Der Umgang mit streitenden Schülern im Edubba’a nach den sumerischen Schulstreitgesprächen Enkiḫeĝal und Enkitalu und Ĝirinisa und Enkimanšum

Abstract

Abstract The Old Babylonian schoolmasters used the literary form of the dialogue to compose texts that were conceived as didactic material to improve the Sumerian speaking skills of their pupils and to teach them specific moral values. Some of these compositions can be labeled as school-disputes based on to their content and were probably performed at school. The ends of the school-disputes Enkiḫeĝal and Enkitalu and Ĝirinisa and Enkimanšum are particularly interesting because they provide some insight into how the schoolmasters dealt with quarreling students. In this respect Enkiḫeĝal und Enkitalu stands out for its challenge of corporal punishment. In Ĝirinisa and Enkimanšum one can note that school discipline implies a fraternal attitude between students. This fraternal attitude presupposed and reinforced the scribe’s self-confidence to form a cohesive cultural community.