UET 6, 0159 (P346244)
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, UKMetadata / catalogue
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Museum Collection(s)
British Museum, London, UKMuseum Number
BM —Provenience
Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar)Artifact Type
TabletMaterial(s)
ClayGenre / Subgenre(s)
Literary (A scribe and his perverse Son (E-duba B))Language(s)
-Measurements
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tablet
obverse
beginning broken
1'. [...]-gu10#? [...]
en: I know(?)--(until) my master has left
2'. [...]-na#?-am3#? [...]
en: ..., what will I do(?)
3'. [...] x ta? [...]
en: If ..., what will I do(?)
4'. mu#?-[...]-sze3! x-[...]
en: Because of you, ... touched the body(?)
5'. a2 mu#?-e#-da-ag2#?-[...]
en: If I was to(?) give you an order
6'. a2# ag2#-ga2# ma#-x-[...]
en: You will say “(who are) you, giving orders to me”
7'. x x a#-da#-al# x-[...]
en: ... now, I shall serve you(?)
8'. za#-e# tilla2#-a# im#-[...]-ni10#?-ni10#-[...]
en: You are to loiter about in the square
9'. [...] he2#-tuku# [...]
en: If success is to be obtained, you need to seek it(?)
10'. [...]-ba#-sze3 du#?-[...]
en: Go to the eduba'a school, it will be good for you
11'. [...]-gu10# mu-e-kin2#-ge26 en3#? [...]
en: You(?) will seek after my task, you(?) will inquire about it
12'. [...]-lu2-lu7 su2-zu nu-x-[...]
en: By means of a “humanity” that does not know your body
reverse
1. lipisz#?-zu? mu-zu sag-gu10-da DU-[...] szu ba-ab-x-[...]
en: Your heart/anger and your reputation(?) going apart from(?) my head/lead(?), ...
2. diri ga2-e ugu-za al-gub-bu-na-x
en: In excess of(?) (the time that) I stand over you
3. lu2 na-me ugu dumu-na-ka nu-gub-[...]
en: No one (should) stand over their son
4. umun2 ak tud2-ba#? nig2 nu-mu-da-si-ge#?-[...]
en: Your beatings of (i.e., during?) instruction(?), (in which) nothing compares with you
5. a2 ag2-ga2 nu-ub-zu!?-a-gin7 a-ra-dim2-me umusz?-za lu2 nu-me-en
en: You behave like someone who does not know the rules, in your understanding(?) you a not a man
6. sza3 gi4-me-a-gu10-ne-ka lu2 bi2-ib2#-x x x lu2 mu-da#-ab-si-ge-a ba-ra-gal2
en: Among my colleagues, comparing with each man(?) I conducted(?), (and) no one who compares with you is present
7. nig2 ga2-e za-ra ab-szid-na-gu10
en: This is what I recite to you
8. u2 hub2 ku3-zu ba-an-ku4-ku4
en: (By it) deafness/stupidity turns into wisdom
9. hu-ru ZI masz!?-zu ba-ak
en: (By it) wisdom is made (from?) ... inferiority
10. musz-e KA-KA#-e ba-ab-x-x-[...]
en: It seizes the snake(!?) (as if using!?) incantations/murmuring(?)
11. sag3-ge-de3 sag3-ge-de3 zi ba-ir x [...]
en: I have become weary of always having to beat (you) and have let (that form of punishment) go
12. x [...]
obverse
beginning broken
1'. [...]-gu10#? [...]
en: I know(?)--(until) my master has left
2'. [...]-na#?-am3#? [...]
en: ..., what will I do(?)
3'. [...] x ta? [...]
en: If ..., what will I do(?)
4'. mu#?-[...]-sze3! x-[...]
en: Because of you, ... touched the body(?)
5'. a2 mu#?-e#-da-ag2#?-[...]
en: If I was to(?) give you an order
6'. a2# ag2#-ga2# ma#-x-[...]
en: You will say “(who are) you, giving orders to me”
7'. x x a#-da#-al# x-[...]
en: ... now, I shall serve you(?)
8'. za#-e# tilla2#-a# im#-[...]-ni10#?-ni10#-[...]
en: You are to loiter about in the square
9'. [...] he2#-tuku# [...]
en: If success is to be obtained, you need to seek it(?)
10'. [...]-ba#-sze3 du#?-[...]
en: Go to the eduba'a school, it will be good for you
11'. [...]-gu10# mu-e-kin2#-ge26 en3#? [...]
en: You(?) will seek after my task, you(?) will inquire about it
12'. [...]-lu2-lu7 su2-zu nu-x-[...]
en: By means of a “humanity” that does not know your body
reverse
1. lipisz#?-zu? mu-zu sag-gu10-da DU-[...] szu ba-ab-x-[...]
en: Your heart/anger and your reputation(?) going apart from(?) my head/lead(?), ...
2. diri ga2-e ugu-za al-gub-bu-na-x
en: In excess of(?) (the time that) I stand over you
3. lu2 na-me ugu dumu-na-ka nu-gub-[...]
en: No one (should) stand over their son
4. umun2 ak tud2-ba#? nig2 nu-mu-da-si-ge#?-[...]
en: Your beatings of (i.e., during?) instruction(?), (in which) nothing compares with you
5. a2 ag2-ga2 nu-ub-zu!?-a-gin7 a-ra-dim2-me umusz?-za lu2 nu-me-en
en: You behave like someone who does not know the rules, in your understanding(?) you a not a man
6. sza3 gi4-me-a-gu10-ne-ka lu2 bi2-ib2#-x x x lu2 mu-da#-ab-si-ge-a ba-ra-gal2
en: Among my colleagues, comparing with each man(?) I conducted(?), (and) no one who compares with you is present
7. nig2 ga2-e za-ra ab-szid-na-gu10
en: This is what I recite to you
8. u2 hub2 ku3-zu ba-an-ku4-ku4
en: (By it) deafness/stupidity turns into wisdom
9. hu-ru ZI masz!?-zu ba-ak
en: (By it) wisdom is made (from?) ... inferiority
10. musz-e KA-KA#-e ba-ab-x-x-[...]
en: It seizes the snake(!?) (as if using!?) incantations/murmuring(?)
11. sag3-ge-de3 sag3-ge-de3 zi ba-ir x [...]
en: I have become weary of always having to beat (you) and have let (that form of punishment) go
12. x [...]
Consult previous versions and their differences
Consult sign list of Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)
Consult word list of Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)
- Artifact type: Tablet
- Material: Clay
- Measurements (mm):
- Weight:
- Artifact Preservation:
- Condition Description:
- Join Information:
- Seal no.:
- Seal information:
- Artifact comments:
- Genre(s): Literary (A scribe and his perverse Son (E-duba B))
- Language(s):
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primary: UET 6, 0159
[Gadd1963] Gadd, Cyril J., and Aaron Shaffer. 1963, 1966.
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history: JCS 25 (pp. 105-169), 109
[Sjöberg1973JCS25] Sjöberg, Åke W. 1973. “Der Vater Und Sein Missratener Sohn.” Journal of Cuneiform Studies 25 (3): 105–69. https://doi.org/10.2307/1359447.
- Composite No.:
- Museum No.: BM —
- Accession No.:
- Provenience: Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar)
- Elevation:
- Stratigraphic Level:
- Excavation No: U —
- Findspot Square:
- Findspot Comments:
- Period: Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)
- Dates Referenced:
- Alternative Years:
- Date Comments:
- Accounting Period:
| Created | Creator | Type | Authors | Project | Reviewer | Status | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-06-19 at 16:51:39 | Firth, Richard | Artifact, Other Entity | Firth, Richard | Firth, Richard | approved |
 |
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| 2019-05-29 at 21:01:58 | Englund, Robert K. | Atf | Englund, Robert K. | CDLI | approved |
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| 2006-11-02 at 00:00:00 | CDLI | Artifact | Foxvog, Daniel A.; Guerra, Dylan; Peterson, Jeremiah; Veldhuis, Niek; Wolfe, Jared N. | CDLI | approved |
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Consult this artifact as presented on the website of collections and projects:
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There is no external resource for this artifact yet.
General Notes:
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CDLI Notes:
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Cite this Artifact
“UET 6, 0159 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). June 19, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P346244.
UET 6, 0159 artifact entry (No. P346244). (2024, June 19). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P346244 (Original work published 2006)
UET 6, 0159 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P346244 (Accessed: September 4, 2025).
@misc{2024UET,
note = {[Online; accessed 2025-09-04]},
year = {2024},
month = {jun 19},
title = {UET 6, 0159 artifact entry},
url = {https://cdli.earth/P346244},
howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P346244},
}
TY - ELEC DA - 2024/6/19/ PY - 2024 ID - P346244 LB - CDLI:P346244 M1 - 2025/9/4/ TI - UET 6, 0159 artifact entry UR - https://cdli.earth/P346244 ER -