Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir ( ) was a Mesopotamian copper merchant from Ur during the Bronze Age. He was a member of a guild of traders based in Dilmun and was active during the 11th and 19th regnal years of Rim-Sîn I, who ruled Larsa in Sumer. As a vendor of copper ingots originating in Magan, Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir is most recognized for being the addressee of the oldest known written complaint, which was authored around 1750 BC by a customer named Nanni, who expresses dissatisfaction with the quality of the ingots and takes offense at how his servant was treated by Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir during the transaction.
Wilhelmus F. Leemans describes Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir in his 1960 publication, based on the clay tablets found in Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir's probable residence in Ur, as a prominent wholesale merchant who purchased copper in Dilmun and shipped it by waterway to Ur for resale to various traders. Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir is believed to have spent extended periods in Dilmun, where he received orders and complaints from Ur, which he brought back with him upon his return. According to Leemans, Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir's main business was likely the direct import of copper for the palace of Ur. His greater interest in this palace-related activity is seen as a possible reason why he paid less attention to his private business relationships. Among Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir's clients was the copper trader Nanni. In addition to copper ingots, Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir also traded in copper products and occasionally in textiles and foodstuffs or, according to Michael Rice, "anything in which he could see an opportunity for profit."
What is thought to have been Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir's house was given the address of number 1 Old Street by the excavation team. Like the other houses in the area, it was built from mud brick. It included its own chapel.
Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir's creditworthiness appears to have declined over time. In addition to the increasing number of "reminder letters" addressed to Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir during his career, other findings from the excavations by Leonard Woolley suggest that Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir was ultimately forced to live in more modest circumstances. Part of his house in Ur was apparently separated and merged with a neighbor's house during Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir's lifetime. It is however possible that instead this was a division that took place after Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir's death.
In The Archaeology of the Arabian Gulf, Michael Rice writes that the letters to Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir "gleam mischievously" amidst a mass of tedious but historically significant clay tablets of business correspondence, and that the tone of injured surprise and reproach found in many of them would be familiar to some modern debtors as well. The preserved Akkadian clay tablets include, among other things, complaints that a middleman had not received copper that had already been paid for. People named Arbituram, Appa, Ilsu-ellatsu, and Ili-idinnam lodged complaints with Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir by name. However, the most famous is the angry letter from Nanni, dated around 1750 BC, in which he complains that Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir offered substandard copper ingots to his messenger. Nanni's messengers had already returned empty-handed several times through hostile territory. Nanni writes, among other things:
The clay tablet with Nanni's complaint was found by Leonard Woolley in Ur and acquired by the British Museum in 1953.
According to Nanni's complaint tablet, Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir had agreed to sell some copper ingots to Nanni, but presented Nanni's servant with poor-quality ingots while mistreating and undermining him, and stated the equivalent of "take it or leave it" in a dismissive manner. Enraged, Nanni wrote:
In response to Nanni, Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir wrote:
Other complaint tablets have been found in the ruins that are believed to have been Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir's house. These include one from a man named Arbituram, who complained that he had not received his copper yet, while another tablet's author complained that he was tired of repeatedly receiving low-grade copper.
Around 2015, the customerâÂÂmerchant exchange preserved by the tablet and Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir's rhetoric rose to prominence as the subject of several internet memes on Reddit, Tumblr, and other online platforms. His collection of customer complaints has led to him being portrayed as a trickster character.
Since Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir's emergence in popular culture, a statue of an unknown Mesopotamian worshipper from the Tell Asmar Hoard has routinely been used to depict Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir. However, the statue is older than Ea-nÃÂá¹£ir by approximately a thousand years.