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On an Ancient Clay Tablet Written in Cuneiform, a Babylonian Customer Expresses His Indignation Over Delays, Poor Quality, and Loss of Money — and Entered the Guinness
An excavation in the ruins of the ancient city of Ur, in present-day Iraq, revealed something surprising: complaints with a 3,800-year history. The main character is a merchant named Ea-Nasir, who sold poor quality copper, delayed deliveries, and deeply irritated a Babylonian customer named Nanni. The dissatisfaction was immortalized in a clay tablet — considered the oldest complaint letter ever recorded.
The message, written in cuneiform and preserved to this day in the British Museum, is a true outburst against trade failures in ancient Mesopotamia. The discovery shows that post-sale problems, unfulfilled promises, and the infamous “poor service” were already causes for outrage almost two millennia before Christ.
Clay Tablet Reveals Complaints with a 3,800-Year History
The historical piece measures 11.6 centimeters in height and was written by Nanni, a dissatisfied customer from ancient Babylon. The recipient was Ea-Nasir, a merchant and member of the Alik Tilmun guild, which specialized in metals such as copper.
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In the letter, Nanni complains that his messenger was mistreated, that the delivered copper bars were of inferior quality, and that his money was withheld without the product being delivered. Notably, the customer’s envoys crossed hostile territories to make the transaction.
“Who am I that you treat me with such disdain?,” Nanni questions in the message. He also demands a full refund of his silver and states that he will not accept poor copper anymore, promising to personally inspect each piece from now on.
The Importance of the Letter to the History of Commerce
Translated by the Assyriologist A. Leo Oppenheim in his book Letters from Mesopotamia (1967), the letter went viral in 2018 after reports from Forbes magazine and Galileu. In 2023, it was included in the Guinness Book as the oldest recorded customer complaint in history.
The case shows that trade regulation, guarantees, and dissatisfaction with services are not modern phenomena. Even back then, consumers knew how to complain — vehemently — and recorded their grievances in writing, even without the internet, consumer protection agencies, or social media.
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