first. The initial speech of Fish: The 2nd and 3rd paragraphs continue: Bird's initial retort. Bird  replies: Bird continues: Šulgi rules in favor of Bird. After the initial speech and retort, Fish attacks Bird's nest. Battle ensues between the two of them, in more words. Near the end Bird requests that Culgi decide in Bird's favor: Šulgi proclaims: