CDLI Literary 000782, ex. 062 (P346684)

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 5.06.01 Instructions of Shuruppak (witness) Instructions of Shuruppak)

Language(s)

Sumerian

Measurements

-

Witness

Text

tablet
obverse
  beginning broken
1'. [...]-de5
 en: (The resident of?) Šuruppak was instructing his son
2'. [...]-tu#-tu#-ke4
 en: (The resident of?) Šuruppak, the son of Ubartutu
3'. [...]-an#-de5-de5
 en: Was instructing his son Ziusudra
4'. [...] x x x [...] x-x-gu10 na#-dab5
 en: My son, I shall instruct, may (!?) my instruction be seized
5'. na# de5-ga#?-[...] x x szu# nam-bi2#?-ib2-bar-re
 en: One should not forget my instruction
6'. inim# du11#-[...] x-x-x-bala#-e#
 en: One should not transgress (my) spoken word
7'. na de5# [...] gu2#?-zu he2#-em#-szi-ak
 en: The advice of an elder is something precious, one should pay attention to it
8'. dumu engar# x [...]-ra# e pa5-zu im-ma#-ra
 en: One should not pelt the son of a farmer, your dikes and ditches will have been beaten (as a result)(?)
9'. [...] x [...] x [...]-x u3-sar-ra-ka
 en: One should not buy a prostitute, she is one of sharp teeth/a bushy(?) mouth(?)
10'. [...]-TU [...]-x u2 lipisz gig-ga-am3
 en: One should not buy a house-born slave, he is a plant/food that afflicts the innards
11'. [...]-gir15# [...]-x za3 e2-gar8#!?-e in-us2#
 en: One should not buy a corvee laborer, he leans upon the edge of the wall
12'. [...] dur2#-bi-sze3 e2 gal2-gal2-la-am3
 en: One should not buy a female worker of the palace, she is one who constantly put a house to the bottom of the path/order(?)
13'. [...]-e11
 en: After one has brought a slave of the mountain down from the mountain
14'. [...]-an#-de6
 en: After one has brought a man from his unknown location
  rest broken
reverse
  beginning broken
1'. [...] a#-a na#-nam [...]
 en: The older brother should be a father, the older sister should be a mother
2'. [...]-zu#-sze3 gizzal# [...]
 en: You should pay attention to your older brother
3'. [...] gal# ama-zu-sze3 gu2 he2-em-szi-[...]
 en: You should heed an older sister you mother
4'. za#-e igi-zu-ta kin2#!? na-an-[...]
 en: You should not work(?) using your eyes
5'. ka-zu-ta nig2 nam-mu-un-lu#-lu
 en: You should not proliferate things using your mouth
6'. ga2#-la nu-dag-ge e2 dur2#-[...]-un-de6
 en: The one who is not(!) unceasing (in action)(!?) brought the house towards the bottom(?)
7'. ninda-e lu2 kur-ra bi2-in#?-e11#-de3
 en: Food(?) brings down a “man of the mountain/netherworld(?)”
8'. lul#-e lu2 bar-ra bi-in#-tum2#-mu
 en: Lying brings the foreigner/stranger
9'. [...]-e# lu2 kur-ra im-ma-ta#?-ab-e11-de3
 en: Food(?) brings down a person from the mountain
10'. [...]-re lugal-bi-ir# amar#? szi-in-ga-u3-tu
 en: The small flood(?) also gives birth to a calf/young for its master
11'. [...]-e# [...] du3#-a szi-hur-re
 en: The great flood(?) designs(?) constructed houses
12'. [...]-du7-du7
 en: ... has optimized his power/equipped himself(?)
13'. [...]-x gig-sze3 im-gar
 en: The very rich man has set the poor man towards sickness(?)
14'. [...] a2#? szu im-du7-du7
 en: The married man has optimized his power/equipped himself(?)
15'. [...] sze-er-tab-ba-asz mu-un-nu2
 en: The unmarried man has laid down towards/in the manner of(?) the fence
16'. [...] e2 sza-ba-ra-an-gul#?-e
 en: The one who is to destroy a house can(!?) (only) destroy a house
17'. [...] lu2 sza-ra-an-zi#-zi#
 en: The one who is to muster a man can(!?) (only) muster a man
18'. [...] lu2 ba-an-dab5#-ba
 en: A man who seizes the tail of a great ox
19'. [...] x ba-da#?-[...]-bala-e
 en: Therefore cannot(!?) cross a river
20'. [...]-re
 en: ...
  rest broken

Text content

Genre(s) Literary (ETCSL 5.06.01 Instructions of Shuruppak (witness) Instructions of Shuruppak)
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 000782 (Instructions of Shuruppak) composite (P478969) Q000782 View the score

Record

Permalink https://cdli.network/entity/P346684

Physical information

Artifact type Tablet
Dimensions
Weight
Material(s) Clay
Preservation

Provenance

Provenience Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar)
Written In
Excavation Number U —
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) 5.6.1
The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature translations (ETCSL translations) 5.6.1
Ancient Records of Middle Eastern Polities (ARMEP) P346684

References

  • history: Alster, Shuruppak, Ur4

    [Alster1974Shuruppak] Alster, Bendt. 1974. The Instructions of Šurruppak : A Sumerian Proverb Collection. Vol. 2. Mesopotamia. Copenhagen Studies in Assyriology. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag.

  • history: UET 6, 0647

    [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
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 09:43:13 Englund, Robert K. Transliteration Englund, Robert K. CDLI Approved View
2019-05-29 at 21:01:58 Englund, Robert K. Transliteration Englund, Robert K. CDLI Approved View
2018-02-11 at 09:30:42 Englund, Robert K. Transliteration Englund, Robert K. CDLI Approved View
2015-11-26 at 17:15:55 Englund, Robert K. Transliteration Englund, Robert K. CDLI Approved View
2015-11-26 at 17:00:58 Englund, Robert K. Transliteration Englund, Robert K. CDLI Approved View
2011-10-10 at 07:44:24 Wagensonner, Klaus Transliteration Wagensonner, Klaus 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 Artifacts

“CDLI Literary 000782, Ex. 062 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2023. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). June 15, 2023. https://cdli.earth/P346684.
CDLI Literary 000782, ex. 062 artifact entry (No. P346684). (2023, June 15). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P346684 (Original work published 2006)
CDLI Literary 000782, ex. 062 artifact entry (2023) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P346684 (Accessed: April 9, 2026).
@misc{2023CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-04-09]},
	year = {2023},
	month = {jun 15},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000782, ex. 062 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P346684},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P346684},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2023/6/15/
PY  - 2023
ID  - P346684
LB  - CDLI:P346684
M1  - 2026/4/9/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000782, ex. 062 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P346684
ER  -

Cite this Artifacts

“CDLI Literary 000782, Ex. 062 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2023. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). June 15, 2023. https://cdli.earth/P346684.
CDLI Literary 000782, ex. 062 artifact entry (No. P346684). (2023, June 15). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P346684 (Original work published 2006)
CDLI Literary 000782, ex. 062 artifact entry (2023) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P346684 (Accessed: April 9, 2026).
@misc{2023CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-04-09]},
	year = {2023},
	month = {jun 15},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000782, ex. 062 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P346684},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P346684},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2023/6/15/
PY  - 2023
ID  - P346684
LB  - CDLI:P346684
M1  - 2026/4/9/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000782, ex. 062 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P346684
ER  -
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