Вестник СПбГУ. Востоковедение и африканистика. 2017. Т. 9. Вып. 3 © Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет, 2017 DOI: 10.21638/11701/spbu13.2017.305 281 UDC 929,930.271 V. V. Emelianov FIRST ACCOUNT OF A BIRTHDAY IN HUMAN HISTORY St. Petersburg State University, 7–9, Universitetskaya nab., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation The article deals with the five Old Sumerian cuneiform texts from the city of Lagash made during the time of Lugalanda (24th century BC). Every text contains the list of offerings made in the temple of the goddess Bau on the occasion of the birth of children in the king’s family. It is established that there is the first mentioning of holiday on the occasion of people’s birthday in the history of writing. The hypothesis of dating of the text of DP 218 by time of an autumn equinox is offered. The author assumes that need to celebrate birthdays is connected with submission of economy of the temple of Bau to the king’s family and with emergence of a sacral genealogy of the king Lugalanda. The article also contains information about birthdays from the sources of the Middle East and antiquity known to scholars since the 5th century BC. It is noted that birthdays are celebrated only in those societies where the growth of private property and the increase of egocentrism contribute to an interest in the individual destiny of a person. And vice versa, the predominance of the community neutralizes the facts of the individual’s life. Refs 39. Keywords: Sumer, Lagash, Lugalanda, Baranamtara, birthday. 10.21638/11701/spbu13.2017.305 ПЕРВОЕ В ИСТОРИИ УПОМИНАНИЕ ДНЯ РОЖДЕНИЯ В. В. Емельянов Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет, Российская Федерация, 199034, Санкт-Петербург, Университетская наб., 7–9 В статье рассматриваются пять шумерских клинописных текстов из города Лагаша, со- ставленных в эпоху царя Лугаланды (XXIV в. до н. э.). Тексты содержат список жертв, прине- сенных в храме богини Бау по случаю рождения детей в семье царя. Установлено, что это пер- вые в истории письменности упоминания праздника по случаю рождения людей. Предложена гипотеза датировки текста DP 218 временем осеннего равноденствия. Автор предполагает, что необходимость отмечать событие рождения связана с подчинением хозяйства храма Бау цар- ской семье и с возникновением сакрального родословия царя Лугаланды. Библиогр. 39 назв. Ключевые слова: Шумер, Лагаш, Лугаланда, Баранамтара, день рождения. Putting this question forward may come across as a little strange: where and since then did people frst start celebrating their birthdays? Our contemporaries are so used to the birthday phenomenon that they can hardly imagine life and times when it did not exist. However, there is not a single text on record, from the Near East or from the High Classical Period, mentioning a celebration of a human birthday, whereas in the Middle Ages the only date which was recorded was the day a baby was christened. If one were to believe the “Father of History” Herodotus, the frst people to celebrate birthdays were the Persians — in the 5th century BC. In Book One of Herodotus’s Histo- ries it says: “133. And of all days their wont is to honour most that on which they were born, each one: on this they think it right to set out a feast more liberal than on other days; and in this feast the wealthier of them set upon the table an ox or a horse or a camel or an ass, roasted whole in an oven, and the poor among them set out small animals in the same way.” (Translated by G. C. Macaulay) [1].