Is this the world's oldest customer complaint? 3,750-year-old Babylonian tablet details how a person called 'Nanni' was not happy with a delivery of ancient copper ore

If you have ever composed a shirty email complaining about damaged goods, a mixed-up order or late delivery, you certainly weren't the first.

An intricate tablet, thought to be the world's oldest complaint 'letter' was written by a disappointed customer from ancient Babylonia, 3,766 years ago.

In it, 'Nanni' complains to a merchant about receiving the wrong grade of copper ore that's arrived late and is slightly damaged.

An intricate tablet (pictured), thought to be the world's oldest complaint 'letter' was written by a disappointed customer from ancient Babylonia. The story goes that a merchant named Ea-nasir journeyed to the Persian Gulf to buy copper to sell in Mesopotamia. This included ingots for Nanni, who sent his servant to pay for them

The clay tablet, which measures 4.6-inches (11cm) tall, 2-inches (5cm) wide and 1-inch (2.6cm) thick, dates from 1,750 BC.

It is displayed at The British Museum having been unearthed in Ur, an important Sumerian city-state located modern southern Iraq.

The story goes that a merchant named Ea-nasir journeyed to the Persian Gulf to buy copper to sell in Mesopotamia. 

This included a number of copper ingots for Nanni, who repeatedly sent his servant to pay for them. 

The ancient Babylonians were skilled metalworkers and made bronze by mixing tin and copper.

According to a translation from Leo Oppenheim's book, 'Letters from Mesopotamia,' the copper ordered by Nanni was sub-standard and wasn't accepted, but was paid for.

Nanni composed the cuneiform text to make his bitter feelings known, with the intention of getting his money back.

The translation reads: 'Tell Ea-nasir: Nanni sends the following message: 'When you came, you said to me as follows "I will give Gimil-Sin (when he comes) fine quality copper ingots.'"

'You left then but you did not do what you promised me. 

The clay tablet (shown from the front,  on the left, and from the side on the right) measures 4.6-inches (11cm) tall, 2-inches (5cm) wide and 1-inch (2.6cm) thick and dates from 1,750 BC. According to a translation, the copper ordered by Nanni was sub-standard and wasn't accepted, but was paid for

'You put ingots which were not good before my messenger (Sit-Sin) and said "If you want to take them, take them, if you do not want to take them, go away!"'

He then says the remarkably modern phrase, 'what do you take me for?' and asks why he has been treated with such disrespect.

'I have sent as messengers gentlemen like ourselves to collect the bag with my money (deposited with you) but you have treated me with contempt by sending them back to me empty-handed several times, and that through enemy territory.'

The tablet complains Nanni's servant was treated badly too.

'On account of that one (trifling) mina of silver which I owe(?) you, you feel free to speak in such a way, while I have given to the palace on your behalf 1,080 pounds of copper, and umi-abum has likewise given 1,080 pounds of copper, apart from what we both have had written on a sealed tablet to be kept in the temple of Samas.

'How have you treated me for that copper? You have withheld my money bag from me in enemy territory; it is now up to you to restore (my money) to me in full.'

The tablet is displayed at The British Museum having been unearthed in Ur (marked on the map), an important Sumerian city-state located modern southern Iraq

The translation also reveals that tablet complains Nanni's servant was treated badly too. Nanni concludes his complaint by saying he will not accept any more copper from the rude merchant that is not of fine quality

The ancient Babylonians were expert metal workers. An illustration of the city of Babylon is shown

Nanni concludes his complaint by saying he will not accept any more copper from the rude merchant that is not of fine quality.

'I shall (from now on) select and take the ingots individually in my own yard, and I shall exercise against you my right of rejection because you have treated me with contempt,' he says, according to the translation.

This is not the first time Ancient Babylonians have proved how advanced their culture was. 

Analysis of four stone tablets recently revealed how the civilisation used geometry to track planets in the solar system more than 1,400 years before Europeans were believed to have devised the mathematical technique. 

Scientists had believed the mathematical method had been developed by scholars in Europe in the 14th century, but the tablets date to between 350 to 50 BC.

This could mean Babylonians were using geometrical methods as much as 1,700 years earlier.

Professor Mathieu Ossendrijver, a researcher in the history of ancient science at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin who deciphered the markings, said the tablets have redefined the history books.

Translation of the cuneiform tablets revealed they described a mathematical technique to calculate the positions of large bodies in space and time.

The markings depict measurements made to track Jupiter as it moved along the horizon, calculating the planet's position at 60 days and then at 120 days.

From this, it appears the Babylonians used geometrical calculations based on a trapezoid – a four-sided shape in which the top and bottom lines are parallel – working out the area of the shape, along with its 'long' and 'short' sides. 

A stock image of a piece of copper ore is shown. The translation suggests Nanni concluded the complaint with: 'I shall (from now on) select and take the ingots individually in my own yard, and I shall exercise against you my right of rejection because you have treated me with contempt'