The "Periods" Meme: A Humorous Evolution
The internet is a breeding ground for memes, and these often evolve in unexpected and hilarious ways. One such example is the "periods" meme, which gained traction after originating from a piece of fan art.
Origin and Initial Spread
The meme's genesis can be traced back to a user on X[2] who, on a particular day, posted a piece of art. Later that day, the same user posted the full piece of art, depicting Reigen saying, "Ahhh yes periods… I am familiar indeed," Shigeo Kageyama asking, "you get periods shisho?" and Reigen responding, "Yes but not anymore." This humorous exchange, centered around a misunderstanding of the word "periods," quickly resonated with online audiences.
The Meme's Transformation Through Redraws
The original art sparked a wave of redraws over the following months, with artists replacing the characters with figures from other popular media. This adaptability proved crucial to the meme's longevity.
On June 23rd, 2024, Tumblr[6] user linterteatime posted a redraw based on Undertale in which Sans replaces Reigen, garnering over 9,600 notes in three months. This Undertale iteration demonstrates how the meme could be successfully transplanted into different fandoms, broadening its appeal. The redraws allowed for endless variations, ensuring the meme remained fresh and engaging.
From Substandard Copper to Viral Content: Unexpected Parallels
While seemingly unrelated, the "periods" meme shares an interesting parallel with another internet phenomenon: the Complaint Tablet to Ea-nāṣir. The complaint tablet to Ea-nāṣir (UET V 81)[1] is a clay tablet that was sent to the ancient city-state Ur, written c. 1750 BC. The tablet, which measures 11.6 centimetres (4+9⁄16 in) high and 5.0 centimetres (1+15⁄16 in) wide, documents a transaction in which Ea-nāṣir,[a] a trader, allegedly sold sub-standard copper to a customer named Nanni. Discovered by Sir Leonard Woolley in Ur, it is currently kept in the British Museum. Written in Akkadian cuneiform, this tablet is recognized as the "Oldest Customer Complaint" by Guinness World Records. The tablet details that Ea-nāṣir travelled to Dilmun to buy copper and returned to sell it in Mesopotamia. On one particular occasion, he had agreed to sell copper ingots to Nanni. In response, Nanni produced the cuneiform letter for delivery to Ea-nāṣir. Inscribed on it is a complaint to Ea-nāṣir about a copper delivery of the incorrect grade and issues with another delivery;[5] Nanni also complained that his servant (who handled the transaction) had been treated rudely. Ea-nāṣir was part of a group of traders called alik Tilmun, or "Dilmun traders".
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Both the "periods" meme and the Ea-nāṣir tablet, in their own ways, highlight the enduring human capacity for humor and complaint. One uses a modern, digital medium to express a lighthearted joke, while the other uses an ancient medium to voice dissatisfaction with a business transaction.
The Complaint Tablet to Ea-nāṣir: A Deeper Dive
To further understand the historical context, it's worth examining the Ea-nāṣir tablet in more detail. Adolf Leo Oppenheim translated several of the tablet's lines in a 1954 article for Journal of the American Oriental Society.[11] An English language translation of the tablet was made by W. F. Leemans [nl] in 1960;[12] Leemans's translation incorporated these lines which Oppenheim had translated as well as some input from Fritz Rudolf Kraus [de] on the meaning of a few lines.[13] Oppenheim published a full translation of the tablet himself in 1967,[8] unaware of any other translations of this tablet.[14] A translation inspired by that of Marc Van de Mieroop sent in a personal communication to Steven J. Garfinkle was published in 2010;[15] a book review by Walter Farber [de] noted that this translation "is not always true to details".[16] I. M. Other tablets have been found in the ruins believed to be Ea-nāṣir's dwelling. ^ Figulla, H. H.; Martin, W. J., eds. (1953). Letters and Business Documents of the Old Babylonian Period. Ur Excavations: Texts. Vol. V. London: British Museum Press. ^ a b "The Legend of Ea-Nāsir: how a Babylonian businessman became an internet meme". UCL Institute of Archaeology. 8 December 2022. ^ Kern, Emily (3 November 2021). "The Radical Promise of Human History". ^ Brinkley, Liv (17 March 2022). "The World's Oldest Customer Complaint Is Almost 4000 Years Old". ^ a b c "tablet". British Museum. ^ "UET 5, 0081 (P414985)". CDLI. ^ Crawford, Harriet (July 2015). "Sir Leonard Woolley and Ur of the Chaldees". The Bible and Interpretation. ^ Konstantopoulos, Gina (2021). "Gods in the Margins: Religion, Kingship, and the Fictionalized Frontier". In Konstantopoulos, Gina; Zaia, Shana (eds.). As Above, So Below. Penn State University Press. pp. 3-27. doi:10.1515/9781646021536-003. ^ "Sir Leonard Woolley". Biography. British Museum. ^ Leemans (1960), p. 39 n. ^ Leemans (1960), p. 39 n. ^ Garfinkle (2010), p. 198, 198 n. ^ a b Killgrove, Kristina (11 May 2018). "Meet the worst businessman of the 18th century BCE". Forbes. ^ "Complaint Tablet To Ea-Nasir - World's Oldest Complaint Letter". Guinness World Records. ^ "Treatment; 23 Oct 2009; Consolidate and stabalise loose areas; Ceramics & Glass". britishmuseum.org. British Museum. Baraniuk, Chris (2 March 2015). "Ancient customer-feedback technology lasts millennia". New Scientist. Diakonoff, I. M. (1990). Купец, мореплаватель, литейных дел мастер [A Merchant, Seafarer, and Copper Founder]. Люди города Ура [People of the City of Ur] (in Russian). Moscow: Akademija Nauk. pp. 97-125. Farber, Walter (April-June 2012). "Review: Opening the Tablet Box: Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Benjamin R. Foster". Review of Books. Journal of the American Oriental Society. 132 (2): 319-321. Garfinkle, Steven J. (2010). "Merchants and State Formation in Early Mesopotamia". In Melville, Sarah; Slotsky, Alice (eds.). Opening the Tablet Box: Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Benjamin R. Foster. Culture and History of the Ancient Near East. Vol. 42. Leiden: Brill. pp. 197-199. doi:10.1163/9789004186569_012. Kruszelnicki, K.S. (24 March 2015). "The oldest known complaint letter". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Kalinauskas, Nadine (10 March 2015). "Clay tablet with oldest recorded customer-service complaint on display at the British Museum". Yahoo News. McNally, Victoria (27 February 2015). "Ancient Babylonians were just like us: Complained about poor service from retailers". Leemans, W. F. (1960). "Ur: Time of Rim-Sin". Foreign Trade in the Old Babylonian Period as Revealed by Texts from Southern Mesopotamia. Studia et Documenta ad Iura Orientis Antiqui Pertinentia. Vol. 6. Leiden: Brill. pp. 36-55. Oppenheim, A. L. (1954). "The Seafaring Merchants of Ur". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 74 (1): 6-17. doi:10.2307/595475. JSTOR 595475. Oppenheim, A. Leo, ed. (1967). "Old Babylonian Letters: Trade". Letters From Mesopotamia: Official, Business and Private Letters on Clay Tablets from Two Millennia. The Oriental Institute. University of Chicago Press. pp. 82-84. Rice, Michael (1994). "The Merchants of Dilmun: Ea-Nasir, the Dilmun Merchant". The Archaeology of the Arabian Gulf. The experience of archaeology. London: Routledge. pp. 276-280. Wheaton, Oliver (5 March 2015). "Believe it or not, this carving is actually a 3,750 year-old customer service complaint". Podany, Amanda H. (2022). "Introduction". Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 1-10. doi:10.1093/oso/9780190059040.003.0021. Woolley, Leonard; Mallowan, Max (1976). "Detailed Description of the Private Houses: The AH Site: Old Street". The Old Babylonian Period. Ur Excavations. Vol. VII. London: British museum publ. pp. 123-125. "British Museum Object". British Museum. British Museum. BM 131236. "UET 5, 0081". Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. University of California, Los Angeles. CDLI no. P414985. "16814A | 1953,0411.71". UrOnline - The Digital Resource for the Excavation of Ur. The British Museum. "UET 5 81 [BM 131236 = 1953-04-11, 71 = U.16814a]". Archibab. Collège de France. Munroe, Randall (3 April 2023). "My Favorite Things". W. F.
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