The Debate between tree and reed (CSL 5.3.4) is a work of Sumerian literature belonging to the genre of disputations poem.
[1] The text was reconstructed by M. Civil in the 1960s from 24 manuscripts[2] but it is currently the least studied of the disputation poems and a full translation has not yet been published.
The poem begins with a cosmogonic prologue describing the copulation between Heaven (An) and Earth (Ki).
Earth gives birth to vegetation, and for the purpose of the poem, this prominently includes Tree and Reed.
Reed, who fails to respect the proper order of things, steps in front of Tree, causing the latter to be infuriated.
10 The earth, full of joy, bore abundance, while juice and syrup gave out their smell.In Mesopotamian disputation literature, debates between trees is a recurring theme.