CDLI Literary 000796, ex. 062 (P231540)

Wisdom or proverb tablet excavated in Nippur (mod. Nuffar), dated to the Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC) period and now kept in Penn Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Cite

Photo

Museum Collection(s)

Penn Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Museum Number

UM 55-21-435

Period

Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)

Provenience

Nippur (mod. Nuffar)

Artifact Type

Tablet

Material(s)

Clay

Genre / Subgenre(s)

Literary > Wisdom or proverb (ETCSL 6.01.02 Proverbs Collection 02 (witness) School exercise; Obv: Proverb collection 2; Rev: Proverb collection 2; 5x6 lines; 5.0x7.8)

Language(s)

Sumerian

Measurements

Text content

Genre(s)	Literary > Wisdom or proverb (ETCSL 6.01.02 Proverbs Collection 02 (witness) School exercise; Obv: Proverb collection 2; Rev: Proverb collection 2; 5x6 lines; 5.0x7.8) School text
Language(s)	Sumerian

Chronology

Period	Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)
Dates Referenced
Accounting Period

Record

CDLI number	P231540
Permalink	https://cdli.network/entity/P231540

Physical information

Artifact type	Tablet
Dimensions
Weight
Material(s)	Clay
Preservation

Provenance

Provenience	Nippur (mod. Nuffar)
Written In
Excavation Number	3N-T0206
Findspot
Stratigraphic Level
Elevation

Collections

Collection(s)	Penn Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Museum Number	UM 55-21-435
Accession Number

External resources

External Resource	Identifiers
The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature transliterations (ETCSL transliterations)	6.1.2
The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature translations (ETCSL translations)	6.1.2
Penn Museum (Penn)	567948
Electronic Babylonian Library (eBL)	UM.55-21-435
Ancient Records of Middle Eastern Polities (ARMEP)	P231540

References

history: Alster Proverbs, 042

[Alster1997Proverbs] Alster, Bendt. 1997. Proverbs of Ancient Sumer: The World’s Earliest Proverb Collection.
history: Gordon SP, 171 pl.70 YYY

[Gordon1959SP] Gordon, Edmund I. 1959. Sumerian Proverbs : Glimpses of Everyday Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. Museum Monograph of the University Museum. University of Pennsylvania. University Museum.
history: neg. 69106-07

[sec33886] N.d.

Revisions and credits

Created	Creator	Type	Authors	Project	Reviewer	Status
2024-09-02 at 08:45:16	Firth, Richard	Artifact metadata	Firth, Richard		Firth, Richard	Approved
2024-09-02 at 07:32:18	Firth, Richard	Artifact metadata, Other metadata	Firth, Richard		Firth, Richard	Approved
2024-09-02 at 07:29:31	Firth, Richard	Artifact metadata, Other metadata	Firth, Richard		Firth, Richard	Approved
2023-06-14 at 22:28:20	Rattenborg, Rune	Artifact metadata	Rattenborg, Rune	Geomapping Landscapes of Writing	Rattenborg, Rune	Approved
2023-01-19 at 10:11:27	Pagé-Perron, Émilie	Artifact metadata	Földi, Zsombor J.; Jiménez, Enrique; Pagé-Perron, Émilie	Electronic Babylonian Library	Pagé-Perron, Émilie	Approved
2003-09-11 at 00:00:00	CDLI	Artifact metadata	Veldhuis, Niek	Digital Corpus of Cuneiform Lexical Texts	CDLI	Approved

Cite this Artifacts

“CDLI Literary 000796, Ex. 062 Artifact Entry.” (2003) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). September 2, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P231540.

CDLI Literary 000796, ex. 062 artifact entry (No. P231540). (2024, September 2). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P231540 (Original work published 2003)

CDLI Literary 000796, ex. 062 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P231540 (Accessed: April 22, 2026).

@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-04-22]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {sep 2},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000796, ex. 062 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P231540},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P231540},
}

TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/9/2/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P231540
LB  - CDLI:P231540
M1  - 2026/4/22/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000796, ex. 062 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P231540
ER  -

Cite this Artifacts

“CDLI Literary 000796, Ex. 062 Artifact Entry.” (2003) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). September 2, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P231540.

CDLI Literary 000796, ex. 062 artifact entry (No. P231540). (2024, September 2). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P231540 (Original work published 2003)

CDLI Literary 000796, ex. 062 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P231540 (Accessed: April 22, 2026).

@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-04-22]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {sep 2},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000796, ex. 062 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P231540},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P231540},
}

TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/9/2/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P231540
LB  - CDLI:P231540
M1  - 2026/4/22/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000796, ex. 062 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P231540
ER  -