CDLI Literary 000767, ex. 051 (P346667)
Literary, Old Babylonian, Ur · c. 1900 BCE–1600 BCE
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| Designation | CDLI Literary 000767, ex. 051 |
|---|---|
| ID | P346667 |
| Museum no. | BM — |
| Collection | British Museum, London, UK |
| Language | Sumerian |
| Period | Old Babylonian · c. 1900 BCE–1600 BCE |
| Genre | Literary |
| Find spot | Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar) |
| Coordinates | 30.9607, 46.1063 |
English translation
By Peterson, Jeremiah · Via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative · CDLI (reuse with citation)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| obverse 1' | Your hand has not kept up with your mouth |
| obverse 2' | If (the contents of the) scribal art is recited(?), it is <not> restored (to) its place (executed properly, placed in proper context?) |
| obverse 3' | As (you?) (write) from “the animals of the steppe” (commentary or perhaps the ur5-ra list of animals) to the end of “person” (=) “he” (the lexical list lu2 = ša) |
| obverse 4' | Your tongue does not function properly for the Sumerian language |
| obverse 5' | If multiplication (tables) are (i.e., have to be manually) counted(?), you did not (actually) know them |
| obverse 6' | If you (manage to) solve(?) the reciprocals, the foundation (i.e. basis) is not grasped for you |
| obverse 7' | The problem involving the computation of river silt (volume?)(?) ... is not put in its place for you |
| obverse 8' | The topics/vocabularies(?) of the art of the scribal student |
| obverse 9' | By your hand they are produced(?) |
| obverse 10' | (But no one?) asks after you, (saying(?)) “do not entrust(?) it (your tablet?) (to anyone?)” |
| reverse 1' | Slave, idiot lying next to the potter's kiln |
| reverse 2' | Merchant apprentice/purse bearer that exhausts the silver of the merchant |
| reverse 3' | Brewer eating the zidmunu ration |
| reverse 4' | One who has half (his hair shaved), come, ... |
| reverse 5' | Childish fool, driveling(?) |
| reverse 6' | How is it that you compare with me? |
| reverse 7' | Lunatic, idiot, (possessing) the intellect of a monkey |
| reverse 8' | Homeless one lying in the street |
| reverse 9' | Spreading out residue left from fermentation at the “oven of mankind” (a collective oven or a reference to the sun-baked ground?) |
| reverse 10' | When you bring out the bowl (filled with) groats up from the oven |
| reverse 11' | It shatters to your detriment(?) due to the heat of the bowl(?) |
Transliteration (ATF)
From Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative · CDLI: reuse of catalogue/transliteration data with citation of CDLI; images restricted (not fetched)
| Line | ATF | Machine English (draft) |
|---|---|---|
| obverse | ||
| 1' | [... nu]-ub-da#-[sa2] | |
| 2' | [...] ki-bi! bi2-ib-gi4#? | |
| 3' | [...] za3#? lu2 szu-ka-sze3 | |
| 4' | [...] nu#-ub-da-sa2 | |
| 5' | [...] za3#-bi-sze3 nu-e-zu | |
| 6' | [...] ki us2 nu-ra-dab5 | |
| 7' | [...] ki#? nu-ra-ab-gi4 | |
| 8' | [...] nam#-dumu-e2-dub-ba-a-ke4 | |
| 9' | [...]-in-tum2 | |
| 10' | [...]-ib2#-szum2-mu | |
| 11' | [...]-x | |
| reverse | ||
| 1' | [... nu2]-nu2#? | |
| 2' | [...]-ka#? til-til | |
| 3' | [...] zi3-munu4 gu7-gu7 | |
| 4' | [...] SZE3#? TAR-ta bar-bar | |
| 5' | [...] eme#?-za3-ga-bar-bar | |
| 6' | [...] ga2-da mu-da-ab-sa2-en# | |
| 7' | [...] dim2#-ma {ugu}ugu4-bi | |
| 8' | [...] e-sir2-ra nu2-nu2 | |
| 9' | [...]-ka# titab2 i-ni-bara2-bara2 | |
| 10' | [...]-na#-ta e11-[...] | |
| 11' | [...] al#-bil2#-[...] | |
Sources & licences
- Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative · CDLI: reuse of catalogue/transliteration data with citation of CDLI; images restricted (not fetched) · Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI), https://cdli.earth/ ; cite CDLI and the P-number
- Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC default); per-file JSON license fields say: This data is released under the CC0 license (133618) · ORACC project editions, https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ ; cite the individual project (see texts.extra_json.project)
Cite the original edition and translator. Page generated by Unread Atlas from the public corpus export of 2026-10-11.