from:
The Fear of the Lord Is Wisdom: A Theological Introduction to Wisdom in Israel (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic: A division of Baker Publishing Group, 2017)
-Indeed, the similarities between Israelite and ancient Near Eastern wisdom have been used as evidence that wisdom speaks to universal concerns rather than concerns that are particular to Israel. That said, there are a number of deeply contested issues associated with the relationship between and the significance of the comparison of biblical and ancient Near Eastern wisdom. (Longman III, pg. 147).
Mesopotamian (310BC)
A people we know as the Sumerians lived in what is today southern Iraq, between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers. By the end of the third millennium, they were eventually displaced by a Semitic people who spoke and wrote Akkadian and who formed two power centers, one in the south centered around the city of Babylon and the second in the north centered around the city of Asshur. Over the next millennium and a half, there were swings of power between the Babylonian and Assyrian kingdoms (Pg.149)
-Epic of Gilgamesh (a quest for wisdom and antediluvian knowledge and everlasting life)
-Death of Gilgamesh (he travels to meet flood hero (Ziusudra) for everlasting life)
-Counsels of Wisdom(Father to son advice) much like Proverbs
-Sennacherib Autobiography
-Adad-guppi Inscription
-Prophecies of Marduk, Uruk, Dynastic, Shulgi…(autobiographies with prophecies)
-Sargon Birth Legend, Idrimi (end with blessings and curses)
-Man and His God (Sumerian about an innocent sufferer crying out to Marduk who restores him)
-Babylonian Theodicy (7th century BC. Innocent sufferer debates a friend about justice of the gods)
Egyptian
The primary type of writing that can be associated with wisdom is called sbyꜣt in Egyptian, a word that may be translated “teaching” or “instruction.” (pg. 153).
Similar to proverbs and Ecclesiastes: father-usually a high official, advises his son on life. From Old Kingdom all the way to latest periods.
-instructions from Ptahhotep, Merikare, Amenemope, Anksheshonqy, Papyrus Insinger…
-Admonitions of Ipuwer (describe a time of dismay, hoping for a good king to reign)
-Eloquent Peasent (a poor man, Khu-n-Anup, who’s exploited by a wealthy landowner, gets justice.)
-Complaints of Khakheperre-sonb-(contains proverbs that describe an upside down society)
-Protocol of Neferti (describes a world of turmoil, hoping for a good future king)
-Dispute Over Suicide/Dialogue of a Man with His Ba (suicidal man debates his Ba(soul))
Aramaic
-Instructions of Ahiqar(5th century BC or earlier, story of Ahiqar, a wise man who serves Sennacherib and his son Esarhaddon who advices his nephew Nadin-his apprentice.