CDLI Literary 000801, ex. 009 (P346301)

Wisdom or proverb 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 > Wisdom or proverb (ETCSL 6.01.08 Proverbs Collection 08 (witness) Proverbs Collection 8)

Language(s)

Sumerian

Measurements

-

Text

tablet
obverse
  blank space
1. ka5-a ur2 {gesz}kiszig2-sze3 in-ku4
 en: A fox entered the trunk/roots of a thornbush
2. ur-gir15 ka2-na ba-an-tusz
 en: (While) a dog sat at the gate
3. e3-ma-ab e3-de3 nu-ub-zu-am3
 en: (Saying) “Come out to me!” (but) it did not know how to come out
4. gu2-e-ta a-na-gin7-nam in-ku4
 en: (The fox said) “why would I(?) enter (there) from here?
5. en-na nu-al-mu2-mu2 al-tusz!-en e-sze
 en: Until it stops growing/chasing(?), I am staying (here)”
  blank space
reverse
  blank space

Text content

Genre(s) Literary > Wisdom or proverb (ETCSL 6.01.08 Proverbs Collection 08 (witness) Proverbs Collection 8)
Language(s) Sumerian

Chronology

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

Record

LOD URI https://cdli.network/entity/P346301

Physical information

Artifact type Tablet
Dimensions
Weight
Material(s) Clay
Preservation

Provenance

Provenience Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar)
Written In
Archive
Excavation Number U 17207.103
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) 6.1.8
The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature translations (ETCSL translations) 6.1.8
Ancient Records of Middle Eastern Polities (ARMEP) P346301

References

  • history: Alster Proverbs, 166 coll.8

    [Alster1997Proverbs] Alster, Bendt. 1997. Proverbs of Ancient Sumer: The World’s Earliest Proverb Collection.

  • history: UET 6, 0220

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

Revisions and credits

Created Creator Type Authors Project Reviewer Status Action
2024-09-02 at 08:45:16 Firth, Richard Artifact metadata Firth, Richard Firth, Richard Approved View
2024-09-02 at 07:32:18 Firth, Richard Artifact metadata, Other metadata Firth, Richard Firth, Richard Approved View
2024-09-02 at 07:29:31 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 10:55:19 Englund, Robert K. Transliteration Englund, Robert K. CDLI Approved View
2019-05-29 at 21:01:59 Englund, Robert K. Transliteration Peterson, Jeremiah CDLI Approved View
2006-11-02 at 00:00:00 CDLI Artifact metadata Foxvog, Daniel A.; Guerra, Dylan; Peterson, Jeremiah; Veldhuis, Niek; Wolfe, Jared N. CDLI Approved View

Cite this Artifact

“CDLI Literary 000801, Ex. 009 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). September 2, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P346301.
CDLI Literary 000801, ex. 009 artifact entry (No. P346301). (2024, September 2). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P346301 (Original work published 2006)
CDLI Literary 000801, ex. 009 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P346301 (Accessed: May 18, 2026).
@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-05-18]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {sep 2},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000801, ex. 009 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P346301},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P346301},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/9/2/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P346301
LB  - CDLI:P346301
M1  - 2026/5/18/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000801, ex. 009 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P346301
ER  -

Cite this Artifact

“CDLI Literary 000801, Ex. 009 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). September 2, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P346301.
CDLI Literary 000801, ex. 009 artifact entry (No. P346301). (2024, September 2). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P346301 (Original work published 2006)
CDLI Literary 000801, ex. 009 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P346301 (Accessed: May 18, 2026).
@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-05-18]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {sep 2},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000801, ex. 009 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P346301},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P346301},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/9/2/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P346301
LB  - CDLI:P346301
M1  - 2026/5/18/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000801, ex. 009 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P346301
ER  -
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