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.

Aside from Bird and Fish, other examples include:[1] These appeared a few centuries after writing was established in Sumerian Mesopotamia.

[2] 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.