CDLI Literary 000793, ex. 004 (P346129)

Literary tablet excavated in Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar), dated to the Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC) period and now kept in British Museum, London, UK

Museum Collection(s)

British Museum, London, UK

Museum Number

BM —

Period

Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)

Provenience

Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar)

Artifact Type

Tablet

Material(s)

Clay

Genre / Subgenre(s)

Literary (ETCSL 5.09.01 Home of Fish (witness) Home of the Fish)

Language(s)

Sumerian

Measurements

-

Witness

Text

tablet
obverse
  beginning broken
1'. [...] x [...]
 en: ...
2'. [...] ma#-ra-an#?-[...] arah4# [...]
 en: ... built a house for you, ... built a storeroom for you
3'. e2 e2#-e diri-ga#? [...] amasz gid2-da ma-ra#-[...]
 en: ... built a house that is more than a house(!?), a long (sided?) sheepfold for you
4'. e2-e dug? mu-un-[...] kasz saga mu-un-de2#?
 en: In the house .... pot(s)? and poured(?) good quality beer (in them)
5'. {kasz}ASZ2-ASZ2-imgaga3 ku7-ku7-dam gi-gar-re-esz mu-un-gal2
 en: ... put sweet beer up to the fence
6'. zu-a-zu hu-mu-un-szi-du-un kal-la-zu hu-mu-un-du-un#
 en: So that your acquaintance(s) come towards you(!?), so that your friends come towards you(!?)
7'. dumu gu5-li-zu nam-mu-ni-ib-tak4-tak4-a
 en: Do not abandon the child of your friend
8'. ku4-ra-ma-ni-ib# dumu ki ag2-gu10
 en: Enter it for me, my beloved child
9'. ku4-ra-ma-ni-ib dumu sa6-ga-gu10
 en: Enter it for me, my beautiful child
10'. u4 nam-zal-e ge6 nam-sa2-e
 en: Don't spend the day (idle?), don't spend the night (idle?)
reverse
1. iti6# <e2>-ba nam-ba-ni-ib-ku4-ku4
 en: Do not bring moonlight into the house
2. u4 me-e-zal-la-gin7 ge6 me-e-sa2-a-gin7
 en: As I have spent the day(?), as I have spent the night(?)
3. ku4-ra ba-ni-hun-ge26 ki gar ma-ra-ab-du7
 en: The one who enters is pacified there, the area(?) has been made appropriate for you
4. sza3-ba dur2!? gar-ke4 si ma-ra-ab-sa2-e
 en: Sitting down in its midst(?) is set in order for you
5. ku6-gu10 lu2 nu2-a-gu10 ba-ra-<<ra>>-zi-zi
 en: My fish, so that my one(s) who sleep (there) do not wake up
6. lu2 tusz-a-gu10 du17 ba-ra-mu2-mu2
 en: So that my one(s) who dwell (there) do not quarrel
7. ku4!-ra-ma-ni-ib dumu ki ag2#-gu10
 en: Enter it for me, my beloved child
8. ku4-ra-ma-ni-ib dumu sa6-ga-gu10#
 en: Enter for me, my beautiful child
9. i7 mun3-na-gin7 na-ba-al [...]
 en: Do not dig (in it?) like a brackish waterway ...
10. sahar-gar i7-gin7 zi-zi [...]
 en: Like river silt, do not learn how to rise (i.e., be excavated(?))
  blank space
  rest broken

Text content

Genre(s) Literary (ETCSL 5.09.01 Home of Fish (witness) Home of the Fish)
Language(s) Sumerian

Chronology

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

Composites

This artifact is a witness to the following composite(s):

Composite Composite Number Score
CDLI Literary 000793 (Home of Fish) composite (P478976) Q000793 View the score

Record

LOD URI https://cdli.network/entity/P346129

Physical information

Artifact type Tablet
Dimensions
Weight
Material(s) Clay
Preservation

Provenance

Provenience Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar)
Written In
Archive
Excavation Number U 16879K
Findspot
Stratigraphic Level
Elevation

Collections

Collection(s) British Museum, London, UK
Museum Number BM —
Accession Number

External resources

External Resource Identifiers
The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature transliterations (ETCSL transliterations) 5.9.1
The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature translations (ETCSL translations) 5.9.1
Ancient Records of Middle Eastern Polities (ARMEP) P346129

References

  • history: Iraq 23 (pp. 154-175), 154

    [Civil1961Iraq23] Civil, Miguel. 1961. “The Home of the Fish. A New Sumerian Literary Composition.” Iraq 23 (2): 154–75. https://doi.org/10.2307/4199704.

  • history: UET 6, 0044

    [Gadd1963UET6] Gadd, Cyril John, and Aaron Shaffer. 1963, 1966, 2005. Ur Excavations Texts Vol. VI.

Revisions and credits

Created Creator Type Authors Project Reviewer Status Action
2024-07-31 at 16:45:50 Firth, Richard Artifact metadata, Other metadata Firth, Richard Firth, Richard Approved View
2023-06-15 at 20:34:30 Rattenborg, Rune Artifact metadata Rattenborg, Rune Geomapping Landscapes of Writing Rattenborg, Rune Approved View
2019-06-12 at 10:01:00 Englund, Robert K. Transliteration Englund, Robert K. CDLI, CDLI Approved View
2019-05-29 at 21:01:58 Englund, Robert K. Transliteration Englund, Robert K. CDLI, CDLI Approved View
2006-11-02 at 00:00:00 CDLI, CDLI Artifact metadata Foxvog, Daniel A.; Guerra, Dylan; Peterson, Jeremiah; Veldhuis, Niek; Wolfe, Jared N. CDLI, CDLI Approved View

Cite this Artifact

“CDLI Literary 000793, Ex. 004 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). July 31, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P346129.
CDLI Literary 000793, ex. 004 artifact entry (No. P346129). (2024, July 31). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P346129 (Original work published 2006)
CDLI Literary 000793, ex. 004 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P346129 (Accessed: October 24, 2026).
@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-10-24]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {jul 31},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000793, ex. 004 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P346129},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P346129},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/7/31/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P346129
LB  - CDLI:P346129
M1  - 2026/10/24/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000793, ex. 004 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P346129
ER  -

Cite this Artifact

“CDLI Literary 000793, Ex. 004 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). July 31, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P346129.
CDLI Literary 000793, ex. 004 artifact entry (No. P346129). (2024, July 31). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P346129 (Original work published 2006)
CDLI Literary 000793, ex. 004 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P346129 (Accessed: October 24, 2026).
@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-10-24]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {jul 31},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000793, ex. 004 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P346129},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P346129},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/7/31/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P346129
LB  - CDLI:P346129
M1  - 2026/10/24/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000793, ex. 004 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P346129
ER  -
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